SQA

Software Quality Assurance

Department of Computer Science

NCBA&E ECC
SQA

Lecture: 01 & 02
Introduction & Testing Basics

Department of Computer Science

NABA&E ECC
Aqib Asad
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 Introduction & Testing Basics
SQA
• Introduction to SQA
• Quality Control & Software Quality
• Software Quality - what is it, how is it measured, how is it achieved
• Why Software Testing is important?
• Profession of SQA
• Why to become a QA engineer?
• Roles and Responsibilities of QA engineer
• Difference between defect, error, bug, failure and fault
• Software Life Cycle
• Infrastructure
• Management
• Standards
• Relationship between SDLC & SQTLC
• Software quality attributes

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 Introduction to SQA
SQA

• Software quality assurance (SQA) consists of a means of

monitoring the software engineering processes and
methods used to ensure quality.
• The degree to which a system, component, or process
meets specified requirements.
• The degree to which a system, component or process
meets customer or user needs or expectations.
• A planned and systematic pattern of all actions necessary
to provide adequate confidence that an item or product
conforms to established technical requirements.
• A set of activities designed to evaluate the process by
which products are developed or manufactured. Contrast
with: quality control

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 Motivation
SQA

The Software Crisis:

•„ IBM Consulting group estimates that 55% of large
distributed systems projects cost more than expected,
68% overrun their schedules, and 88% require redesign.
•„The Standish group estimated the cost of ‘bad
software’ for US businesses at $85 billion for 1998.
•The Y2K problem was estimated to cost $1 to $2
trillion.
•„W.W Gibbs, in “Software's Chronic Crisis” in the
Scientific American, September 1994 estimates that the
average software project overshoots its schedule by
half.

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 Motivation - Software's Chronic Crisis
SQA

Story:
Why Denver's new international air port is
famous in software quality case studies?
One pager note – sort of assignment but not
the assignment.

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 Differences between Software and
SQA
Other Products

1. Product Complexity

2. Product Visibility

3. Product Development Process

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 Quality Control & Software Quality
SQA

• Quality, simplistically, means that a product

should meet its specification
• There is a tension between customer quality
requirements (efficiency, reliability, etc.) and
developer quality requirements (maintainability,
reusability, etc.)
• Some quality requirements are difficult to specify
in an unambiguous way;
• Software specifications are usually incomplete
and often inconsistent

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SQA
Pressman's definition of
"Software Quality"

Conformance to explicitly stated functional

and performance requirements, explicitly
documented development standards, and
implicit characteristics that are expected of
all professionally developed software.

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 Software Quality – IEEE View
SQA

• The degree to which a system, component, or

process meets specified requirements.
• The degree to which a system, component, or
process meets customer or user needs or
expectations
• Quality – the degree of excellence of something.
We measure the excellence of software via a set
of attributes.

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 Approaches to Tackle Quality
SQA

• Transcendental view: quality is universally

identifiable, absolute, unique and perfect
• Product view: the quality of a product is
measurable in an objective manner
• User view: quality is fitness for use
• Manufacturing view: quality is the result of the
right development of the product
• Value-based view (Economic): quality is a
function of costs and benefits

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 Quality Models
SQA

• Such general definitions of software

quality are not sufficient in practice,
• Thus, software quality is described by
specific quality models
• Factor-Criteria-Metrics-Model
• McCall’s Factor Model Tree
• The Six Quality Characteristics of a
Software (ISO/IEC 9126)

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 Factor-Criteria-Metrics-Model
SQA

• Factors (to specify): They describe the

external view of the software, as viewed
by the users.
• „Criteria (to build): They describe the
internal view of the software, as seen by
the developer.
• „Metrics (to control): They are defined
and used to provide a scale and method
for measurement.

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 Factor-Criteria-Metrics-Model
SQA

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 McCall’s Factor Model Tree
SQA

• A quality factor represents a behavioral

characteristic of the system.
• Operation
• Revision
• Transition

• A quality criterion is an attribute of a quality factor

that is related to software production and design.

• A quality metric is a measure that captures some

aspect of a quality criterion.

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 McCall’s Factor Model Tree
SQA

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