Software quality architecture

They must provide measurable proof and visibility into what users do with the system and how they do it, as well as demonstrate or refute the hypothesis of how a new feature increases the value generated to our users before we continue investing resources into it. This is the way by which the new role of the quality assurance architect — that person we used to call the tester — can provide business value to the organization.

Not only do they ensure critical bugs are found before we release our products, but they also help the whole organization understand the value we are generating for our customers so that we can invest in the areas where we increase this value. This allows us to avoid pouring resources into bottomless pits that will not generate any value to our business. Do I qualify? This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here.

More From Forbes. Jan 13, , am EST. Edit Story. Dec 16, , am EST. Joel Montvelisky Forbes Councils Member. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Joel Montvelisky.

Artifact: the part or parts of the system stimulated. Response: the response the system takes to the stimulus. Response Measure: how the response can be measured and test. System Quality Attributes :. The availability attribute is concerned with system failures. Faults are problems that are corrected or masked by the system. Failures are uncorrected errors that are user-visible.

The modifiability quality is concerned with what can change, when are changes made, and who makes the changes. The performance quality is concerned with response times and similar measures for various events. Assurance or authenticity. Availability no denial of service. The testability attribute is concerned with detecting failure modes. This means architectural support for testing that reduces test cost is time well spent. We need to control the internal state of and inputs to each unit, then observe the corresponding output of that unit.

How easy it is to learn the features of the system. How efficiently the user can use the system. How well the system handles user errors. How well the system adapts to user needs. To what degree the system gives the user confidence in the correctness of its actions.

Business Quality Attributes :. Time to Market: architectural reuse affects development time. Cost and Benefit: in-house architectural expertise is cheaper than outside expertise. Projected Lifetime of the System: long-lived systems require architectures that are modifiable and scalable.

Targeted Market: architecture affects what platforms will be compatible and incompatible with the system. Roll-out Schedule: if functionality is planned to increase over time, the architecture needs to be customisable and flexible. Architectural Quality Attributes :. Conceptual Integrity is the underlying vision or theme unifying the components and their interactions.

The architecture should do similar things in similar ways. Correctness and Completeness is concerned with checking the architecture for errors and omissions. Search this site. Abstract : Computer systems are used in many critical applications where a failure can have serious consequences loss of lives or property.

Introduction : Computer systems are used in many critical applications where a failure can have serious con- sequences loss of lives or property. Critical applications have the following characteristics: The applications have long life cycles decades rather than years and require evolutionary upgrades.

Software Quality Attributes : Developers of critical systems are responsible for identifying the requirements of the application, developing software that implements the requirements, and for allocating appropriate resources processors and communication networks. Software Quality Attribute Trade-offs : Designers need to analyze trade-offs between multiple conflicting attributes to satisfy user requirements.

Seems titles should be universal but Companies never seem to support this, so annoying. Shane That's the nature of natural language. On one side it is very flexible and can capture many terms, on the other side it can be very ambigous. Look at the term of architect in everyday life. One can have skills to design small house, other -- bridges, and yet another sky-scrapers, depending whether we are talking about civil engineering or buildings.

Although responsibilities vary from company to company maybe there is some common agreement on what a QA Architect does. Two interesting reads, they offer great insights on senior QA roles: What is a test architect? Glorfindel 1 1 gold badge 5 5 silver badges 14 14 bronze badges. Siva Siva 2, 15 15 silver badges 24 24 bronze badges. Merav Kochavi Merav Kochavi 1 1 bronze badge.

IAmMilinPatel 6, 5 5 gold badges 35 35 silver badges 58 58 bronze badges. Erick Stone Erick Stone 5 5 bronze badges. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. The Overflow Blog.

Stack Gives Back Safety in numbers: crowdsourcing data on nefarious IP addresses. Featured on Meta. New post summary designs on greatest hits now, everywhere else eventually.

Visit chat. Related