The judgment of the quality of a software application depends on the various parameters; these can be either in the form of verification, validation, test strategies, tool selection, code reviews, or test execution.
The methodology of the judgment is different in different industries. Like some follow the V&V lifecycle which is holistic, streamlined and very precisely measured based on certain ISO standards, six-sigma techniques which are really helpful in delivering exceptional quality and service.
Talking about the V & V methodology it starts with analysis of the existing application environment and ends with handover of test results and post-delivery support. The V&V methodology can be customer-specified and tailored so as to best meet the requirements of the client's project.
Another way is the software quality assurance (SQA) which consists of means of monitoring software engineering processes and methods which are used to ensure the quality. It can be done by the means of audits of QMS (Quality Management System) under which the software system is created basically ISO 2000.
SQA is different from software quality control which includes review of the requirement documents and software testing. SQA encompasses the entire software development, whereas software quality control is a control of products, software quality assurance is a control of processes.
Software quality assurance is related with the working of quality assurance in product manufacturing section. These differences step out from the fact that the manufactured product is physical and can be seen whereas the software product is invisible and intangible. Therefore, the processes and methods to manage, monitor, and measure its ongoing quality are as fluid and sometimes elusive as the defects that they are meant to keep in check.
Managing quality in the Requirements workflow includes analysis of requirements for consistency, clarity, and precision i.e., the appropriate level of detail and accuracy.
In Analysis & Design workflow, the quality management includes assessing design artifact set, including the consistency of the design model which helps in the translation from the requirements which helps in translating into the implementation artifact, managing quality.
The Environment workflow includes many efforts addressing the purposes of managing quality.
Talking about the Project Management workflow, it includes an overview of many efforts for managing quality which includes reviews and audits of required to assess the implementation and progress of the development process.
The author is a Senior Search Engine Optimizer in an offshore software development company in India. The company deals in offshore software development and offshore outsourcing. For more information visit: http://www.otssolutions.com.