Unit – 1 Software Quality

Definition of Software Quality

Software quality refers to the ability of a software product to meet functional and non-functional
requirements while ensuring customer satisfaction and industry standards.

Key Perspectives of Software Quality

1. Conformance to Requirements: Ensuring that the software behaves exactly as specified in the
Software Requirements Specification (SRS).

2. Fitness for Use: Ensuring that the software delivers value to users by being reliable, secure, and
easy to use.

Example of Software Quality in Real Life:

 A banking application should correctly process transactions (functional requirement).

 It should also be secure (protect customer data), fast (process transactions in milliseconds), and
reliable (no crashes).
Software Quality Attributes
Software quality attributes are characteristics that define how well a software system performs beyond
its basic functionalities. These attributes help in measuring, analyzing, and improving the efficiency,
usability, maintainability, security, and performance of the software.

Software quality attributes are classified into two categories:

1. Functional Attributes – Define how well the software performs its intended functions.

2. Non-Functional Attributes – Define how efficiently and effectively the software operates
beyond its core functionality.

2.1 Functional Quality Attributes

These attributes ensure that the software performs the required tasks correctly and completely.

1. Correctness

 Ensures that the software outputs the correct results based on given inputs.

 Example: A calculator application correctly calculates 5 + 3 = 8.

 Testing Method: Unit testing, Functional testing.

2. Completeness

 Ensures that all required features are implemented.

 Example: An e-commerce website must include user authentication, product search, payment,
and order tracking.

 Testing Method: Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM).

3. Security

 Ensures protection against unauthorized access, data breaches, and cyber threats.

 Example: A banking app should use two-factor authentication (2FA) and encryption to protect
transactions.

 Testing Method: Penetration testing, Security audits.

2.2 Non-Functional Quality Attributes
These attributes define software performance, usability, maintainability, etc.

4. Reliability

 Measures the ability of software to function correctly under specified conditions for a long time.

 Example: An air traffic control system must run continuously without failure.

 Metric: Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).

 Testing Method: Stress testing, Load testing.

5. Performance (Efficiency)

 Measures the speed and resource usage of software.

 Example: A search engine should return results within milliseconds.

 Metric: Response time, Throughput.

 Testing Method: Performance testing, Load testing.

6. Usability

 Measures how easy and intuitive the software is to use.

 Example: A mobile banking app should have easy navigation and clear instructions for
transactions.

 Metric: User satisfaction surveys, Click-through rates.

 Testing Method: Usability testing, A/B testing.

7. Maintainability

 Defines how easily the software can be modified, debugged, or enhanced.

 Example: A modular codebase in an e-commerce platform allows quick bug fixes without
affecting other modules.

 Metric: Code maintainability index.

 Testing Method: Code review, Static code analysis.

8. Scalability

 Measures how well the software adapts to increased workload or user base.

 Example: A social media platform should handle millions of users without crashing.

 Metric: Maximum concurrent users, Latency under load.

 Testing Method: Scalability testing.

9. Portability

 Ensures that software can run on different operating systems or devices without modification.

 Example: A web application that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

 Testing Method: Compatibility testing.

10. Interoperability

 Ensures that software can integrate and communicate with other systems.

 Example: A healthcare management system should be able to share patient data with other
hospitals securely.

 Testing Method: API testing, Integration testing.

Software Quality Specification

Software Quality Specification is a set of rules and standards that define how a software product should
perform to be considered high quality. It includes functional and non-functional requirements to
ensure the software is accurate, secure, fast, user-friendly, and reliable.

Key Components of Software Quality Specification

1. Functional Requirements (What the software should do)

 These define the core features and functionalities of the software.

 Example: A banking app should allow users to transfer money, check balance, and pay bills.

2. Non-Functional Requirements (How the software should perform)

 These define performance, security, usability, and other system qualities.

 Example: A website should load within 3 seconds and be secure from hackers.

3. Quality Standards & Metrics (How to measure quality)

 These are measurable criteria that help check if the software meets quality standards.
 Example:
o Uptime: The website should be available 99.99% of the time.
o Response Time: The app should process a login request in less than 2 seconds.