Hi SAS-Lers,

I had an interesting question posed to me today and wanted to get your input:

How does one verify the accuracy of a software PACKAGE? How would one verify that the PACKAGE is accurately doing what it is designed to do?

The question posed to me by a colleague wasn't aimed at SAS, but another package. She wondered how SAS "proves" it is accurate? I told her that I trust SAS based on: its long established, stable and successful history; acceptance as a(the?) world standard within its field by peers and users; its huge user base; the rigorous way it handles bugs and reported problems; the amount it spends on R&D; its commitment to their customers; and my own personal experience with SAS.

We discussed how this is a very different question than asking about the accuracy of in-house written code to be used on a software package.

Any helpful ideas on this topic would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Mark DeHaan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark DeHaan Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory Lockheed-Martin "We're from the Government and we're here to help you." email: msd@inel.gov phone: 208-526-2983 fax: 208-526-5647