SA580 and SA590

Question 1

2. Who originated the phrase fitness for use within the quality movement?

Answer 1

Joseph Duran originated the phrase fitness for use.

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Question 2

3. What are Ishikawa diagrams useful for?

Answer 2

Ishikawa diagrams, also known as fishbone diagrams, are useful for exploring (brainStorming) the possible causes of a problem.

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Question 3

4. Who coined the phase quality is free and what did he mean by it?

Answer 3

The American quality pioneer Phillip Crosby coined the term, and he meant by it that the cost of non-conformance(not acheiving quality goals) often far exceeds the cost of conformance (achieving quality goals) meaning that assuring quality can actually save money in the long run.

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Question 4

5. Give some examples of cost of conformance.

Answer 4

Planing, training, process validation, inspections, walkthroughs and testing are all examples of the cost of conformance.

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Question 5

1. How are quality and grade different?

Answer 5

Quality is the degree to which requirements has been satisfied; grade is a category or rank of product or service.

Question 6

6. Give some examples of non-conformance. Which one is most prevalent in software development?

Answer 6

Rework is the major cost of non-conformance in software development. Additional costs of non-conformance are complaint handling, liability judgements, product recalls, damaged customer relations and loss of business.

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Question 7

7. How does the cost to correct errors made in scope change depending on when they are discovered?

Answer 7

The cost to correct errors made in scope goes up exponentially with later phases in which they are discovered.

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Question 8

8. What role does testing ply in software quality assurance?

Answer 8

Testing is an integral part of quality assurance in software development, but it is important to recognize the quality cannot be tested into a software product. It must be built into the product from the start.

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Question 9

9. Contrast validation with verification in software quality assurance.

Answer 9

Validation focuses on prevention, whereas verification focuses on detection. It is sometimes said that validation is concerned that we are building the right product. Verification focuses on whether we build the product right.

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Question 10

10. Would testing be considered a validation or verification event?

Answer 10

Testing is a verification technique.

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Question 11

11. Would inspections and walkthroughs be considered a validation or verification event?

Answer 11

Inspections and walkthroughs are a part of validation (prevention).

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Question 12

12. How would you describe the overall testing strategy for software?

Answer 12

In general testing should begin with “in the small” (unit testing) and move “toward the large” through integration testing to system testing to acceptance testing).

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Question 13

13. On what general principle are test cases chosen?

Answer 13

Test cases should be chosen to provide as much coverage of critical areas and functionality within the software as possible, realizing that you can test all possible cases in an enterprise sized program.

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Question 14

14. What is regression testing and why is it necessary?

Answer 14

Regression testing (sometimes called negative testing) tests the larger program or system into which a new or modified unit or module has been inserted. It is necessary because a working system can be made unsafe by inadvertent (unintended) changes to the system when apparently unrelated are introduced.

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Question 15

15. What is acceptance testing and who should be involved in doing it?

Answer 15

Acceptance testing is testing done with or by the customer to decide if the system is acceptable that is, did it meet requirements as demonstrated by predetermined acceptance criteria. Slide 81

Question 16

1. What is an assumption?

Answer 16

An assumption is factor that, for planning purposes, is considered to be true, real, or certain without proof or demonstration.

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Question 17

2. What is an constraint?

Answer 17

A constraint is an applicable limiting factor, which will affect the execution of the project or a process.

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Question 18

3. What is a risk?

Answer 18

A risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has an effect on a project’s objectives.

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Question 19

4. Why is it important that all assumptions be made explicit?

Answer 19

Assumptions should be made explicit to ensure that the team can evaluate its possible impact.

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Question 20

5. How should assumptions be treated relative to constraints and risks?

Answer 20

Because they are built into the project’s plan, assumptions should be treated potential failure points in a project and tracked. Constraints are known conditions that should be accommodated. Risks should be placed on a risk register and managed. The failure of an assumption can also be treated as a risk if there is a high level of uncertainty about its validity.

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Question 21

6. What is the danger of ignoring constraints?

Answer 21

Ignoring constraints denies the team the opportunity to build accommodations into project planning.

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Question 22

7. What is meant by “project-level” assumptions and constraints?

Answer 22

Project-level assumptions and constraints apply to the entire project or a significant part of it, unlike requirement-level assumptions and constraints that apply only to specific requirements.

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Question 23

8. What are context -free questions and why are they useful?

Answer 23

Context-free questions that should be posed about any IT project. They can help prevent you from omitting some important questions early in the project planning.

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Question 24

9. What categories ( assumptions, constraints risks) should be used for recording dependencies or expectations about normal work practices?

Answer 24

Depenencies, expectations about normal work practices, and methodology expectations should not be recorded in any of these categorie. These should be communicated by direct communications with the appropriate parties or recorded in more appropriate locations within project documentation.

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Question 25

10. Summarize the relationship between project assumptions and risks.

Answer 25

If the level of uncertainty for an assumption is high enough, we could add its failure as a risk. This should be done w itch some thought however, because there is a cost with tracking and managing a risk.

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Question 26

11. What is the preferred format for writing riisks?

Answer 26

Risks should usually be written using an IF…THEN format. This communicates both the cause and possible impact of a risk event.

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Question 27

12. Summarize the relationship between project assumptions and constraints.

Answer 27

Assumptions can arise when constraint accommodations are considered.

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