This course introduces students to advanced topics on managing the quality of products to be delivered as part of the progression within a software development project, and managing the development process itself through software process improvement frameworks and standards.

Several causal aspects of (bad) software quality will be introduced and discussed so that students can understand the context for undertaking risk and bad quality avoidance.

There will be a focus on practical techniques for identifying and removing defects as well as for implementing procedures to track the success or failure of resk and kefect resolutions.

There are several Software Process Imporvement (SPI) frameworks and standards available, each one possessing its own merits and difficulties.  Most are regarded as being more appropriate to large software development organisations where the assumed expenses of incorporated SPI initiatives typically provide significant return on investment.  This course will introduce the various well known frameworks and standards in the context of importance to organisations but then also discuss tailored versions of some SPI frameworks that are more suitable to small organisations or teams of software developers.

On completion of this course, students will be able to explain and practice:

1. techniques for verification and validation of various artefacts that are typically produced during the development of small to large software systems.
2. software process and measurement techniques which have been found to enhance the capability and maturity of software development organisations.