Prediction and Assessment: Differences in Goals

Abstract

This book is intended to provide guidance in the creation of a software quality measurement program utilizing the OPA Framework and Software Quality Indicators. Two points of emphasis throughout the description are: (1) the evolutionary nature of large, complex software systems, and (2) the project perspective supported by software measurement. Both are important in their influences on the presentation. Large software systems, be they “mission-critical,” also termed “embedded systems,” “real-time systems,” “time-critical systems” or “automated information systems” (AIS), exhibit complexities that can overwhelm the typical software engineer, systems engineer or project manager. Measurement, or the more popular term “software metrics,” offers a means of dealing with those problems that arise in the creation of any large, complex system. The project perspective can apply equally to mission-critical or AIS systems, although within DoD, the term is associated more with the former. Indicative of the project perspective is the focus on objectives, and for software-intensive projects, the prioritization among software engineering objectives.KeywordsSoftware QualityProject PerspectiveSoftware Requirement SpecificationSoftware Development Life CycleSpiral ModelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.