In-Process Quality Metrics

 In-Process quality metrics used to measure product

during development process.
 In this metrics we will discuss the following.

1. Defect arrival pattern during testing.

2. Phase based defect removal pattern.
3. Defect removal effectiveness.
Defect arrival pattern during testing
To measure defect arrival pattern, we have to
consider three different metrics.
 The defect arrivals (defects reported) during the
testing phase by time interval (e.g., week). These are
the total arrival defects, not all of which are valid
defects.
 The pattern of valid defect arrivals.
 The pattern of defect backlog (Process all the defects
at the end of the development cycle. Generally
retesting (regression test) is needed to ensure that
targeted product quality levels are reached.
 Phase based defect removal pattern

 It requires the tracking of defects at all phases of the

development cycle, including the design reviews,
code inspections, and formal verifications before
testing.

 The pattern of phase-based defect removal reflects the

overall defect removal ability of the development
process.
Project A
Project B
 Defect Removal effectiveness
 Defect removal effectiveness (or efficiency) can be
defined as follows:

DRE= (Defects removed during a developing phase)/

(Total defects in the product) *100.

The denominator of the metric can only be approximated. It

is usually estimated by:
Defects removed during the phase + defects found
later
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 The higher the value of the metric, the more effective

the development process and the fewer the defects
escape to the next phase or to the field.

 Based on this metric, action plans to improve the

effectiveness of these phases were established and
deployed.
Phase effectiveness of a software project
 Metrics for software maintenance
 This metric is used after the development of a
software product is complete and it is released to the
market.

 During the maintenance phase the main thing is to

fix the defects as soon as possible with excellent fix
quality.

During the maintenance phase the following metrics

are very important.
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• Fix backlog and backlog management index.

• Fixed response time.

• Fix quality.
 Fix backlog and backlog
management index.

• Fix backlog: It is a simple count of reported

problems that remain at the end of each month
or each week.
It is related to the rate of defect
arrivals and the rate at which fixes for reported
problems become available.
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• Backlog management index:

BMI=(Number of problems closed (or solved) during the

month)/Number of problems arrivals during the
month * 100%

BMI > 100 ---> Backlog is reduced.

BMI < 100 ---> Backlog is increased.
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Mean BMI is 102.9 means capability of the fix process is
functioning normally
 Software Quality Indicators
 Software quality indicators can be used to determine
all quality analysis activities. The key issues that are
more important for defining quality indicators is,

• Risks are properly evaluated.

• Software's Plans and its proper implementation.
• All examining process for its defects.
 Quality Indicator classification

 Quality indicator is classified as follows

• Software Quality Assurance Plan.

• Software Assessment Plan.
• Quality Review.
• Supporting Methods &Techniques
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 Software quality assurance plan includes SQA

tasks, its management in relation with the
development plan.

 Software Assessment Plan includes all new

constraints with change environment, its reusability
along with security plans and its configuration.
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 Quality Review Mechanism support to reduce all

review efforts and improve quality control including
continuous processes inspection.

 Supporting Methods and Techniques includes

quality monitoring its complexity and sensitivity
issues.
 Fix Quality

 Fix quality means number of defective fixes is

another important quality metric for the maintenance
phase.

 A fix is defective if it did not fix the reported

problem, or if it fixed the original problem but
injected a new defect.
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 The metric of percent defective fixes is simply the

percentage of all fixes in a time interval (e.g., 1
month) that are defective.

 A defective fix can be recorded in two ways, record it

in the month it was discovered or record it in the
month the fix was delivered.
 Fixed Response Time
 The fix response time metric is the Mean time of all
problems from open to closed.

EX: For many software development organizations,

guidelines are established on the time limit within
which the fixes should be available for the reported
defects.

The response time for fixing will vary according to the

problems.