Comparative analysis of software reliability predictions using statistical and machine learning methods

This paper examines the performance of statistical (linear regression) and machine learning methods like Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN), Generalised Regression Neural Network (GRNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Fuzzy Inference System (FIS), Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), Gene Expression Programming (GEP), Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) for predicting software reliability. The effectiveness of LR and machine learning methods are illustrated with the help of 16 failure datasets of real–life projects taken from Data and Analysis Centre for Software (DACS). Two performance measures, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), are compared quantitatively obtained from rigours experiments. We empirically demonstrate that performance of the SVM model is better than LR and other machine learning techniques in all datasets. Finally, we conclude that such methods can help in reliability prediction using real–life failure datasets.