QA Concepts and Definitions

Quality assurance is the planned and systematic set of activities that ensures that software processes and products conform to requirements, standards, and procedures

v Processes include all of the activities involved in designing, developing, enhancing, and maintaining software

v Products include the software, associated data, its documentation, and all supporting and reporting paperwork

QA includes the process of assuring that standards and procedures are established and are followed throughout the software development lifecycle

v Standards are the established criteria to which the software products are compared

v Procedures are the established criteria to which the development and control processes are compared

Compliance with established requirements, standards, and procedures is evaluated through process monitoring, product evaluation, audits, and testing.

The three mutually supportive activities involved in the software development lifecycle are management, engineering, and quality assurance

v Software management is the set of activities involved in planning, controlling, and directing the software project

v Software engineering is the set of activities that analyzes requirements, develops designs, writes code, and structures databases

Quality Assurance ensures that the management and engineering efforts result in a product that meets all of its requirements.