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Phase containment and cost of defects
See where defects are caught and what late discovery costs, by phase.
Quality & testingHow it's worked out
- Phase containment = found in phase ÷ found in that phase and all later ones. Cost = Σ defects × base cost × multiplier^phase
- Defects counted by the phase that found them; constant multiplier
NoteContainment at each phase is defects found there divided by those still present when it started. The cost multiplier is your own estimate; figures of 5 to 100 times for production are widely quoted but vary by system.
Source: Phase containment effectiveness (Jones, Applied Software Measurement); Boehm cost-of-change concept
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