Definition of quality and reliability; quality assurance and quality control procedures throughout the software development life cycle; reviews and walkthroughs.
Implementation of software from design methodologies such as Data Flow Diagrams and Object-oriented Design; suitability of design and implementation for different categories of software systems; coding defensively, exception handling and coding for quality; error message design.
Testing procedures; black box, white box, stress, thread and unit testing methods, statistical testing; test planning and its role in the software development life cycle.
Verification and validation procedures; introduction to formal verification and proving programs to be correct; the "Cleanroom Approach".
Metrics for quality and reliability; complexity metrics.
Configuration management and the management of software maintenance.

The teaching session is divided into a mixture of lectures and tutorials giving a good covering of the theoretical nature of the course whilst using case studies to should this theory in practice.

Access to testing software.

None

Software Metrics, Fenton N, Thompson Computer Press, 1997, ISBN: 0534954251
Software Testing Methods and Metrics, Marnie L Hutcheson, McGraw-Hill, 2003, ISBN: 047143020X
Inroads to software Quality, Jarvis and Crandall, Prentice-Hall, 1997, ISBN: 0132384035
Software Implementation, Marcotty M, Prentice-Hall, 1990, ISBN: 0138234930
Software Quality Assurance, Ince D, Prentice-Hall, 1995, ISBN: 0074707973
Software Quality in Practice, Wallmuller E, Prentice-Hall, 1994, ISBN: 0138197806
Metrics and Models in Software Quality Engineering, Stephen H. Kan, Addison-Wesley, 2002, ISBN: 0201729156

Examination (50%) (Learning outcomes 1-4)
Assignment (50%) (Learning outcomes 2, 5, 6, 7)