BBM 482

SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE

FALL 2014
October 9th, 2014

Asst.Prof.Dr. Kvan DNER, PMP

J.ROSS Publishing
2011

Four dimensions essen9al to achieve quality:

n

Specica9ons,

Design,

Construc9on,

and Conformance

How to build in quality in each of the four dimensions

How to ensure quality in each of the four dimensions

Quality has four dimensions:

1. Specica9on quality
2. Design quality
3. Development (soLware
construc9on) quality
4. Conformance quality

Specica9ons are the

star9ng point in the
journey of providing a
product or service,
followed by design and
then development.
Conformance quality is
ensuring how well that
quality is built into the
deliverable at every
stage.

Specica9on quality refers to how well the specica9ons are

dened for the product or service being provided.
Specica9ons have no predecessor ac9vity, and all other
ac9vi9es succeed specica9ons.
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Thus, if the specica9ons are weak, design will be weak,

resul9ng in the development and manufacture of an inferior or
incorrect product, and the eort spent on ensuring that quality
is built in will have been wasted.
Therefore, it is of paramount importance that specica9ons are
comprehensive and well dened and that they take into
account all possible aspects that have a bearing on the quality
of the product.

Specica9ons normally should include the following six aspects:

1. Func(onality aspectsSpecify what func9ons are to be achieved
by the product or service.
2. Capacity aspectsSpecify the load the product can carry (such as
250 passengers on a plane or 100 concurrent users for a Web applica9on) or the
number of persons to whom a service can cater.
3. Intended use aspectsSpecify the need or needs the product or
service sa9ses.
4. Reliability aspects
5. Safety aspects
6. Security aspects
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Specica9ons normally should include the following six aspects:

1. Func(onality aspects
2. Capacity aspects
3. Intended use aspects
4. Reliability aspects Specify how long the product can be enjoyed
before it needs maintenance, or the surety of delivering the service
and the conformance to the user requirements.
5. Safety aspectsSpecify the threshold levels for ensuring safety to
persons and property from use of the product or service.
6. Security aspectsSpecify any threats for which the product or
service needs to be prepared.
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Specica9ons normally should include the following six aspects:

1. Func(onality aspects
2. Capacity aspects
3. Intended use aspects
4. Reliability aspects Specify how long the product can be enjoyed
before it needs maintenance, or the surety of delivering the service
and the conformance to the user requirements.
5. Safety aspectsSpecify the threshold levels for ensuring safety to
persons and property from use of the product or service.
6. Security aspectsSpecify any threats for which the product or
service needs to be prepared.
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How do we make sure that we have comprehensive and correct

specica9ons?
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The rst aspect of ensuring that specica9ons are drawn up

right is to engage qualied persons, such as business analysts
or systems analysts, to carry out the job.
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The second aspect is to either develop in-house standards or

adopt the standards of a professional associa9on or a
standards body that the analysts are to follow.
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These professionals must be properly trained to carry out

requirements engineering.

These standards set minimum levels in drawing up

specica9ons.

Ini9ally, specica9ons should be developed for a product in

the usual way.
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In an internal or external customer-driven project scenario,

user requirements are collected.
In a commercial o-the-shelf product scenario, requirements
are gathered from a market survey exercise.

Once requirements have been collected, they need to be

developed.
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This involves separa9ng the requirements into func9onal

requirements, usability requirements, safety and security
requirements, reliability requirements, and so on.
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12

These requirements also must be checked against organiza9onal standards for

usability, safety, and security, and any missing requirements need to be lled in.

Then, each class of requirements is analyzed for

comprehensiveness against either the backdrop of an exis9ng
product or a past project.
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13

If neither is available, func9onal experts should scru9nize and

ll in the missing requirements.
If access to experts is not available, then a team inside the
organiza9on is formed to carry out a brainstorming exercise to
ensure that the specica9ons are comprehensive in all the
classes.

In a commercial o-the-shelf product scenario, a second

market survey to tap the poten9al users can be conducted to
improve the specica9ons.

Design quality refers to how well the product or service to be

delivered is designed.
The objec9ves for design are to fulll the specica9ons
dened for the product or service being provided.
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Design determines the shape and strengths of the product or

service. Therefore, if the design is weak, the product or service
will fail, even if the specica9ons are very well dened.

Although design is a crea9ve ac9vity, it can be split into two

phases: conceptual design and engineering.
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15

Conceptual design selects the approach to a solu9on from the

myriad approaches available.
Engineering uses the approach selected and works out the
details to realize the solu9on.

Conceptual design is the crea9ve part of the process, and

engineering is the details part.

A bridge can be
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A simply supported bridge has a number of equally spaced

pillars (columns) that support the bridge and the trac that
ows on it.
A suspension bridge has a pillar at each end, with cables drawn
from these two pillars to support the bridge.
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For this class of bridge, there are many alterna9ves for the
suspension material, loca9on of the pillars, design of the pillars,
design of the suspension cables, and so on. Conceptual design
decides these aspects.
Engineering design works out details such as the dimensions for
each component, selec9on of materials, methods of join9ng, and
so on.

In terms of soLware,
n

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Conceptual design refers to soLware architecture, naviga9on,

number of 9ers, approaches to exibility, portability,
maintainability, and so on.
Engineering design refers to database design, program
specica9ons, screen design, report design, etc.

SoLware design normally contains the following elements:

1. Func9onality design

10. Fault tolerance

2. SoLware architecture

11. Capacity

3. Naviga9on

12. Reliability

4. Database design

13. Maintainability

5. Development pla`orm

14. Eciency and concurrence

6. Deployment pla`orm

15. Coupling and cohesion

7. User interface design

16. Program specica9ons

8. Report design

17. Test design

9. Security
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How do we ensure that the right designs are selected and

implemented?
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As with specica9on quality, before soLware design is

agempted, it is essen9al that qualied people, trained in the
art and science of soLware design, are in place.
Either soLware design standards are developed in-house or,
alterna9vely, they are adopted from a professional
associa9on or a standards body. These standards assist
designers to achieve the best design possible.

It is normal to conduct a brainstorming session at the

beginning of a soLware design project, to select one
op9mum design alterna9ve and to decide on the overall
design aspects, such as the number of 9ers, technology
pla`orm, soLware coupling and cohesion, etc.
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20

A brainstorming session helps designers arrive at the best

possible solu9on for the project at hand.

A prototype of the design may be created and evaluated,

which is normal prac9ce specically in the case of commercial
o-the-shelf product development.

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The nal design is then evaluated against the organiza9onal

standards to ensure that the design will work for the project.
The design is subjected to reviews from peers, experts, and
managers as required before carrying out the detailed design
of the en9re product.

In certain elds, there is no way quality can be tested without

destroying the product itself.
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For example, the thickness and adherence of paint on a surface

cannot be ensured without destroying the paint itself. Various
shaLs used in automobiles are forged and heat treated to make
them stronger, and there is prac9cally no way to test them to
ensure that the desired quali9es are built in without destroying
the shaLs.

In such cases, in-process inspec9on is performed to ensure

that the process is adhered to diligently and a few samples
are subjected to destruc9ve tes9ng.

Fortunately, when it comes to soLware, nothing needs to be

destroyed during tes9ng, and correc9ons can be made
without any material loss.
But tes9ng takes much longer to perform in the soLware
development eld than it does in manufacturing.
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Inspec9on and tes9ng take only a frac9on of the 9me it takes

to fabricate a part or a product in manufacturing, but soLware
tes9ng can some9mes take more 9me and eort than it takes
to develop the soLware.
It is commonly agreed that 100% tes9ng is not prac9cal in the
soLware development eld. Therefore, the way in which
soLware is developed assumes greater importance.

Normally, the following ac9vi9es form part of developing

soLware:
1. Create the database and table structures
2. Develop dynamically linked libraries (DLLs) for common rou9nes
3. Develop screens
4. Develop reports
5. Develop unit test plans
6. Develop associated process rou9nes for all other aspects, such as
security, eciency, fault tolerance, etc.

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Good-quality construc(on is achieved by adhering to the

coding guidelines of the programming language being used.
Normally there is a separate coding guideline for every
programming language used in an organiza9on.
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Coding guidelines contain naming conven9ons, code

formalng, eciency guidelines, and defect preven9on
guidelines that help developers write reliable and defect-free
code.

It is very important to have qualied people trained in

soLware development.
Construc9on follows soLware design, and it should always
conform to the design document.

Conformance quality deals with how well an organiza9on

ensures that quality is built into a product through the above
three dimensions.
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It is one thing to do a quality job, but it is quite another to

unearth any defects lurking in the work product and ensure
that a good-quality product is indeed built.
Essen9ally, conformance quality examines how well quality
control is carried out in the organiza9on.

How do we determine how well an organiza9on conducts the

ac9vi9es that ensure that quality is indeed built into a
deliverable?
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One way to ascertain the ecacy of quality assurance ac9vi9es is

to use a set of quality metrics.
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These metrics include the defect removal eciency of each of the

quality control ac9vi9es, product quality, and the defect density.

Another way to ascertain the ecacy of quality assurance ac9vi9es

is to compare industry benchmark data for quality metrics with the
organiza9onal metrics.

(See Appendix G - Quality metrics and measurements)

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We discuss, in this course, how to build quality into a

deliverable and ensure that quality is built into the rst three
dimensions men9oned (soLware specica9ons, design, and
construc9on), as well as ensure the quality of conformance
itself through quality measurement and metrics.

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n
n

29

This is the rst ac9vity in building either a product or a

service.
It is a crea9ve ac9vity.
In the soLware industry, specica9ons are referred to as user
requirements. That is, end users of a soLware product
perceive them as the requirements for the proposed product.

The following are possible scenarios for obtaining user

requirements:
1. A business analyst conducts a feasibility study, writes up a
report, and draws up the user requirements.
2. A ready set of user requirements is presented as part of a
request for proposal
3. A request for proposal points to a similar product and requests
replica9on with client-specic customiza9on

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Scenario 1. A business analyst conducts a feasibility study, writes up a

report, and draws up the user requirements.
The analyst:
a. Meets with all the end users and notes their requirements and
concerns
b. Meets with the func9on heads and notes their requirements and
concerns
c. Meets with management personnel and notes their requirements and
concerns
d. Consolidates the requirements and presents them to select end
users, func9on heads, and management personnel and receives their
feedback, if any
e. Implements the feedback and nalizes specica9ons.
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Regardless of the scenario, once the specica9ons are ready,

quality assurance steps in.
The role of quality assurance in this area is to ensure that the
specica9ons are exhaus9ve and cover all areas, including
func9onality, capacity, reliability, safety, security, intended use,
etc.

The tools for building quality into specica9ons are as follows:

1. Process documenta9onDetails the methodology for gathering,
developing, analyzing, and nalizing the specica9ons
2. Standards and guidelines, formats, and templatesSpecify the
minimum set of specica9ons that needs to be built in
3. ChecklistsHelp analysts to ensure comprehensiveness of the
specica9ons

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Using these tools, analysts can develop specica9ons that are

comprehensive and are clear in order to carry out the next ac9vity
(which is design) and that ensure quality is built into specica9ons.
The tools that can be used to carry out quality assurance to ensure
quality of specica9ons are expert reviews and peer reviews.

The process of design is conver9ng product specica9ons (or user

requirements) into design documents that can be used by
programmers to develop the source code required for the product.
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Normally, soLware design is a two-step process:

1. Conceptual designReferred to as high-level design and
soLware architecture design.
2. Engineering designReferred to as low-level design, detailed
design, and soLware design.

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SoLware design is a two-step process:

1. Conceptual designReferred to as high-level design and
soLware architecture design.
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The overall architecture of the soLware product, including the number of

9ers, modules, approaches to achieving the func9onality, database design,
robustness, reliability, and security, are determined and documented.
This document is used by the designers to carry out the engineering design.

2. Engineering designReferred to as low-level design, detailed

design, and soLware design.
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In this step, detailed specica9ons are drawn up for each program

unit, screen, report, table, etc., and programmers use this document
to develop source code.

The tools for building quality into design include the following:
1. Process documenta9onDetails the methodology for design alterna9ves
to be considered, criteria for selec9ng the alterna9ve for the project, and
nalizing the conceptual design.
2. Standards and guidelines, formats, and templatesSpecify the possible
soLware architectures along with their agendant advantages and
disadvantages, the methodology for short-lis9ng of design alterna9ves, and
so on.
3. ChecklistsHelp designers to ensure that design is carried out
comprehensively and appropriately.

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The tools for building quality into design include the following:
1. Process documenta9on
2. Standards and guidelines, formats, and templates
3. Checklists

n

37

Using these tools, designers can develop designs that are comprehensive, are
clear in order to carry out the next ac9vity (which is soLware construc9on), and
ensure that quality is built into designs.
The tools that are available for ensuring quality of design are expert reviews,
peer reviews of each design specica9on, and managerial reviews of the overall
design.

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Development is the act of building the soLware product in

conformance with the design.
In this stage, the source code is developed and is linked with
the preexis9ng code libraries, to complete the code required
for the product.
This code is converted into executable code that can run on
the hardware selected. This is also the stage in which the
database is designed and built, so that data can be loaded
and used by the soLware.

How is quality built into a product during the development

stage?
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It is built in by adhering to the organiza9onal standards for

code quality as well as the coding guidelines for the
development language being used.
Uncontrolled changes can wreak havoc with code quality.
Therefore, change management and congura9on
management assume importance for ensuring code quality.
There are two techniques to ensure that quality is built into a
product: reviews (walkthroughs) and tes9ng.

Ensuring that conformance quality is at desirable levels in the

organiza9on is achieved through quality measurements and
metrics: (Appendix G)
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Defect removal eciency of verica9on and valida9on

ac9vi9es, defect injec9on rate, and defect density are all used
for this purpose.
In addi9on, projects are benchmarked at the organiza9onal
level and trend analysis is performed.

Audits also are conducted to ensure that projects conform to

various applicable standards for building quality into all ac9vi9es,
including specica9ons and design.
Organiza9onal data is benchmarked against industry benchmarks,
and correc9ve or preven9ve ac9ons are taken to ensure that
organiza9onal conformance is indeed on a par with the industry.

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Conformance quality is built in through process deni9on and

con9nuous improvement for all soLware development ac9vi9es as
well as quality assurance.

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Conformance quality is ensured through metrics and measurement. Table 2.1

summarizes the techniques available for ensuring quality in each of the four
dimensions of quality.