UNIT-1 SOFTWARE QUALITY ENGINEERING

Software Quality
Software quality refers to the degree to which a software system meets its intended requirements, is
reliable, efficient, and easy to use, and provides value to its users. It encompasses various aspects of
software development, including:

1. Functionality: Does the software perform its intended functions correctly?

2. Reliability: Does the software consistently perform its functions without errors or failures?

3. Usability: Is the software easy to use, understand, and navigate?

4. Efficiency: Does the software use system resources efficiently, such as CPU, memory, and storage?

5. Maintainability: Is the software easy to modify, update, and repair?

6. Testability: Is the software easy to test, validate, and verify?

7. Portability: Can the software run on different hardware, software, and operating systems?

8. Scalability: Can the software handle increased load, users, or data without compromising
performance?

9. Security: Does the software protect user data, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure
confidentiality, integrity, and availability?

10. Adaptability: Can the software adapt to changing user needs, requirements, and technologies?

Software quality is often evaluated using various metrics, such as:

1. Defect density: Number of defects per unit of code.

2. Test coverage: Percentage of code covered by automated tests.

3. Code quality: Adherence to coding standards, best practices, and design principles.

4. User satisfaction: Feedback from users on the software's usability, performance, and overall
experience.

5. Mean time to failure (MTTF): Average time between software failures.

6. Mean time to recovery (MTTR): Average time to recover from a software failure.

Achieving high software quality requires a combination of:

1. Good design and architecture

2. Robust testing and validation

3. Continuous integration and delivery

4. Automated testing and deployment

5. Code reviews and pair programming

6. Adoption of industry standards and best practices

7. Continuous monitoring and feedback

By focusing on software quality, organizations can:

1. Improve customer satisfaction

2. Reduce maintenance and support costs

3. Increase productivity and efficiency

4. Enhance reputation and credibility

5. Stay competitive in the market

Quality Software quality refers to the degree to which a software system meets its intended
requirements, is reliable, efficient, and easy to use, and provides value to its users. It encompasses
various aspects of software development, including:

1. Functionality: Does the software perform its intended functions correctly?

2. Reliability: Does the software consistently perform its functions without errors or failures?

3. Usability: Is the software easy to use, understand, and navigate?

4. Efficiency: Does the software use system resources efficiently, such as CPU, memory, and storage?

5. Maintainability: Is the software easy to modify, update, and repair?

6. Testability: Is the software easy to test, validate, and verify?

7. Portability: Can the software run on different hardware, software, and operating systems?

8. Scalability: Can the software handle increased load, users, or data without compromising
performance?

9. Security: Does the software protect user data, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure
confidentiality, integrity, and availability?

10. Adaptability: Can the software adapt to changing user needs, requirements, and technologies?

Software quality is often evaluated using various metrics, such as:

1. Defect density: Number of defects per unit of code.

2. Test coverage: Percentage of code covered by automated tests.

3. Code quality: Adherence to coding standards, best practices, and design principles.

4. User satisfaction: Feedback from users on the software's usability, performance, and overall
experience.

5. Mean time to failure (MTTF): Average time between software failures.

6. Mean time to recovery (MTTR): Average time to recover from a software failure.

Achieving high software quality requires a combination of:

1. Good design and architecture

2. Robust testing and validation

3. Continuous integration and delivery

4. Automated testing and deployment

5. Code reviews and pair programming

6. Adoption of industry standards and best practices

7. Continuous monitoring and feedback

By focusing on software quality, organizations can:

1. Improve customer satisfaction

2. Reduce maintenance and support costs

3. Increase productivity and efficiency

4. Enhance reputation and credibility

5. Stay competitive in the market

Quality Perspectives and Expectations

Software quality is a multifaceted concept that can be viewed from various perspectives. Here are
some key software quality perspectives and expectation

Software Quality Perspectives

1. User Perspective: Software should meet user needs, be easy to use, and provide a good user
experience.

2. Developer Perspective: Software should be maintainable, scalable, and efficient to develop

and test.

3. Business Perspective: Software should meet business objectives, be cost-effective, and

provide a competitive advantage.

4. Quality Assurance Perspective: Software should meet specified requirements, be reliable,

and adhere to industry standards.

Software Quality Expectations

1. Functionality: Software should perform its intended functions correctly and consistently.

2. Reliability: Software should be able to perform its functions without failure or interruption.

3. Usability: Software should be easy to use, with an intuitive interface and minimal user
errors.

4. Efficiency: Software should optimize system resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage.

5. Maintainability: Software should be easy to modify, update, and repair.

6. Scalability: Software should be able to handle increased load, usage, or data without
compromising performance.
 7. Security: Software should protect user data, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure
confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Software Quality Models

1. McCall's Quality Model: Focuses on product operation, product revision, and product
transition.

2. Boehm's Quality Model: Emphasizes portability, efficiency, usability, and testability.

3. ISO 9126 Quality Model: Covers functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, maintainability,
and portability.

Software Quality Standards

1.ISO 9001: A quality management standard that applies to all industries.

1. CMMI: A capability maturity model that assesses software development processes.

2. IEEE Standards: A collection of standards for software engineering, including quality

assurance and testing.

Quality frameworks and ISO-9126

Quality frameworks and ISO 9126 are essential concepts in software engineering.

Quality Frameworks

A quality framework is a structured approach to ensuring software quality. It provides a set of

guidelines, standards, and best practices to help organizations develop high-quality software. Some
popular quality frameworks include:

1. CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration): A process improvement framework that

helps organizations improve their software development processes.

2. ISO 9001: A quality management standard that applies to all industries, including software
development.

3. IEEE Software Engineering Standards: A collection of standards for software engineering,

including quality assurance and testing.

ISO 9126

ISO 9126 is an international standard for evaluating software quality. It provides a framework for
assessing software quality characteristics, which are divided into six categories:

1. Functionality: The ability of the software to perform its intended functions.

2. Reliability: The ability of the software to perform its functions without failure or
interruption.

3. Usability: The ease with which users can operate and understand the software.

4. Efficiency: The ability of the software to optimize system resources.

5. Maintainability: The ease with which the software can be modified, updated, or repaired.
 6. Portability: The ability of the software to operate on different hardware and software
platforms.

ISO 9126 Quality Characteristics

Here is a more detailed breakdown of the ISO 9126 quality characteristics:

 Functionality:

o Suitability

o Accuracy

o Interoperability

o Compliance

 Reliability:

o Maturity

o Fault tolerance

o Recoverability

 Usability:

o Understandability

o Learnability

o Operability

 Efficiency:

o Time behavior

o Resource utilization

 Maintainability:

o Analyzability

o Changeability

o Stability

o Testability

 Portability:

o Adaptability

o Installability

o Co-existence

ISO 9126 provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating software quality, and it is widely used
in the software industry.
Correctness and Defects
Software quality, correctness, and defects are interconnected concepts that ensure software meets
its specifications, requirements, and expectations.

Software Quality

Software quality refers to the degree to which software meets its specifications, requirements, and
expectations. It encompasses various aspects, including:

1. Correctness: Software meets its specifications and requirements.

2. Reliability: Software performs consistently and accurately.

3. Efficiency: Software optimizes system resources.

4. Usability: Software is easy to use and understand.

5. Maintainability: Software is easy to modify and update.

Correctness

Correctness refers to the degree to which software meets its specifications, requirements, and
expectations. Correct software:

1. Meets Requirements: Satisfies all specified requirements and functionalities.

2. Produces Accurate Results: Generates correct output for given inputs.

3. Behaves as Expected: Exhibits expected behavior under various conditions.

Defects A defect is an error, flaw, or imperfection that causes software to fail to meet its
specifications, requirements, or expectations. Defects can be:

1. Syntax Errors: Errors in programming language syntax.

2. Logic Errors: Errors in program logic or algorithms.

3. Runtime Errors: Errors that occur during program execution.

4. Performance Issues: Issues that affect software performance, such as slow response times
or memory leaks.

Defect Classification

1. Critical Defects: Defects that cause software to fail or produce incorrect results.

2. Major Defects: Defects that affect software functionality or performance.

3. Minor Defects: Defects that are cosmetic or do not affect software functionality.

Defect Detection and Prevention

1. Testing: Thorough testing to detect defects.

2. Code Reviews: Regular code reviews to detect defects early.

3. Static Analysis: Analysis of code without executing it to detect defects.

 4. Dynamic Analysis: Analysis of code while it is executing to detect defects.

5. Coding Standards: Following coding standards to reduce defects.

6. Code Refactoring: Regular refactoring to improve code quality.

Historical perspective of software quality

1960s: The Early Days of Software Development

1. Ad-hoc development: Software development was in its infancy, with a focus on getting the code to
work.

2. Lack of quality focus: Quality was not a primary concern, as software was seen as a secondary
aspect of hardware systems.

3. Debugging-oriented approach: Developers focused on fixing errors as they occurred, rather than
preventing them.

1970s: The Birth of Software Engineering

1. Software engineering emerges: The term "software engineering" was coined in 1968, recognizing
software development as a distinct engineering discipline.

2. First quality metrics: Metrics like lines of code and cyclomatic complexity emerged to measure
software quality.

3. Introduction of testing: Testing became a formal process, with the development of testing
methodologies and tools.

1980s: The Rise of Quality Assurance

1. Quality assurance (QA) emerges: QA became a formal process, with the introduction of
methodologies like ISO 9000.

2. Testing and validation improve: Testing and validation techniques improved, with the
development of automated testing tools.

3. Introduction of quality standards: Quality standards like ISO 9000 and IEEE standards emerged to
guide software development.

1990s: The Agile Revolution

1. Agile Manifesto: The Agile Manifesto (2001) emphasized flexibility, collaboration, and rapid
delivery, shifting the focus from traditional waterfall methodologies.

2. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): CI/CD practices emerged, enabling
faster and more reliable software delivery.

3. Increased focus on customer satisfaction: Agile methodologies emphasized customer satisfaction

and rapid delivery, changing the way software quality was perceived.

2000s: The Era of DevOps and Shift-Left

1. DevOps emerges: DevOps, a cultural and technical movement, aimed to bridge the gap between
development and operations teams.
2. Shift-left approach: The shift-left approach emphasized integrating quality and testing earlier in
the development cycle, rather than treating them as separate phases.

3. Increased focus on automation: Automation became a key aspect of software quality, with the
adoption of automated testing, continuous integration, and continuous deployment.

2010s: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

1. AI and ML in software quality: AI and ML technologies began to be applied to software quality,

enabling predictive analytics, automated testing, and defect detection.

2. Increased focus on data quality: The importance of data quality and data-driven decision-making
grew, as software systems became increasingly data-dependent.

3. Emergence of new quality metrics: New quality metrics like technical debt, code coverage, and
test automation coverage emerged to measure software quality.

2020s: The Era of Digital Transformation and Hyper-Automation

1. Digital transformation accelerates: Digital transformation accelerated, driven by the COVID-19

pandemic, and software quality became critical to business success.

2. Hyper-automation: Hyper-automation, which involves the application of advanced technologies

like AI, ML, and robotic process automation (RPA), transformed software development and quality
assurance.

3. Increased focus on customer experience: Customer experience became a key aspect of software
quality, with a focus on delivering high-quality, user-friendly software systems.