View source for Software quality assurance

{{short description|Means of monitoring the software engineering process}}
{{More footnotes|date=April 2019}}
{{IEEE software documents}}
'''Software quality assurance''' ('''SQA''') is a means and practice of monitoring all [[software engineering]] [[software development process|processes]], methods, and work products to ensure compliance against defined standards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Software Quality Assurance (SQA): A Guide for Beginners |url=https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/software-quality-assurance/ |access-date=2022-06-02 |website=Software Testing Help |language=en-US}}</ref> It may include ensuring conformance to standards or models, such as [[ISO/IEC 9126]] (now superseded by ISO 25010), [[Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination|SPICE]] or [[CMMI]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kelemen |first1=Zádor Dániel |last2=Kusters |first2=Rob |last3=Trienekens |first3=Jos |date=December 2012 |title=Identifying criteria for multimodel software process improvement solutions - based on a review of current problems and initiatives |journal=Journal of Software: Evolution and Process |volume=24 |issue=8 |pages=895–909 |doi=10.1002/smr.549 |s2cid=14382496}}</ref>

It includes standards and procedures that managers, administrators or developers may use to review and audit software products and activities to verify that the software meets quality criteria which link to standards. 

SQA encompasses the entire [[software development]] process, including [[requirements engineering]], [[software design]], [[Computer programming|coding]], [[code review]]s, [[Revision control|source code control]], [[software configuration management]], [[Software testing|testing]], [[release management]] and [[software integration]]. It is organized into goals, commitments, abilities, activities, measurements, [[verification and validation]].<ref>Nielsen, David [http://www.pmhut.com/cmm-and-project-quality-management CMM and Project Quality Management]</ref>

== Purpose ==
{{Prose|section|date=November 2019}}
SQA involves a three-pronged approach:

* Organization-wide policies, procedures and standards
* Project-specific policies, procedures and standards
* Compliance to appropriate procedures

Guidelines for the application of ISO 9001:2015 to computer software are described in ISO/IEC/IEEE 90003:2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISO/IEC/IEEE 90003:2018 |url=https://www.iso.org/cms/render/live/en/sites/isoorg/contents/data/standard/07/43/74348.html |access-date=2020-07-14 |website=ISO |language=en}}</ref> External entities can be contracted as part of process assessments to verify that projects are standard-compliant. More specifically in case of software, [[ISO/IEC 9126]] (now superseded by ISO 25010) should be considered and applied for software quality.

== Activities ==
[[Quality assurance]] activities take place at each phase of development. Analysts use application technology and techniques to achieve high-quality specifications and designs, such as [[Model-driven engineering|model-driven design]]. Engineers and technicians find bugs and problems with related software quality through testing activities. Standards and process deviations are identified and addressed throughout development by [[project manager]]s or quality managers, who also ensure that changes to functionality, performance, features, architecture and component (''in general:'' changes to product or service [[Scope (project management)|scope]]) are made only after appropriate review, e.g. as part of [[change control board]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wieczorek |first1=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZuKAwAAQBAJ&dq=Software+quality+assurance+model+driven&pg=PR12 |title=Systems and Software Quality: The next step for industrialisation |last2=Vos |first2=Diederik |last3=Bons |first3=Heinz |date=2014-05-08 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-39971-8 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[DOD-STD-2167]]
* [[Quality by Design]]
* [[Software assurance]]
* [[Software quality analyst]]
* [[Software quality management]]
* [[Software testing]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Software quality assurance}}
<references group="" responsive="1" />

== External links ==

* {{Cite book |title=IEEE Standard for Software Quality Assurance Processes |isbn=978-0-7381-9168-3 |doi=10.1109/IEEESTD.2014.6835311}}
* {{Cite book |last=April |first=Alain |title=Software Quality Assurance |publisher=Wiley-IEEE |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-118-50182-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Chemuturi |first=Murali |title=Software Quality Assurance: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques for Software Developers |publisher=J.Ross Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60427-032-7}}
* {{Cite book |title=Software Quality Assurance |year=2017 |isbn=9781119312451 |pages=66–100 |chapter=Software Quality Requirements |doi=10.1002/9781119312451.ch3}}
* "Software Quality Assurance(SQA): Plan, Audit & Review." ''Meet Guru99 – Free Training Tutorials & Video for IT Courses'', www.guru99.com/software-quality-assurance-test-audit-review-makes-your-life-easy.html.
* {{Cite journal |last1=Collofello |first1=J.S. |last2=Buck |first2=J.J. |date=September 1987 |title=Software Quality Assurance for Maintenance |journal=IEEE Software |volume=4 |issue=5 |pages=46–51 |doi=10.1109/MS.1987.231418 |s2cid=2205647}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Parnas |first1=D.L. |last2=Lawford |first2=M. |date=July 2003 |title=Inspection's role in software quality assurance |journal=IEEE Software |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=16–20 |doi=10.1109/MS.2003.1207449 |hdl-access=free |s2cid=7071357 |hdl=10344/161}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Laporte |first1=Claude Y. |title=Software Quality Assurance |last2=April |first2=Alain |date=2018 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-50182-5}}

{{Software quality}}
{{Software engineering}}
{{IEEE standards}}

[[Category:Quality]]
[[Category:Quality assurance]]
[[Category:Software quality]]
[[Category:IEEE standards]]