Murugan Sundararaj, McAfee
There are just umpteen numbers of things that go into building ”quality” software. Be it following good design principles, running static code analysis, conducting peer code reviews, testing, etc. But we barely think about “Alternatives”.
Alternative? Yes, finding alternate software code – one that can improve the fundamental quality of the software. It is not necessarily about changing the software implementation language but looking outside the traditional quality radar. Think of adapting to latest programming standard of the existing programming language in which the software is implemented. Or if only a subset of heavy-duty software is used then think of replacing it with lighter ones.
We put more time and energy into staffing up QA team instead of investing in adapting to latest programming standards up front to let developers develop better code. It is time to shed some light on this new approach in building quality software.
Today your software might be of better quality. But improving or introducing new quality processes may alone not sustain the current software quality. The core of software is the programming language in which it is implemented. Replacing the age-old code with simple, efficient and safer new code will boost the quality of the software. It does not stop there. The newer code will reduce the “mean time to repair”.
The out dated programming standard might make a developer write staggering amount of code to achieve a given functionality. But if there are simpler alternatives available in the new programming standard it is good to go for it. Remember bulky codes are one of the major sources of bugs.
This paper explains the various steps involved in finding alternatives and how to successfully apply them to improve the overall quality. We will also look at the challenges involved in multi platform environment.
