Software testing typically follows one of two approaches:

• Black-box Testing
• White-box Testing

Approach:

• Run program with various input values; examine correctness of the output(s)
• Ignore processing details – how results are obtained

Famous approach for testing software, the Turing Test, comes from Alan Turing (Computing Machinery and Intelligence, 1950)

• Place computer in one room, person (human A) in another
• Place observer in a third room.
• Observer has two terminals (historically, teletypes), one to computer and one to A
• Initially, observer does not know which terminal goes to which
• Observer asks questions over the terminals, and computer/A respond
• If observer cannot tell consistently which is the computer and which is A, then the computer is deemed to demonstrate intelligence

created 8 January 2007 last revised 15 February 2007

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