QUALITY ASSURANCE

INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY ASSURANCE

Everyday QA

Every software development, enhancement, or maintenance project includes some quality assurance activities. Even a simple, one-person development job has QA activities embedded in it, even if the programmer denies that "quality assurance" plays a part in what is to be done. Each programmer has some idea of how code should be written, and this idea functions as a coding standard for that programmer.

Similarly, each of us has some idea of how documentation should be written¾this is a personal documentation standard. We proofread and revise our documents, and programmers review their products to make sure they meet their personal standards. These are QA reviews, or audits Each programmer and writer tests or inspects his or her own work, and these are verification and validation processes.

A project’s formal QA program includes the assurance processes that each team member goes through, but it involves planning and establishing project-wide standards, rather than relying on personal standards and processes. The extent and formality of project QA activities are decisions that the client, project manager, and the QA department make based on their assessment of the project and its risks.