QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES FOR SMALL PROJECTS Ashif Khoja B.E., Dharamsinh Desai Institute of Technology, India, 2003 PROJECT Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in COMPUTER SCIENCE at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO FALL 2009 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES FOR SMALL PROJECTS A Project by Ashif Khoja Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Ahmed Salem, Ph.D. __________________________________, Second Reader Isaac Ghansah, Ph.D. ________________________________________ Date ii Student: Ashif Khoja I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the Project. ________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Cui Zhang, Ph.D. Date Department of Computer Science iii Abstract of QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES FOR SMALL PROJECTS by Ashif Khoja The business of software development and maintenance has become increasingly competitive. Software projects need to be cost-effective and provide high-quality products to compete in today's market. Today's software applications are very complex and software failures can result in financial damage and even threaten health or lives of human beings. There is a dire need for an applicable, standardized and consistent Quality Assurance (QA) model that can be consistently implemented throughout the software life cycle. The proposed quality assurance model consists of three major components: Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC), and Testing. _______________________, Committee Chair Ahmed Salem, Ph.D. _______________________ Date iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my project advisor, Dr. Ahmed Salem for supporting the idea of the project and giving advice on going forward with it. I am thankful to him because of his continuous guidance on the work performance and documentation throughout the project. I am also thankful to my second reader, Dr. Isaac Ghansah for providing great help as and when needed during the project. He has done great help in giving important advices and proof reading the document. I am also grateful to Dr. Cui Zhang for helping in various aspects during my Masters at California State University, Sacramento. She has shown the path during preparation for the project and provided great ease during completion of the project. Finally, I am thankful to my family and friends for encouragement during tough times and guidance during all the time for completion of my Masters project. I am thankful to everyone else who has provided me help for the Masters project. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... x List of Figures .................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Quality............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Quality Control ................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Quality Assurance ............................................................................................. 2 1.4 Software Quality Assurance ............................................................................. 3 1.5 SQA Activities .................................................................................................. 3 1.6 Importance of Software Quality Program in Software Industry ....................... 4 1.7 Example of Software Quality Model CMM ..................................................... 7 2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 9 2.1 Microsoft Solution Framework (MSF) ........................................................... 10 2.2 Extreme Programming .................................................................................... 11 2.3 Rational Unified Process (RUP) ..................................................................... 12 2.4 Proposed Software QA Model ........................................................................ 14 3 QUALITY ASSURANCE METHODOLOGY ............................................................ 16 3.1 Defining the Quality Assurance Methodology ............................................... 16 3.1.1 Quality Assurance ............................................................................ 16 3.1.2 Quality Control (QC) ....................................................................... 18 3.1.3 Software Testing .............................................................................. 18 vi 3.2 Quality Model ................................................................................................. 19 4 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES ................................. 21 4.1 Quality Management (QM) ............................................................................. 21 4.2 Quality Control (QC) ...................................................................................... 22 4.3 Software Testing ............................................................................................. 23 5 QUALITY ASSURANCE INTEGRATION WITH MODIFIED WATERFALL MODEL ...................................................................................................................... 25 5.1 The Software Quality Assurance Process ....................................................... 25 5.2 QA/QC Tasks and Activities .......................................................................... 27 5.3 SQA Integration into the ―Modified‖ Waterfall Model .................................. 27 5.4 Adopting the Modified Waterfall Model ........................................................ 28 5.5 System Concept Phase .................................................................................... 29 5.5.1 Inputs/Activities/Outputs ................................................................. 29 5.5.2 Roles and Responsibilities ............................................................... 34 5.5.3 Potential Risks and Constraints ....................................................... 35 5.6 Software Requirements Phase ......................................................................... 35 5.6.1 Requirements Sub-phases ................................................................ 35 5.6.2 Inputs/Activities/Outputs ................................................................. 42 5.6.3 Roles and Responsibilities ............................................................... 50 5.6.4 Potential Risks and Constraints ....................................................... 52 5.7 Software Design Phase ................................................................................... 52 5.7.1 Input ................................................................................................. 53 5.7.2 QA/QC Related Activities ............................................................... 53 5.7.3 Output and Templates ...................................................................... 58 vii 5.7.4 Issues and Concerns ......................................................................... 59 5.7.5 Overall SQA Functions and Design Phase ...................................... 59 5.8 Software Development Phase ......................................................................... 60 5.8.1 Input ................................................................................................. 61 5.8.2 QA/QC Related Activities ............................................................... 61 5.8.3 Output and Templates ...................................................................... 65 5.8.4 Issues and Concerns ......................................................................... 65 5.9 Software Integration and System Test Phase .................................................. 66 5.9.1 Input ................................................................................................. 67 5.9.2 QA/QC Related Activities ............................................................... 67 5.9.3 Testing Strategies ............................................................................. 71 5.9.4 QA/QC Testing Activities................................................................ 76 5.9.5 Output and Templates ...................................................................... 76 5.9.6 Issues and Concerns ......................................................................... 77 5.9.7 Overall SQA Functions and System Integration Phase ................... 77 5.10 Software Acceptance Test Phase .................................................................. 79 5.10.1 Input ............................................................................................... 79 5.10.2 QA/QC Related Activities ............................................................. 80 5.10.3 Output and Templates ...................................................................