Partnership and Modernisation in Employment Relations or Solid Software

Partnership and Modernisation in Employment Relations, Vol. 9

Author: Mark Stuart

This collection examines the significance of partnership-based approaches to the modernization of employment relations. Drawing from the work of leading researchers, the contemporary interest in partnership is situated within a historical, political and practical context. Particular attention is given to exploring and understanding the practices and experiences of partnership at the workplace.

Go to: Excel 2007 Just the Steps For Dummies or Machinima for Dummies

Solid Software

Author: Shari Lawrence Pfleeger

The practical guide to evaluating and improving the quality of mission-critical software.

Large software systems will never be perfect, but decision makers need better ways to evaluate and enhance software quality—especially where software is mission critical or used in life-or-death environments. Solid Software presents realistic techniques for analyzing and improving the quality and robustness of any software system or software-intensive product.

Solid Software isn't theoretical: it's a relentlessly practical decision maker's guide to making intelligent, responsible trade-offs that lead to the best software at the best cost.

• Understand what levels of quality are reasonable to expect at every stage of the software life cycle, including development, deployment, and maintenance
• Discover the key "design leverage points" that lead to robust software
• Learn sophisticated new ways to predict software quality and assess systems in production
• Make the most of hazard analysis, testing, design analysis, reviews, static code analysis, and other techniques
• Choose the best tools—and use them more effectively

Solid Software draws upon dozens of real-world examples, based on the authors' extensive experience as software quality consultants, and interviews with key software decision makers worldwide. Whether you're a developer, project manager, architect, executive, manager, or regulator, it's your single source for improving software quality—in the real world.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
Ch. 1	Why Is This Book Needed?	1
	Software: The Universal Weak Link?	1
	Why Is This So Hard?	7
	Solid, Survivable Software	12
	Surviving a Software Project	13
	The Road Ahead	14
Ch. 2	Defining Quality: What Do You Want?	19
	Five Views of Quality	19
	Risky Business	22
	Risk and Quality	25
	Consequences of Failure	27
	Rules of the Road	37
Ch. 3	Hazard Analysis	41
	The Rewards of Caution	41
	What Is Hazard Analysis?	43
	HAZOP	45
	Fault-Tree Analysis	47
	Failure Modes and Effects Analysis	50
	How to Describe Problems	52
	Planning for Hazard Analysis	59
	For Additional Information	62
Ch. 4	Testing	65
	Types of Faults	66
	Testing Strategies	72
	Test Cases and Results	83
	Who Should Test?	85
	Automated Testing Tools	87
	Testing: Good and Bad	93
	How Much Testing Is Enough?	98
	Assessing Testing Risk and Trade-offs	103
Ch. 5	Software Design	111
	The Audience for Design	112
	The Meaning of Good Design	113
	Issues to Consider in Good Design	121
	Design Leverage Points	131
Ch. 6	Prediction	145
	Predicting Software Characteristics	146
	Predicting Effort	152
	Evaluating Model Accuracy	160
	Predicting and Evaluating Return on Investment	162
	Predicting and Managing Risk	172
Ch. 7	Peer Reviews	191
	What Is a Review?	191
	Review Effectiveness	194
	Product Inspection	197
	Process Improvement	201
	How to Improve Review Results: The Psychological Basis	205
	Automating the Review Process	207
	Pitfalls of the Review Process	209
	The Role of Checklists	210
Ch. 8	Static Analysis	215
	Static Fault versus Dynamic Failure	216
	When Faults Cause Failures	216
	Early versus Late Detection	220
	Measurements for Static Analysis	220
	Coverage: How Much Is Enough?	223
	Approaches to Static Analysis	224
	Static Noise	230
Ch. 9	Configuration Management	233
	Constant Change	233
	Worth the Effort?	237
	Getting Control	239
	Versions, Releases, and the Challenge of Commercial Components	241
	The Four Facets of SCM	244
	Applying the Principles: Regressing Testing	249
	Change Control Boards	250
	Impact Analysis	252
	One Size Does Not Fit All	256
	Tool Support	256
	Begin with the End, but Start Where You Are	259
Ch. 10	Using Appropriate Tools	263
	How Tools Develop	264
	The Evolution of Software Tools	265
	Tool Properties	268
	The Anatomy of a Valuable Tool	269
	Tool Quality	272
	Tooling and Process	273
	Tooling and the Organization	275
Ch. 11	Trust but Verify	277
	Where We Are	277
	Learning from Mistakes	279
	The Importance of Being Human	286
	Best Practices	289
	Making Decisions	291
	What's Next?	301
	Index	309