What kind of people are involved in development process?

People play an important role in the development process. One should understand the people involved in the software development process, particularly, their interest regarding the system and the software that needs to be developed.

End-users are the people who will be using the end-product. Some end users are directly involved and some are indirectly involved. Those who are directly involved are:

- Operational Job: They perform the operational functions of the system. They are concerned with the human interface component of the system like what keyboard, display screen you are using? They have the local view of the system. They tend to think of the system in physical terms.

- Supervisor Job: They perform supervisory actions on daily operations of the system. They are most likely to be concerned with the operational efficiency of the functions that needs to be performed such as more output in less time. They also tend to have same local and physical view of the system similar with the operational users. they are the users who have more contact with the software engineers.

- Executive Job: They generally provide the initiative and serve as the funding authority of the system development project. They are less likely to be concerned with the day to day activities. They are more concerned with strategic issues and long term profit and loss. They are more interested in global view of the system. They are generally able to work with abstract models of the system rather than the physical terms.

What is a System? What are general principles of system?

System is an:
- integrated set of inter-operable elements;
- it consists of group of entities or components;
- interacting together to form specific inter-relationships;
- organized by means of structure;
- working together to achieve a common goal.

In defining the system boundaries,a software engineer discovers the following:
- entities or group of entities that are related and organized in some way within the system, either they provide input, do activities or receive output;
- activities or actions that must be performed by the entities or group of entities in order to achieve the purpose of the system;
- a list of inputs;
- a list of outputs.
Entities that are involved in this system are the applicant, club staff and coach.

General Principles of Systems
- The more specialized a system, the less it is able to adapt to different circumstances.
- The larger the system is, the more resources must be devoted to its everyday maintenance
- Systems are always part of larger systems, and they can always bepartitioned into smaller systems

There are two types of systems, namely, man-made systems and automated systems. Man made systems will always have areas for correctness and improvements. These areas for correctness and improvements can be addressed by automated systems. Automated systems consists of computer hardware, computer software, people, procedures, data and information and the connectivity that allows the connection of one computer systemwith another computer system.

What is a software process? What are different types of software process models?

A strategy that a software development team employs in order to build quality software is called software process. A software process is chosen based on:
- nature of the project and application.
- methods and tools to be used.
- management and work products that are required.

A software process consists of:
- Framework activities: People who are involved in the development process perform these activities. They are alsoknown as phases of the software development process.
- Tasks sets: The activities in the process framework defines a set of tasks. These tasks would have milestones, deliverables or work products and software quality assurance (SQA) points.
- Umbrella activities: These are the activities that supports the framework of activities as the software development project progresses such as software project management, change management, requirements management, risk management, formal technical reviews.

Types of Software Process Models
- Linear Sequential Model
- Prototyping Model
- Rapid Application Development (RAD) Model
- Evolutionary Process Models which includes Incremental Model, Spiral Model and
Component-based Assembly Model.
- Concurrent Development Model
- Formal Methods

Factors that Affect the Choice of Process Model
- Type of the Project
- Methods and Tools to be Used
- Requirements of the Stakeholders
- Common Sense and Judgment

Formal Technical Review - Fagan's Inspection Method

Fagan's Inspection Method is introduced by Fagon. Apart from checking codes of programs,it is used to check other work products such as technical documents, model elements, data and code design etc. It follows certain procedural rules that each member should follow:
- The time limit for an inspection meeting is for two hours.
- Inspections are led by a trained moderator.
- Inspections are carried out at a number of points in the process of project planning and systems development.
- All classes of defects in documentation and work product are inspected.
- Inspection is carried out by colleagues at all levels of seniority except the big boss.
- Inspectors are assigned specific roles to increase effectiveness.
- Statistics on types of errors are key, and used for reports which are analyzed in a manner similar to financial analysis.

Different activities that are involved in conducting inspections are:
- Planning is very important and in this case the moderator is asked to build up a plan.
- Presentation should be given which gives an overall overview.
- Each inspector is given 1 to 2 hours alone to inspect the workproduct.
- Meeting should be held in which participants of the meeting are the inspectors, moderator and the developer of the work product.
- The defect list is given for repair.
- Follow up with the repair work.
- Casual analysis meeting is held where inspectors are given a chance to express their personal view on errors and improvements.

What are Formal Technical Reviews (FTR)? What is the aim and guidelines for formal technical reviews?

When tasks are performed in software process, the result is a work product. These results contribute to the development of quality software.
A formal technical review (FTR) is a software quality assurance activity performed by software engineers with the following objectives:
- uncover errors in function, logic or implementation of the software.
- verify that the software meets its requirements.
- ensure that the software has been developed according to the standards.
- achieve uniform software.
- make projects manageable.

Each formal technical review is conducted as a meeting and is considered successful only if it is properly planned, controlled and attended.
The purpose of formal technical review serves as a training ground for junior engineers and to promote backup and continuity.
Constraints of formal technical review meeting’s include 3-5 people involvement, advanced preparation not more than 2 hours for each person, the duration of the review meeting should be less than 2 hours and focus on a specific part of a software product.

There are few guidelines while conducting formal technical reviews. They are:
- Work product should be reviewed and not the developer.
- Make a practice to write down notes while conducting reviews.
- Agenda should be planned.
- Minimize the debate and discussions.
- Keep the number of participants to a minimum and insist on preparing for the review.
- The defect areas should be pointed but no solution should be provided.
- A checklist that is to be reviewed is provided.
- Schedule the reviews as part of the software process and ensure that resources are provided for each reviewer
- Check the effectiveness of review.

What are different activities that comprise Software Quality Assurance?

To build a quality software, software quality assurance comprise of different activities. People involved are development team and software quality assurance team. The team of software quality assurance is responsible for quality assurance planning, overseeing, analyzing, record keeping, defects analysis and rework.

The activities encompassing software quality assurance are:
- Software Quality Assurance Plan is prepared by SQA team. They identify the evaluation to be performed, audits and reviews to be performed, standards that are applicable, procedures for error reporting and tracking, documents to be produced and amount of feedback required.
- SQA team checks if the selected software development process conform to the organizational policy and quality standards.
- SQA team monitor and track deviations from the software development process. It reviews software engineering activities.
- SQA team reviews, monitor and track defects found with each work products. Documentations are done to ensure that corrections have been made.
- The SQA team ensures that deviations in the software activities and work products are handled based on defined standard operating procedures.
- The SQA team reports deviations and non-compliance to standards to the senior management or stakeholders.

Software quality assurance plans saves time, money, increases productivity, enhances training, provides extra support.

What is Software Quality Assurance (SQA)? What are characteristics of a well-engineered software?

Software Quality Assurance(SQA) is a function of software quality that assures that the standards, processes, and procedures are appropriate for the project and are correctly implemented.
- It is a subset of software engineering that ensures that all deliverables and work products are meet, and they comply with user requirements and standards.
- Its goal is to detect defects before the software isdelivered as a final product to the end-users.
- It includes quality management approach.
- It includes effective methods and tools.
- It includes formal technical reviews.
- It includes a multi-tiered testing strategy.
- It includes control of software documentation.
- It includes a procedure to assure compliance with software development standards, and measuring and reporting mechanism.

How do we say that the software is well-engineered?

- A software should be easy to use by the user.
- A software should have the capability to be able to execute on different platforms.
- A software should be able to transfer from one system to another.
- A software should be able to evolve and adapt to changes over time.
- A software should be reliable, secure and safe.
- A software should be capable of using resources efficiently.

A software has quality if it is fit for use, i.e., it is working properly. It should conform to explicitly stated user's external characteristics, explicitly documented quality standards and implicit characteristics.