Software Project Management Quality Assurance & Me

INFO638Lecture#61SoftwareProjectManagementQualityAssurance&MetricsINFO638GlennBookerINFO638Lecture#62QualityAssurance(QA)•ThepurposeofQAistoensurethatallmajoractivitiesaremonitoredobjectively•QAreviewshouldideallybebyanindependentorganization,who:–Hasappropriateexpertisetoidentifyerrors(sometimesjustachecklistverifierfunction)–HasanindependentlineofauthoritytoflagseriousproblemsINFO638Lecture#63ObjectivityandAuthority•TheneedforQAtobeobjectiveiscriticaltotheirsuccess–UnlessQAcanmakeobservationswithoutfearofreprimand,theyareuseless•QAalsoneedstheauthoritytomakechangesoccur,suchassendingcodeordocumentsbackforchanges,orelsetheyaremerelyatokenorganizationINFO638Lecture#64QualityAssurance•Insomecases,QAneedstohaveraretechnicalknowledgeorskills–Thenataminimum,theQAorganizationmustbeobjective;meaningtheyhadnopartincreatingtheworkbeingreviewed,andtheydonotreporttooneanother•QualityManagementisgenerallysynonymouswithQualityAssuranceINFO638Lecture#65PassiveversusActiveQA•QA’sscopeorrolecanbepassiveoractive–Passive(token)QAmayobservesomeorallactivitiesandreviewsomeworkproducts–ActiveQAisinvolvedthroughouttheprogram,andtheirapprovalmayberequiredforallworkproductstobereleased•CostandsystemreliabilityaremajorfactorstodeterminewhichapproachisusedINFO638Lecture#66PassiveversusActiveQA•AnormalrangeofresourceneedsforactiveQAis3-5%oftheprogramstaff–Notcountingstaffingfortestingactivities–Typicallyhigher%forlargerprograms,orifsystemhashigherreliabilityneeds–CMstaffingistypicallyaboutthesamepercent•QAstaffingunder3%islikelytoresultinapassiveQAfunctionatbestINFO638Lecture#67QualityAssuranceApproaches•QualitybyDesign–whattasksduringthelifecyclewillhelpimprovequality?•QualitybyReview–howcanQAreviewsfinderrorsbeforetheygetpassedalong?•ManagingforQuality–whatdoesmanagementneedtodotosupportcreatingaqualityproduct?INFO638Lecture#68QualitybyDesign•Howpreventdefectsfromenteringsoftwareduringthedevelopmentlifecycle?–Requirements:Verifythattherequirementsmeettheneedsoftheproduct,andvalidatethattherequirementsandneedsareappropriate–Design:Mapdetaileddesignaspectsoftheproduct(CSCI’s)tothespecificrequirementseachisneededtomeet,&ensureprogramminglanguagemeetsallaspectsofdesignneedsINFO638Lecture#69LanguageSelectionCriteria•Chooseprogramminglanguagetomeetspecificproductneeds:–Developmentand/orexecutionspeed–Realtime–Availabilityandusageofresources(libraries)–Reliability,safety,security–Errorhandling–ObjectorientationINFO638Lecture#610QualitybyDesign•Defectpreventionduringdevelopment:–Coding:CreateaSoftwareDevelopmentFolderforeachmodule•Definepurpose,function,andrelationshipsofeachmodulebeforecodingbegins–Testing:Developtestplanswhichwillexercisedesiredmodulefunctions•Willnotnecessarilytestallfunctions•TracetestplansandprocedurestothedesignandrequirementsforeachmoduleINFO638Lecture#611QualitybyReview•Defectdetectionisoftenthroughreviews–Requirements:InspectrequirementsdocumentsataPreliminaryDesignReview(PDR),fixthem,thenapproverequirementsataSoftwareDesignReview(SDR)–Design:InspectproductdesignataSoftwareSpecificationReview(SSR);afterfurtherdesigndetailshavebeendeveloped,inspectwithaCriticalDesignReview(CDR)INFO638Lecture#612QualitybyReview–Coding:Canholdcodedesignreviewsbeforeimplementationtoapprovetheapproachusedtosolvetheproblem,thenhaveapeerreview(walkthrough)aftercodingandunittesting•FormalcodereviewcanincludeSoftwareVerificationandValidationINFO638Lecture#613QualitybyReview–Testing:CanhaveQAreviewoftestplansandprocedures,thenhaveQAauditorsobserveselected(orall)testing–AfterTesting:Analysisoffailuresanddefectscanleadtopreventingtheminthefuture(defectpreventionprocess)INFO638Lecture#614TypesofGeneralQAActivities•ProcessEvaluation–determineifprocessisgoodandplaysnicelywithotherprocesses•ProcessVerification–seeifprocessisbeingperformedasdefined•ProductEvaluation–reviewscopeandcontentsofaproducttodetermineitsfitness•ProcessAssessment–determineifprocessescomparewelltodefinedstandardsINFO638Lecture#615ProcessEvaluation•ProcessEvaluationchecksasingleprocessorproceduredescriptiontodetermineifitisclearlydefined,consistentwithrelatedprocesses,verifiable,andotherwiseagoodthing•GenerallyperformedaftertheprocessorprocedureisfirstwrittenorhasbeenrevisedINFO638Lecture#616ProcessVerification•ProcessVerificationistodetermineifaparticularprocessisbeingfollowedasitisdocumented–Mightincludeinterviewingpeopletoseehowtheyreallyperformthatactivity,lookingforartifactstoseeifevidencewascreatedwhenappropriate,andusingcheckliststoseeifeachstepintheprocessisbeingusedINFO638Lecture#617ProductEvaluation•ProductEvaluationistheinspectionofaparticularartifactfromaprocess(workproduct)toseeifitmeetsitsrequirements–“Inspectedby#12”tagistheresultfromthis•Thismightincludeadocumentreview,databaseinspection,etc.asneededtoensuretheproductcomplieswithitsexpectedformatandcontentsINFO638Lecture#618ProcessAssessment•ProcessAssessmentreferstocheckingawholesetofactivitiestoseeiftheyarebeingperformedinaccordancewithsomeprocessmodel(ISO9000,CMM)–Typicallyinvolvesatleastanentireorganizat