What is the primary purpose of software validation?

The primary purpose of software validation is to verify that the software meets the requirements and expectations set forth by stakeholders, essentially ensuring that it fulfills its intended use as intended. This process is crucial as it helps confirm that the final product aligns with what the customer and users need, maintaining quality and usability standards.

While efficient design and modifications for customer needs are important aspects of the software development process, they do not encapsulate the core objective of validation. Debugging and testing are indeed critical steps in software development, but they serve more towards identifying and resolving issues rather than validating whether the software meets the specified requirements. Thus, the emphasis of software validation lies in checking that the software adheres to established criteria, confirming that it works correctly in the intended operational environment.