Computational Testing: Why, How and How Much

This considers the issues associated with performing and reporting computational testing in the context of original research in operations research, particularly in its interface with computer science. The scope includes non-numerical computations, such as fundamental algorithms and information structures in new modeling languages, and many criteria besides speed of computation, like robustness and depth. Beginning with a foundation of why we perform computational testing, some principles are described that draw heavily from the works of others. Then, methods of how to perform computational testing are suggested, ranging from quantitative statistical techniques to qualitative factor analysis. Finally, the issue of how much computational testing is appropriate is considered in the context of guidelines for referees and editors who deal with such issues.

INFORMS Journal on Computing, ISSN 1091-9856, was published as ORSA Journal on Computing from 1989 to 1995 under ISSN 0899-1499.