Defect Management in Agile Software Development(IJ

I.J.ModernEducationandComputerScience,2014,3,55-60PublishedOnlineMarch2014inMECS()DOI:10.5815/ijmecs.2014.03.07Copyright©2014MECSI.J.ModernEducationandComputerScience,2014,3,55-60DefectManagementinAgileSoftwareDevelopmentRidaNoorDepartmentofSoftwareEngineering,UniversityofEngineering&Technology,Taxila,PakistanEmail:[e-mail]rtmentofSoftwareEngineering,UniversityofEngineering&Technology,Taxila,PakistanEmail:[e-mail]—Agiledevelopmentreducestheriskofdevelopinglowqualitysoftwareinthefirstplacebyminimizingdefects.Inagilesoftwaredevelopmentformaldefectmanagementprocesseshelptobuildqualitysoftware.Thecorepurposeofdefectmanagementistomakethesoftwaremoreeffectiveandefficientinordertoincreaseitsquality.Thereareseveralmethodsforhandlingdefectslikedefectprevention,defectdiscoveryandresolutionwhichareusedbysoftwaredevelopersandtesters.Refactoringkeepsthesystemcleanbyidentifyingandremovingqualitydefects.Togainthefullconfidenceofthecustomerdefectmanagementshouldbeinvolvedateverystageofdevelopment.Agilemethodologiesfocusondeliveringthesoftwareinformofshortiterations.Thuseachiterationhelpstoovercomedefectsandleadsbetterdevelopmentandendusersatisfaction.ThisstudypaintsthepictureofhandlingthesoftwaredefectsusingagilebasedSoftwareDevelopmentProcess.IndexTerms—DefectDetection,DefectPrevention,Refactoring,SoftwareEngineering,SoftwareProcess,AgileSoftwareDevelopment.I.INTRODUCTIONThesuccessofsoftwareindustryliesindevelopingadefectfreeandqualityproductwithinreasonabletimeandbudget.Defectinsimpletermsmaybedefinedasanyundesireddatainprogram.Defectsmaybeinjectedintosoftwareatanystageofsoftwaredevelopmentincludingrequirementgathering,designandcodingphase.Defectscanbeintroducedduetoincorrecttestingaswell.AmongallsoftwaredevelopmentmethodsAgilepracticesaremosteffectiveandusefulastheyfocustodevelophighqualitysoftwarebyminimizingdefects.Defectmanagementisawaytomanagedefectsinordertoassurebetterquality.Agiledevelopmentincludesseveralqualityassurancemethodsthathelptodiscoverdefects.Forexample1.SoftwareInspections2.SoftwareTesting3.Softwareproductmetrics4.RefactoringFourmajortechniquestohandleandreducethedefectsindevelopmentslifecycleofthesoftwareareasfollow:1.Defectprevention2.Defectremoval3.Defecttolerance4.DefectforecastingEachdefecthasitsownprioritysotheyneedtobemanagedaccordingtoitsseveritylevel.Severitylevelofdifferentdefectsandtheirpriorityisclearlyshowninfollowingimage.Fig.1.PriorityRankingofQualityDefectsinAgileDefectsmanagementensuresthatdefectsarehandledinsomeway,eithertheyarefixedorexplicitlyignored.Itisusedtoresolvequalityissuesfoundfromthesoftware.Ifdefectsarenothandledtheyleadtocustomerdissatisfaction.InAgiledevelopmenttheteamitselfisresponsibleforthemaintenanceofthesoftwarequality.Sodefectsarehandledbydevelopmentteamtoensurequalityproduct.Agilemethodshelptobuildqualitysoftwarewiththecontinuousfeedbackfromcustomerswithinlimitedtime.Thatiswhythesemethodsaremoreadaptabletochanges.Centralpointinthesemethodsistokeepthesystemsimpleandtoremovecomplexityfromit.Thusthese56DefectManagementinAgileSoftwareDevelopmentCopyright©2014MECSI.J.ModernEducationandComputerScience,2014,3,55-60methodsaremoreusefulandproductivethanothersoftwaredevelopmentprocesses.Oneofthemostusefulactivitiestominimizequalitydefectsisrefactoring.Restructuringisacontrolledmethod;anexistingcodeisrestructuredbychanginginternalstructurewithoutchangingitsexternalperformance.Itisdifficulttoremoveallqualitydefectsinoneiteration.Butthiseffortmakesthecodeeasilyreadable.Fig.2.TestingProcessinAgile[11]Thisstudycomprisesoffoursections.FirstsectionprovidesconciseintroductionofdefectmanagementandthewaydefectsaremanagedinAgilesoftwaredevelopment.Literaturereviewisdescribedinsecondsectiontoconsidertherelatedworkdonefordefectmanagement.Thirdsectioncontainsdetailedanalysisofdifferenttechniquesappliedbydifferentresearchers.Conclusionisforthsectiontoprovidetheresultsofanalysisandresearchthatisconductedinthispaper.II.LITERATUREREVIEWDefectanalysisisveryimportantactivityinsoftwaredevelopment.Itshelpstotrimdownthetime,cost,resourcesandeffortrequiredforrework.Ifdefectsaredetectedatearlystagethentheyarenottransferredtonextphase.Thusdefectdetectionandpreventionaretwostagesofdefectmanagementwhichhelpstoimprovethequalityofsoftware.Thissectionisconcernedwiththebackgroundandrelatedworkinagilesoftwareengineeringandqualitydefects.A.EffectiveDefectPreventionApproachinSoftwareProcessforAchievingBetterQualityLevels(N.Gopalakrishnanm,2008)Thispaperdescribesthatdefectmanagementisavitalfactortoengineeragoodqualityproduct.N.GopalakrishnanminhispaperhasmadeanalysisofdefectdetectionandpreventiontechniqueswhichareemployedinAgiledevelopment.Forthisanalysisdatahasbeenobtainedfromfiveprojectsofleadingsoftwaredevelopmentcompanies.Onanaverage13%to15%ofinspectionand25%-30%oftestingoutofentireprojectefforttimeisrequiredfor99%-99.75%ofdefecteliminationN.Gopalakrishnanm,2008[1].Theresultshavebeencomparedsothatthespecificcompanycanpo