外文翻译8为软件质量制定计划.docx

外文翻译8为软件质量制定计划.docx

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外文翻译8为软件质量制定计划

PlanningforSoftwareQuality

InthisChapter:

Definingqualityinsoftwareprojects,workingwithyourorganization’squalitypolicy,Creatingaqualitymanagementplan,Identifyinghowchangesintimeandcostwillaffectprojectquality.

Whenitcomestoquality,you’veprobablyheardsomegreatclichés:

qualityisplannedintoaproject,notaddedthroughinspection（youshouldspendyourtimeinplanningqualityinsteadofinspectingafteryouhaveerrors）.It’salwayscheaper（andmoreefficient）todoajobrightthefirsttimearound.Whyistherealwaystimetodoworkrightthesecondtime?

Alwaysunderpromiseandoverdeliver.

Theresurearesomecatchyslogans,andclichésbecomeclichésbecausethey’reusuallyaccurate.Inthischapterweexplorewhatqualityis,howtoplanitintoyourproject,andhowtocreateaqualitymanagementplan.

6.1DefiningQuality

Beforeyoucanplanforquality,youmustfirstdefinewhatqualityis.Askyourcustomers,yourprojectteam,yourmanagementteam,andevenyourselfwhatqualityisandyougetavarietyofanswers:

Whatcustomerssay:

Thesoftwareyoucreatelivesuptoexpectations,isreliable,anddoessomeincrediblethingsthecustomerdoesn’texpect（oreventhinkof）.

Whatyourprojectteamsays:

Theworkiscompletedasplannedandasexpected,withfewerrors-andfewersurprises.

Whatmanagerssay:

Thecustomerishappyandtheprojectdeliversontimeandonbudget.

Whatyoumaysay:

Theprojectteamcompletesitsworkaccordingtoitsestimates,thecustomerishappy,andmanagementishappywiththefinalcostsandschedule.

Quality,foreveryoneconcerned,istheabilityoftheprojectandtheproject’sdeliverabletosatisfythestatedandimpliedrequirement.Qualityisallofitemswementionhere,butit’smorethanjustthedeliverable;it’sfollowingaprocess,meetingspecifiedrequirements,andperformingtocreatethebestpossibledeliverable.Everything,fromtheprojectkickoffmeetingtothefinaltesting,affectstheprojectquality.

6.2Referringtotheproductscope

Astheprojectmanager,youprimaryconcernissatisfyingtheproductscope.Theproductscopeisthedescriptionofthesoftwarethecustomerexpectsfromyourproject.

Ifyouworkprimarilytosatisfytheproductscope,thenyou’llbeingoodshapewithsatisfyingthecustomer’sexpectationsforquality.But,inordertosatisfytheproductscopeyoumustfirsthaveseveraldocuments:

Productscopedescriptiondocument.Thisdocumentdefineswhatthecustomerexpectsfromtheproject.Whatarethecharacteristicsofthesoftware?

Thisdescriptionbecomesmorecompleteasyouprogressthroughtheprojectandgathermoreknowledge.

Projectrequirementsdocument.Thisdocumentdefinesexactlywhattheprojectmustcreatewithoutbeingdeemedafailure.Whattypesoffunctionalityshouldstakeholdersbeabletoperformwiththesoftware?

Thisdocumentprioritizesthestakeholders’requirements.

Detaileddesigndocument.Thisdocumentspecifieshowtheprojectteamwillcreateunitsthatmeettheprojectrequirements,whichinturnwillsatisfytheproductscope.

Metricsforacceptability.Manysoftwareprojectsneedmetricsforacceptability.Thesemetricsincludespeeds,dataaccuracy,andmetricsfromuseracceptabilitytests.You’llneedtoavoidvaguemetrics,suchasgoodandfast.Instead,aimtodefineaccuratenumbersanddeterminehowthevalueswillbecaptured.

Satisfyingtheproductscopewillassurethatthecustomerishappywithyouandwithdeliverablestheprojectteamhascreated.Youwillonlysatisfytheproductscopeifyouplanhowtodoit.Qualityisnoaccident.

6.3Referringtotheprojectscope

Theprojectscopedefinesallofthework（andonlytherequiredwork）tocreatetheprojectdeliverable.Theprojectscopedefineswhatwillandwon’tbeincludedintheprojectdeliverable.Projectscopeisdifferentthantheproductscope,becausetheproductscopedescribesonlythefinisheddeliverable,whereastheprojectscopedescribestheworkandactivitiesneededtoreachthedeliverable.

Youmustdefinetheprojectscopesothatyouuseitasanappropriatequalitytool.Theprojectscopedrawsalineinthesandwhenitcomestoprojectchanges.Changes,aswe’resureyou’veexperienced,cantrickleintotheprojectandcauseproblemswithquality.Eventhemostinnocentchangescanbloomintomonstersthatwreckyourproject.

Figure6-1showstheprojectmanager’sapproachtoprojectchangesandquality.Earlyintheproject,duringtheinitiationandplanningstages,yousafelyentertainchangestotheproject.Afteryoucreatetheprojectscope,however,yourrulewhenitcomestochangesshouldbe“Justsayno!

”

Changestotheprojectmayaffectthequalityoftheproduct.Thisisn’ttosaythatchangesshouldcomeintoaprojectatall-farfromit.Butchangestotheprojectmustbeexamined,weighed,andconsideredfortheaffectontime,cost,andimpactonprojectquality.

6.3.1Goingtheextramile

Oneclichéthatringstrueisthatit’salwaysbettertounderpromiseandoverdiliver.We’veheardprojectmanagerstellusthisistheirapproachtokeeppeoplehappy.Itsoundsgood,right?

AcustomerasksforapieceofsoftwarethatcancommunicatewithadatabasethroughaWebform.Yourprojectteam,however,createsapieceofsoftwarethatcancommunicatethroughaWebformtothecustomer’sdatabase,andyouaddlotsofquerycombinationsforeachtableinthedatabase.Fantastic!

Avalidargumentcanbemadethatyoushouldneverunderpromise,butpromisewhatyoucandeliverandliveuptothosepromises.Technically,inprojectmanagement,qualityisachievedbymeetingthecustomer’sexpectations-notmorethantheyexpect,andcertainlynotlessthantheyexpect.

Surprisingthecustomerwithmorethantheprojectscopeoutlinescanactuallybackfire,forthefollowingreasons:

Thecustomermaybelievetheprojectdeliverablecouldhavebeencompletedfasterwithoutalltheextrasyou’veincluded.Thecustomermaybelievetheprojectdeliverablecouldhavebeencompletedforfewerdollarswithoutalltheextrasyou’veincluded.Ifthecustomerdiscoversbugsinthesoftware,theblamemayliewiththeextras.Thecustomermaynotwanttheextras,regardlessofhowingeniousyoubelievetheyare.Overdeliveringisnotmeetingexpectations:

you’renotgivingthecustomerwhatheorsheaskedfor.

Now,Havingputthewetblanketonthefireofcreativity,letussaythis:

communicate.Wecan’temphasizeenoughhowimportantitistotellthecustomerwhatyoucando,evenifit’smorethanwhatthecustomerhasoriginallyaskedfor.Insoftwaredevelopment,customersmayneedguidanceonwhateachdeliverablecando,andtheylooktoyouastheexperttohelpthemmakethosedecisions.Butnoticethisprocessisdonebeforetheprojectexecutionbegins,notduringtheimplementationphase.

Theproductscopeandtheprojectscopesupportoneanother.Ifthecustomerchangesdetailsintheproductscopewillalsochange.Ifnot,thenyourprojectteamwillbecompletingaprojectscopethatwon’tcreatewhatthecustomerexpects.

Avoidinggold-platedsoftware

Youcreategold-platedsoftwarewhenyoucompleteaproject,andthesoftwareis

readytogothecustomer,butsuddenlyrealizethatyouhavemoneytoburn.Ifyoufindyourselfwithaheftysumofcashremainingintheprojectbudget,youmayfeeltemptedtofixthesituationwithalotofbling.Afterall,ifyougivetheprojectdeliverabletothecustomerexactlyasplanned,severalthingsmayhappen:

Youcustomermaybeinitiallyhappythatyou’vedeliveredunderbudget.Thenthey’llwonderwhetheryoucutcornersorjustdidn’thaveaclueastotheactualcostoftheproject.Thecustomermaywonderwhyyourestimateandtheactualcostoftheprojectdeliverablearenotinsync.Theremainingbudgetwillbereturnedtothecustomerunlessyourcontractstipulatesotherwise.Otherprojectmanagersmaynotbehappythatyou’vecreatedamassive,unusedprojectbudgetwhentheirprojectshavebeenstrappedforcash.Keystakeholdersmayloseconfidenceinyourfutureestimatesandbelievethemtobebloated,padded,orfudged.

Thisis,incaseyouhaven’tguessed,abadthing.Thebestthingtodoistodeliveranaccurateestimatetobeginwithandavoidthisscenarioaltogether.WediscusstimeestimatesinChapter8andcostestimatesinChapter9.Fornow,knowthatyourcustomer’sconfidenceinfutureestimatesisalwaysmeasuredonyourabilitytoprovideaccurateestimatesatthebeginningoftheprocess.

Ifyoufindyourselfinthescenariowhereyouhaveaconsiderableamountofcashleftintheprojectbudget,thebestthingtodoistogiveanaccurateassessmenttothecustomerofwhatyou’veaccomplishedintheprojectandwhat’sleftinthekitty.Don’teatupthebudgetwithextras,anddon’tbeatyourselfupoverit.Mistakeshappen,especiallytobeginners,andit’sstillmoreforgivabletobeunderbudgetthanitistobeoverbudget.

Soshouldyoualsopresentextrastothecustomerwhenyoupresenttheproject’sstatusandtheremainingbudget?

Iftheextrasarevalue-addedscopechanges,wesayyes.Iftheextrasaretrulygold-platedextrastoearnmoredollars,thenwesayno.Softwarequalityisbasedonwhethertheproductdeliversonitspromises.Iftheproposedchangesdon’tmakethesoftwarebetter,nooneneedsthem.

Whatyoudoonyourcurrentprojectmayinfluencewhatyougettodoonfutureprojects.Honestynowpaysdividendslater.

6.4Examiningqualityversusgrade

Qualityandgradearenotthesamething.Lowqualityisalwaysaproblem,butlowgrademaynotbe.Quality,asyouknow,istheabilityofsoftwaretodeliveronitspromises.Gradeistherankingorcla