Why We Misjudge Our Own Effectiveness at Finding Software Bugs

Researchers conducted an empirical study with 32 computer science students to determine whether developers' perceptions of testing effectiveness match reality. Participants applied three defect detection techniques (equivalence partitioning, branch testing, and code reading) on C programs, then reported which technique they perceived as most effective. The study measures the cost of misperceptions and analyzes agreement between subjective perceptions and actual testing performance using statistical methods.