Experimental software engineering is a sub-domain of software engineering focusing on experiments on software systems (software products, processes, and resources). It is interested in devising experiments on software, in collecting data from these experiments, and in devising laws and theories from this data. Proponents of experimental software engineering advocate that experimentation is an important method in contributing to accumulation of knowledge in software engineering.
Empirical software engineering is a related concept, sometimes used synonymously with experimental software engineering. Empirical software engineering is a field of research that emphasizes the use of empirical studies of all kinds to accumulate knowledge. Methods used include experiments, variety of case studies, surveys, and statistical analyses.
Read more about Experimental Software Engineering: Rationale, Research Labs
Famous quotes containing the words experimental and/or engineering:
“Philosophers of science constantly discuss theories and representation of reality, but say almost nothing about experiment, technology, or the use of knowledge to alter the world. This is odd, because ‘experimental method’ used to be just another name for scientific method.... I hope [to] initiate a Back-to-Bacon movement, in which we attend more seriously to experimental science. Experimentation has a life of its own.”
—Ian Hacking (b. 1936)
“Mining today is an affair of mathematics, of finance, of the latest in engineering skill. Cautious men behind polished desks in San Francisco figure out in advance the amount of metal to a cubic yard, the number of yards washed a day, the cost of each operation. They have no need of grubstakes.”
—Merle Colby, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)