UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

UNIT-I : Fundamentals of Software Quality Assurance: Ethical Basis
for Software Quality Total Quality Management Principles Software
Processes and Methodologies.
ETHICAL BASIS FOR SOFTWARE QUALITY:
Quality Concepts
Software quality assurance is an umbrella activity that is applied
throughout the software process.
SQA encompasses:
(1) a quality management approach
(2) effective software engineering technology
(3) formal technical reviews
(4) a multi-tiered testing strategy
(5) document change control
(6) software development standard and its control procedure
(7) measurement and reporting mechanism
Quality
Quality refers to measurable characteristics of software. These
items can be compared based on a given standard.
Two types of quality control:
Quality design -> the characteristics that designers specify for an item.
Quality of design includes: requirements, specifications, and the design
of the system.
Quality of conformance -> the degree to which the design specification
are followed. It focuses on implementation based on the design.

Quality Control
What is Quality control?
The series of inspections, reviews, and test used throughout the
develop cycle of a software product. Quality control includes a feedback
loop to the process.

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

Objective
Minimize the produced defects, increase the product quality
Implementation approaches:
- Fully automated
- Entirely manual
- Combination of automated tools and human interactions
Key concept of quality control:
Compare the work products with the specified and measurable
standards.
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance consists of the auditing and reporting function
of management.
Goal
o Provide management with the necessary data about product
quality.
o Gain the insight and confidence of product quality
Cost of Quality
Cost of quality of a project includes all costs incurred in the pursuit of
quality or perform quality related work
Quality cost includes:
- prevention cost:
- quality planning
- formal technical reviews
- testing equipment
- training
- appraisal cost:
- in-process and inter-process inspection
- equipment calibration and maintenance
- testing
- failure cost:
- internal failure cost:
- rework, repair, and failure mode analysis
- external failure cost:
- complaint resolution
- product return and replacement
- help line support
- warranty work

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY ASSURANCE

Quality Assurance
Quality is an essential ingredient in building successful businesses
and marketing.
Not only do products and services need to be of high quality, but
potential customers also need to have assurance that the products
will be of high quality.
Organisations that have developed a quality system have found
that it is becoming a vital part of their business strategy
What is Quality?
The ability of your product or service to satisfy your customers.
What is Quality Assurance (or QA)?
What you need to do, to demonstrate that your product or service
will satisfy your customers.
What is a Quality Assurance System?
The organisational structure, the processes and procedures
necessary to ensure that the overall intentions and direction of an
organisation as regards quality are met and that the quality of the
product or service is assured
The history of Quality Assurance:

Quality Assurance Systems were first widely introduced during

WWII.
There was a need to tighten controls on industry output,
particularly in the military industry.
These were initially just inspection and testing, and relied on
catching the defects at the end of the process.
As the demand for better quality and more reliable products and
services increased, the quality systems evolved to become the ISO
9000 series.
These now rely on PREVENTION RATHER THAN CURE, and are
applicable to all industries, including the construction industry.
THE QUALITY ASSURANCE STANDARDS:

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II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

In 1987 respected industry representatives from around the globe

assisted the International Standards Organisation (ISO) to develop
the ISO 9000 series of quality system standards.
These standards have been recognised and are in use in over 90
countries including the United Kingdom, the European Community
The 2 most commonly used standards in the ISO 9000 series are
ISO 9001 and ISO 9002:
ISO 9001 sets out the requirements to be met by the Quality
System when a business is involved in design, development,
production, installation and/or servicing.
ISO 9002 sets out the requirements of the QA system when a
business is involved in development, production, installation
and/or servicing.
As you can see, the only difference between the 2 standards is the
"Design" element.

Reasons for setting up a Quality System:

A well developed and implemented QA system should:
(i) Improve your product and service quality
(ii) Give your customers confidence that their needs will be met.
(iii) Standardise your business by giving it a consistent approach
to its operations
(iv) Improve work processes, efficiencies, morale and reduce waste
The driving forces behind the huge popularity of QA Systems are:
(i) Government purchasing policy
(ii) Large businesses purchasing policy
(iii) Other customers are asking for it
(iv) Other competitors are offering it
(v) Standardised procedures are wanted for a growing company 3
(vi) Marketing tool is wanted.
The benefits that businesses
implemented QA System are:

should

derive

from

properly

(i) Improving customer satisfaction

(ii) Improving efficiency
(iii) Improving effectiveness
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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

(iv) Reducing rework and waste

(v) Creating a well-planned business
(vi) Adding credibility to the business
(vii) Enabling the business to compete on an equal basis with
larger businesses.
SOFTWARE QUALITY
Software Quality: Definable and measurable
Quality:
1. Conformance to requirements, non-conformance is a defect
2. Fitness for use- meets customer expectations
Quality of Design:
1. Grades/Models
2. Customer purchasing power
3. Transportation vs. Status
Quality of Conformance
Degree to which the product meets design specification
Role of Customer
Small q producer perspective, acceptable product defect rate
and acceptable reliability.
Big Q Product quality, process quality, and customer
satisfaction
Ethical Basis for Quality
1.
Technical Issues
2.
Professional Issues
3.
Social Issues

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

Software Quality
Conformance to functionality?
a)
Defect Rate
b)
Reliability
c)
Measure- customer satisfaction
Interrelationships Among Software Attributes A CUPRIMDA
Example
Measures
Models
Software Quality Assurance
Goal: to achieve high-quality software product
Quality definition:
Conformance to explicitly state functional and performance
requirements, explicitly documented development standards, and
implicit characteristics that expected of al professional developed
software.
Three import points for quality measurement:
- Use requirements as the foundation
- Use specified standards as the criteria
- Considering implicit requirements
About quality assurance:
- The first formal quality assurance and control function was
introduced at Bell Labs in 1916 in the manufacturing world.
- During the 1950s and 1960s, the programmer controls their
product quality.
- During the 1970s, quality assurance standards were introduced
first in military contract software development.
- In 1987, the extending definition is given in [SCH87].
SQA Group
Who involves quality assurance activities?
Software engineers, project managers, customers, sale people, SQA
group
Engineers involved the quality assurance work:
- apply technical methods and measures
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UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

- conduct formal technical review

- perform well-planned software testing
The SQA groups role
serves as the customers in-house representative assist the
software engineering team in achieving high-quality.
The SQA groups responsibility:
Quality assurance planning oversight, record keeping, analysis and
reporting
The SQA groups tasks:
o Prepare a SQA plan for a project
o Participate in the development of the projects software process
description
o Review engineering activities to verify compliance with the defined
process
o Audits designated software work products to verify compliance the
defined process
o Ensure the deviations in software work and products according to
a documented procedure
o Records any noncompliance and reports to senior management
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
Total Quality Management:
What Is It? The management choice of the nineties is more than a
program; it is a commitment to a new way of life, personally,
professionally, and as a world citizen. Without that commitment, it
becomes another management fad and a waste of time and money.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is the optimization and
integration of all the functions and processes of a business in order to
provide for excited customers through a process of continuous
improvement.
The 1990's is the decade of Globalisation. In order for companies
to be competitive in this environment they have seen the imperative need
for Quality. However through the decades leading to the 90's there have
been many "gurus" who have explicitly underlined the need for Total
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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

Quality Management Systems in companies, but due to many factors

these ideas have either gone unheeded, or been buzz word for a short
time. It is possible that Total Quality Management (TQM), is once again a
buzz word and a marketing tool, but nevertheless it is a tool that is being
extensively used in the 90's to help companies gain and maintain a
competitive edge over their rivals.

A Disciplined Approach for Management and Employees to Manage

Quality
A Methodology for Problem Solving and Continuous Process
Improvement
Apply to All Employees in Everything is done
Everyone has a Customer - Both Internal and External
Quality Defined is Conformance to Customer Requirements

Objectives of TQM:

Process improvement
Defect prevention
Priority of effort
Developing cause-effect relationships
Measuring system capacity
Developing improvement checklist and check forms
Helping teams make better decisions
Developing operational definitions
Separating trivial from significant needs
Observing behaviour changes over a period of time

TQM revolves around:

Commitment by Senior Management and all employees

Effective strategy, vision, mission and goals
Customer/ Supplier relationships
Communication
Tools and techniques for improvement
Team work
Systems to facilitate improvement
and most of all TRUST

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

The quality system should apply to and interact with all activities
of the organisation. It begins with the identification of requirements and
ends with their satisfaction, at every transaction interface. The quality
system must be a practical working document. Look for a document that
is well fingered in use. A useful guide in the operation of any process is:
1.
2.
3.
4.

No
No
No
No

process without data collection

data collection without analysis
analysis without decisions
decisions without actions (which can include doing nothing)

This discipline is built into any good quality system primarily

through the audit and review systems. The overriding requirement is that
the systems must reflect the established practices of the organisation,
improved where necessary to bring them into line with current and
future requirements. In implementing a quality system the established
national standards such as the BS7850 series can serve as a useful
guide and framework.
A systematic, functional, quality model like TQM should be
genuinely explored and exploited.
Continuous improvements are probably the most powerful concept
to guide management through the achievements of TQM Continuous
improvements are based on systematic, incremental and habitual
improvements of processes rather than on breakthroughs and innovative
advances. The process concentrates on elimination of waste and nonvalue-added activities through collective and continuous involvement of
all employees.
This systematic approach to quality management requires the following
components:
Planning the processes and inputs
Providing inputs
Operating the processes
Evaluating the outputs
Examining the performances of the processes
Modifying the processes and their inputs

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Example:
1. Plan-do-check-act: feedback loop and statistical quality control
2. Quality Improvement Paradigm: internal assessment of company
goals and status
a)
Characterize product and its environment
b)
Set goals
c)
Choose appropriate processes
d)
Execute Processes
e)
Analyze Data
f)
Package Expertise for Reuse
3. S.E.I Capability and Maturity Model
a)
Stage process improvement 1-5 stages
b)
Library of repeatable processes
c)
Defect prevention
d)
Technology innovation
e)
Process change methodology
4. Lean Enterprise Model
a)
Concentrate on value added activities
b)
Eliminate non-value added activities
TQM Tools
Quality Improvement Teams
These are small groups of employees who work on solving specific
problems related to quality and productivity, often with stated targets for
improvement. Quality improvement teams are proving to be highly

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

successful at tracking down the causes of poor quality as well as taking

remedial action.
Benchmarking
This is the process of identifying the best practices and approaches by
comparing productivity in specific areas within ones' own company to
other organisations both within and outside the industry.
Statistical process control
This is a statistical technique that uses periodic random samples
taken during actual production to determine whether acceptable quality
levels are being met or whether production should be stopped in order to
take remedial action. Because most processes produce some variation,
statistical process control uses statistical tests to determine when
variations fall outside a narrow range around the acceptable quality level.
The emphasis when using SPC is on defect prevention rather than trying
to inspect the quality into the product.
COMMITMENT
In order for the Eye on the Future Model to be a success, each
member in an organisation must be committed to the change process. It
cannot be viewed as the new flavour of the month, but should rather be
regarded as an exciting life changing process. Too often peoples'
enthusiasm wanes when they realise that the change process in an
organisation is not likely to occur overnight People need to pledge their
support to objectively analysing their job functions and procedures, and
seeking new innovative ways to improve them. If necessary inspirational
speakers should be employed to enthuse staff to a new attitude of
commitment. Once again, people are led by example. If it appears that
management is not committed to the change process, this is the attitude
the people will develop. However, if commitment is perceived to be the
attitude of management, then the people are most likely to follow.
TRAINING

Training must be a part of the organisations succession planning.

In today's business environment any training which is less than

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

visionary will not help the organisation meet its' future goals and
objectives. Training objectives must be supportive of the company's
vision and mission. In order to identify training, the employees must be
involved. System deficiencies including non-conformance reports,
customer complaints and job performance appraisals will highlight the
most urgent areas for development. Training programmes must be
devised and implemented to help bridge the gap identified previously.
The results of the training must be evaluated to ensure that effective
improvement has been achieved and that employees are competent to
use the skills acquired.
Management must promote the need for continuous training, as it will
facilitate the following:
1. Employees will be more confident and motivated in their work
2. Reduce staff turnover
3. Reduce errors
4. Improve productivity
5. Improve the organisation competitiveness.
Training must help each individual in the organisation to maintain
a growing knowledge of their business environment. It must be
implemented to each individual, from the directors to the cleaners.
SOFTWARE PROCESSES AND METHODOLOGIES.
Software processes are the activities involved in producing and
evolving a software system.
A software process, also known as software development life-cycle
[SDLC], is a structure imposed on the development of a software product.
Similar terms include software life cycle and software process. It is often
considered a subset of systems development life cycle. There are several
models for such processes, each describing approaches to a variety of
tasks or activities that take place. Some people consider a life-cycle
model a more general term and a software development process a more
specific term. For example, there are many specific software development
processes that fit the spiral life-cycle model. ISO/IEC 12207 is an
international standard for software life-cycle processes. It aims to be the
standard that defines all the tasks required for developing and
maintaining software.
The software process refers to the way in which the software is
produced. These might differ from organization to organization. Better
software processes form the basis for the development of efficient

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

software. Improving the processes in turn leads to improved quality,

productivity and reduced development and maintenance efforts.
Although it is required of the organizations to continually improve their
processes, however, some organizations find it difficult to improve their
software processes because of the following reasons:
Insufficient Knowledge: A lot of software engineers are not
familiarized with the best industry practices. Less time is
spent reading literature on the best known software
development ways. The awareness on software processes
have grown with the help of frameworks such as the
Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and ISO in the recent years
as discussed further.
Lack of time: Unrealistic schedules leave the developers
with insufficient time do to essential project work. Software
engineers are left with no time to think over what is wrong
and what is right with their development process. Moreover,
the demands of customer and senior management are such
that the situation worsens all the more.
Incorrect motivation: Although the basic motivation for the
software process improvement should be to do away with the
difficulties being experienced in the current project but
rarely do the organizations go by this. Wrong reasons
prompted by clients, contractors, etc., have lead the software
organization to climb the bandwagon. As a result, the use of
the software process improvement activities has become
more like burden for the developers.
THE PROCESS
The generic phases that characterize the software process
definition, development, and support are applicable to all software. The
problem is to select the process model that is appropriate for the
software to be engineered by a project team. A wide array of software
engineering paradigms was discussed.
The linear sequential model
The prototyping model
The RAD model
The incremental model
The spiral model

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UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

The WINWIN spiral model

The component-based development model
The concurrent development model
The formal methods model
The fourth generation techniques model
The project manager must decide which process model is most
appropriate for (1) the customers who have requested the product and
the people who will do the work, (2) the characteristics of the product
itself, and (3) the project environment in which the software team works.
When a process model has been selected, the team then defines a
preliminary project plan based on the set of common process framework
activities. Once the preliminary plan is established, process
decomposition begins.
Modeling the product and the Process
Project planning begins with the modeling of the product and the
process. Each function to be engineered by the software team must pass
through the set of framework activities that have been defined for a
software organization. Assume that the organization has adopted the
following set of framework activities:
Customer communication tasks required to establish effective
requirements elicitation between developer and customer.
Planning tasks required to define resources, timelines, and other
project-related information.
Risk analysis tasks required to assess both technical and
management risks.
Engineering tasks required to build one or more representations of
the application.
Construction and release tasks required to construct, test, install,
and provide user support (e.g. Documentation and Training).
Customer evaluation tasks required to obtain customer feedback
based on evaluation of the software representations created during
the engineering activity and implemented during the construction

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II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

En
g in
ee
rin
g

is
lys
An
a
Ris
k

nn
in g
Pla

Common Process Frame

work activities

C
Co usto
mm m
un er
ic a
tio
n

activity.

Software Engineering Tasks

Product Function
Text input
Editing and formatting
Automatic copy edit
Page layout capability
Automatic indexing and TOC
File Managemnet
Document Production

Fig: Melding the Problem and the Process

The team members who work on a product function will apply each
of the framework activities to it. In essence, a matrix similar to the one
shown in fig is created. Each major product function is listed in the lefthand column. Framework activities are listed in the top row. Software
engineering work tasks (for each framework activity) would be entered in
the following row. The job of the project manager (and other team
member) is to estimate resource requirements for each matrix cell start
and end dates for the tasks associated with each cell, and work products
to be produced as a consequence of each task.
Process Decomposition
A software team should have a significant degree of flexibility in
choosing the software engineering paradigm that is best for the project
and the software engineering tasks that populate the process model once
it is chosen. A relatively small project that is similar to past efforts might
be best accomplished using the linear sequential approach. If very tight
time constraints are imposed and the problem can be heavily
compartmentalized, the RAD model is probably the right option. If the
deadline is so tight that full functionality cannot reasonably be delivered,

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Periyar Government Arts College, Cuddalore- 607 001

UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

an incremental strategy might be best. Similarly, projects with other

characteristics (e.g. uncertain requirements, breakthrough technology,
difficult customers, and significant reuse potential) will lead to the
selection of other process models.
Once the process model has been chosen, the common process
framework (CPF) is adapted to it. The CPF is invariant and serves as the
basis for all software work performed by a software organization.
But actual work tasks do vary. Process decomposition commences
when the project manager asks, How do we accomplish this CPF
activity? For example, a small, relatively simple project might require the
following work tasks for the customer communication activity.
Develop list of clarification issues.
Meet with customer to address clarification issues.
Jointly develop a statement of scope.
Review the statement of scope with all concerned.
Modify the statement of scope as required.
These events might occur over a period of less than 48 hours. They
represent a process decomposition that is appropriate for the small,
relatively simplest project.
Now, we consider a more complex project, which has a broader
scope and more significant business impact. Such a project might
require the following work tasks for the customer communication
activity:
Review the customer request.
Plan and schedule a formal, facilitated meeting with the
customer,
Conduct research to specify the proposed solution and
existing approaches.
Prepare a working documents and an agenda for the formal
meeting.
Conduct meeting.
Jointly develop mini-specs that reflect data, function, and
behavioral features of the software.
Review each mini-spec for correctness, consistency, and lack
of ambiguity.
Assemble the mini-specs in to a scoping document.
Review the scoping document with all concerned.
Modify the scoping document as required.

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UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

Both projects perform the framework activity that we call

customer communication, but the first project team performed half as
many software engineering work tasks as the second.
Software Process:
The software process is defined by three phases: definition,
development and support. The main aim is to decide the model to be
used for software development. E.g. waterfall model, prototyping model,
the spiral model, the spiral model, etc.,.
The project manager must decide the most appropriate process
model depending upon
(1) The customers and the people, who will be involved in the
software building,
(2) The characteristics of the product, and (3) the project
environment in which the software team works.
After a process model has been selected, the team creates the
preliminary project plan after which the process decomposition starts.
The software team should choose the software paradigm that is
highly flexible and the software engineering tasks that are used within
this model. A small project similar to the one done in past can be done
using the waterfall approach. The project which has strict time deadlines
to be delivered reasonably, an incremental strategy will be adopted.
Once the process model has been chosen, the Common Process
Framework (CPF) is adapted to. CPF involves customer communication,
risk analysis, planning, engineering, construction and release, customer
evaluation, etc., This works for all sorts of process models irrespective of
the software work category.
Software Process Model
Building software is a continuous learning process and the
outcome is nothing but defined version of knowledge that has been
collected and processed in the process. A software lifecycle model can be
called a framework of tasks required to develop and build high-quality
software.
Software lifecycle model is techniques that are involved while
software being engineered. Also, the technical methods and tools that
comprise in the software engineering from a part of the model. Software
must be developed keeping in mind the demands of the end-user using

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UNIT 1 PCS 34 SOFTWARE TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

II-MSc Computer Science, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore- 632 115

defined software. A structured set of activities required to develop a

software life cycle model:
Specification
Design
Validation/Verification
Evolution
A software lifecycle model is an abstract representation of a
process. It presents a description of a process from some particular
perspective.

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