Design for Trustworthy Software. Tools, Techniques, and Methodology of Developing Robust Software
Authors: Patton P. Jayaswal B
Published year: 2006
Pages: 35-37/394
Buy this book on amazon.com >>

Review Questions

1.

Describe how a multifaceted view of quality helps serve the needs of diverse stakeholders. Illustrate your answer with examples related to a software product you are familiar with.

2.

Are quality issues in software fundamentally different from those of manufactured products? What are the similarities and differences between software and manufactured products with regard to their development process?

3.

Compare and contrast software and hardware reliability. Explain their implications on three complex systems consisting of software and hardware.

4.

List major causes of software unreliability. Which of these do you consider to be the most critical?

5.

Describe the two major fallacies of traditional quality control systems and their implications for a software product.

6.

Describe the essence of Deming's 14 Points for Management, and explain their relevance today.

7.

Explain how Taguchi Methods relate to and support Deming's teachings as listed in the 14 Points.

8.

What are the five philosophical imperatives of Taguchi philosophy? Explain their relevance to software development. Are they different for hardware? How?

9.

Summarize the key concepts of Taguchi Methods and the three stages of Robust Design. Describe how they can support a software development process.

10.

List and explain five major challenges of trustworthy software. Illustrate your answer with two specific software products you are familiar with.

11.

Describe the features of the Robust Software Development Model. Explain how these and the model as a whole compare with two comparable models described in Chapter 1.



Discussion Questions and Projects

1.

How do Deming's 14 Points for Management address the limitations of traditional quality control systems? You may also refer to Tables 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 in Chapter 5. How might Deming's teachings be applied to a software enterprise? Present your answers to the class.

2.

Discuss and contrast application of Taguchi methodologies in an enterprise software and in a manufactured product. You may refer to Chapters 16 through 19. Present your answers to the class.

3.

Discuss the merits and challenges of introducing a Design for Trustworthy Software (DFTS) methodology in an organization. What are the possible sources of resistance in introducing it? How will you address them? Present your answers to the class.

4.

Consider yourself a member of the top management team headed by the CEO. The team has been assigned by the board of a software development company to identify the major causes of software quality problems and to recommend a framework to address them. Write a memo to the board after your initial assessment. Present the memo to the class.



Endnotes

1.

Bev Littlewood and Lorenzo Strigini, "Software Reliability and Dependability: A Roadmap," Proc. ICSE 2000, the 22nd International Conference on Software Engineering, p. 2.

2.

W. Kuo, V. Rajendra Prasad, F. A. Tillman, Ching-Lai Wang, Optimal Reliability Design (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), section 13.5.1, p. 325.

3.

Ibid. Section 1.3.3, p. 5.

4.

D. Simmons, N. Ellis, H. W. Kuo, Software Measurement: A Visualization Toolkit for Project Control and Process Improvement (Prentice-Hall, 1998).

5.

Adapted with permission. Op cit, Kuo et al., p. 4.

6.

N. Logothetis, Managing for Total Quality (London: Prentice-Hall International, 1992), p. 27.

7.

W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000). See in particular Point 3 of 14 Points for Management.

8.

http://www.asiusa.com/about/asi_thought_genichi.aspx

9.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/mbp/bpgt/m9ja00001/m9ja0000111.html

10.

Genichi Taguchi and Don Clausing, "Robust Quality," Harvard Business Review , January-February 1990, p. 68.

11.

Adapted from Out of the Crisis by Deming.

12.

Yuin Wu and Alan Wu, Taguchi Methods for Robust Design (New York: ASME, 2000), pp. 1328.

13.

William Y. Fowlkes and Clyde M. Creveling, Engineering Methods for Robust Product Design: Using Taguchi Methods in Technology and Product Development (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997).

14.

Op cit Littlewood and Strigini, p. 1.

15.

http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/execmail/2002/07-18twc-print.asp

16.

Op cit Littlewood and Strigini, p. 2.

17.

N. Ashrafi, O. Berman, M. Cutler, "Optimal design of large software-systems using N-version programming," IEEE Transactions on Reliability , R-43 (2): 344-350, 1994.



Design for Trustworthy Software. Tools, Techniques, and Methodology of Developing Robust Software
Authors: Patton P. Jayaswal B
Published year: 2006
Pages: 35-37/394
Buy this book on amazon.com >>