1.2) Principles of Software Quality Assurance Flashcards
Independent of specific techniques or approaches, Balzert (1998, p. 284–293) describes the following principles of software quality assurance that serve as the fundamentals to be considered during the specific design of QA activities and QA processes.
What is the principle of product and process-dependent quality objective determination?
It involves determining specific quality objectives for the software product or process in the early project phases and documenting them for consideration during implementation.
Why is the principle of product and process-dependent quality objective determination often not followed in practice?
It is often due to a lack of skills for methodical determination and specification of quality objectives based on defined quality models.
What is the principle of quantitative quality assurance?
It means making assertions about system or process quality using key figures (metrics) with specified target values and comparing actual values against them.
Give an example of the principle of quantitative quality assurance.
“On the first release of the application, all known critical errors, but only 70% of all known non-critical errors, must be fixed.”
What is the principle of maximum constructive quality assurance?
It involves taking all measures in quality management to prevent errors, based on the assumption that high process quality leads to high product quality.
What is the principle of early error detection and correction?
It ensures errors are detected before they manifest in code, as correcting errors earlier is faster and more cost-effective than fixing them later in the process.
Why is early error detection important in software quality assurance?
Errors in early phases, if not corrected, propagate through all development stages, increasing correction costs and time.
What is the principle of development-accompanying, integrated quality assurance?
QA activities must accompany development activities and be integrated into the software process to detect errors early and prevent propagation.
How does the evolutionary development process model implement integrated quality assurance?
By developing software iteratively, with each iteration including testing, ensuring errors are detected in time and prevented from propagating.
What is the principle of independent quality assurance?
Reviews of artifacts should be objective and free from individual interests, ensuring unbiased evaluation of quality
How is independent quality assurance implemented in practice?
A hybrid model where the development team ensures basic quality (e.g., automatic tests), and the QA team evaluates higher-level aspects like functional use cases.
Why is a hybrid model of independent quality assurance effective?
It balances the development team’s responsibility for quality and the QA team’s objective evaluation of critical aspects and overall quality.
