1. software configuration management planning

   1. determine what artifacts are to be kept, and what the baseline for each artifact is

   2. determine who's responsible for what, and what the procedures are

   3. accounting and auditing

2. quality assurance plans

   1. determine what and when all those validation and metrics processes are done

   2. establish a clear and consistent view of quality assurance over the whole software process

   3. determine entry and exit criteria for each quality assessment task

   4. and don't forget documentation

   5. verification and validation

      1. verification and validation - step by step and overall; functions correctly, correct functions

      2. inspections and testing are the main v&v activities

         1. others include traceability, creating test plans, interface analysis

      3. inspection and reviews

         1. getting several second opinions is an effective way to find faults

         2. a process providing formal, peer review

         3. walkthroughs and reviews - less formal, when not equivalent

         4. expected advantages

            1. reduced defects - early detection and fix

            2. productivity improves because of early corrections and increased clarity and compliance - improvements must cover the cost of the inspection

            3. detailed and reasonably reliable management information - error types

         5. it's not a witch hunt - the guilty may escape

         6. inspections

            1. roles: producer, reviewers or inspectors, moderator, recorder

            2. planning, execution, and post-mortem

               1. planning - evaluate entrance criteria, assign roles, set objectives, gather and distribute materials for pre-inspection study, retrieve the results

               2. execution - conduct the inspection, gather supporting materials, clarify uncertainties, establish orderings

               3. post-mortem - error analysis, exit criteria, further responses, report generation

            3. inspections are usually worth it - improved product, productivity, management

            4. execution is crucial to having useful inspections

            5. costs can be high - planning, organization, execution, post-mortems, the people involved

3. project monitoring plans

   1. make sure the development plan is being carried out

   2. determining what to do if it isn't

   3. information gathering

      1. to manage something, you have to know about it

      2. time sheets - who's doing what for how long; raw data

      3. reviews - gather indirect and direct information about project progress

   4. comparing actual progress with planned progress

      1. cost-schedule-milestone graph

      2. earned value method - gantt charts

         1. milestones for each task - design, implementation, test, integration

         2. achieving each milestone earns value - the sum is the amount allocated to the task

         3. time sheets provide the input data

         4. earned value information is not to detailed, but may be too detailed for less involved management

   5. unit development folder - programmer's notebook

      1. fine-grained project management

      2. implementer establishes intermediate milestones and a consistent schedule to meet them

      3. providing direction and control for the implementer - 90% problem

      4. individual implementers keep a udf to record schedule and progress reports, implementation information

      5. collected udfs may be integrated into the project design and implementation documentation

This page last modified on 19 April 2000.