Criterios De Calidad De Software

Software Quality Assurance: Techniques and Tools

Matt Heinzelman
Department of Software Engineering
University of Wisconsin – Platteville
Platteville, Wisconsin 53818
heinzelm@uwplatt.edu

Abstract

Software Quality Assurance is essential to every software development process. SQA improves development to deployment time, reduces the number of incomplete or missed deadlines, andreduces time spent on making sure that requirements, design, code, and documentation look the same by ensuring consistency without doing it all manually. Using SQA audits to evaluate that guidelines have been met before advancing in the development process is essential. Also, audits can be used to show stakeholders that continuous progress is being made on a project. There are many tools that can beused to achieve Quality Assurance on a project including Borland StarTeam and Lucent Technologies Sablime for configuration, change, and problem management, and Programming Research QA C++ and Parasoft Jtest for code testing/metrics. Therefore, Software Quality Assurance is a very essential part of the development process.

What is Software Quality Assurance?

Software Quality Assuranceinvolves the entire software development process – monitoring and improving the process, making sure that any agreed-upon standards and procedures are followed, and ensuring that problems are found and dealt with [1]. It is oriented to ‘prevention’ [1]. There are many standards that are followed in this area, involving the most known and recognized IEEE IS0 9000 software quality and managementguidelines.

Software Quality Assurance can also be defined more in depth as a planned and systematic approach to the evaluation of the quality of and adherence to software product standards, processes, and procedures [2]. SQA includes the process of assuring that standards and procedures are established and are followed throughout the software acquisition life cycle. Compliance with agreed-uponstandards and procedures is evaluated through process monitoring, product evaluation, and audits. Software development and control processes should include quality assurance approval points, where an SQA evaluation of the product may be done in relation to applicable standards [2].

Software Quality Assurance is found in almost every computer product that is developed today. Each softwaredevelopment company develops their own system of standards and procedures to follow using the IEEE IS0 9000 guidelines. They use this system to help improve the development of their software system as a whole, as reviews are made during and at the end of each step in the software development process.

Standards and Procedures

Every software development company must establish standards andprocedures to aid in the development of software, because these standards are the framework for which software evolves [2]. Standards are the established criteria to which software products are compared. Procedures are the established criteria to which the development and control procedures are compared [2]. The whole role of Software Quality Assurance is to make sure that these standards andprocedures are developed and followed exactly in the development of software. Proper documentation of standards and procedures is necessary since SQA activities of process monitoring, product evaluation, and auditing rely on unequivocal definitions to measure project compliance [2].

There are many different standards and procedures that can be implemented into a software development system; however,this paper will only define and refer to four major areas. These areas include: Requirements, Design, Code, and Documentation standards.

Requirement standards specify the form and content of how requirements in the system will be defined. The normal standard in industry today is to establish a numbering system for each major requirement and sub-requirements. Requirement standards will also...