Home // ICCGI 2013, The Eighth International Multi-Conference on Computing in the Global Information Technology // View article

The Impact of Requirements on Software Quality Across Three Product Generations

Authors:
John Terzakis

Keywords: requirements specification; requirements defects; reviews; software defects; software quality; multi-generational software products.

Abstract:
In a previous case study, we presented data demonstrating the impact that a well-written and well-reviewed set of requirements had on software defects and other quality indicators between two generations of an Intel product. Quality indicators for the second software product all improved dramatically even with the increased complexity of the newer product. This paper will recap that study and then present data from a subsequent Intel case study revealing that quality enhancements continued on the third generation of the product. Key product differentiators included changes to operate with a new Intel processor, the introduction of new hardware platforms and the addition of approximately fifty new features. Software development methodologies were nearly identical, with only the change to a continuous build process for source code check-in added. Despite the enhanced functionality and complexity in the third generation software, requirements defects, software defects, software sightings, feature commit vs. delivery (feature variance), defect closure efficiency rates, and number of days from project commit to customer release all improved from the second to the third generation of the software.

Pages: 45 to 50

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA and Intel, 2013

Publication date: July 21, 2013

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4529

ISBN: 978-1-61208-283-7

Location: Nice, France

Dates: from July 21, 2013 to July 26, 2013