SQA Software Quality Assurance
When we talk about quality assurance with respect to software development it refers to the inspection of software based on a number of properties. Software quality is the assessment of a software based on its external and internal features as a whole.
There lies a fine line that differentiates conventional testing from quality assurance.Software testing is the process of finding and removing bugs from a software product before releasing it into the market and verifying that its fit for use.Sample input is fed and test results are based on the outcome in comparison to the expected results.
A variety of tests are conducted to check the functionalities of the software.However Software Quality assurance goes beyond the extent of testing and covers a wide range of activities. The end user is quite interested with the externality of a product which includes the level of interactivity and the simplicity of interface in terms of usage. Quality assurance assures that not only a software is fully functional but should also live up to the expectations of the user. Internal aspect of quality measures certain attributes such as reliability,usability, efficiency, maintainability and portability. While dealing with software defect prevention is as important as defect correction. It is an ongoing process as a part of SDLC that checks that the product meets customer’s quality expectations and assures continuous improvement throughout its lifetime. ISO 9000 is an international standard used by IT companies as a measure of standardised quality assurance system. Conformance to ISO 9000 is an assurity that a certain company produces quality software products. Often in huge enterprises there is a certain department solely dedicated towards quality assurance .In certain middle scale companies the management team might be handling the task of setting objectives and writing down policies for quality assurance. Once quality taken measures have been taken an external entity is given the responsibility to verify and approve that is complies with ISO9000. A detailed report is prepared including mistakes and errors if any which is also handed over to the company. The faults and loop holes are corrected by the company in a certain period of time and is then granted the conformance
to the ISO9000 standard.
Quality assurance is an on going process and sometimes extends throughout the lifetime
of a software product.
