The Benefits of Defect Prevention Methods and Techniques in Software Quality Engineering

Digital technologies in their entirety have transformed the way businesses are conducted, products are developed, tested, and deployed, and communication is done. With enterprises looking to advance the cause of customer experience to its optimal level, the complexity of software has been rising. Although positive business outcomes due to the implementation of digital technologies have encouraged more investments, the specter of software defects looms large. It has increased the average cost of downtime for a single hour to the tune of $100,000, as per an ITIC study.

Also, as per Apigee, about 44 percent of users delete an app immediately if it doesn’t perform well. According to Google, 48 percent of users opined that a poorly performing site or app meant the company or brand didn’t care. There are numerous instances of companies being forced to pay large sums of money to compensate users for poor service. So, to increase software reliability, predicting and preventing software defects has become an important facet of software quality engineering.

Defect predictions allow software developers to identify areas with glitches and optimize test resources to increase software dependability. It is a no-brainer that the earlier defects are identified, the earlier they can be remedied, drawing an analogy from medical science that “prevention is better than cure.” The main goal of preventing defects is to minimize their potential impact and reduce their recurrence in future releases. Thus, quality engineering ensures defects are nipped in the bud in the SDLC. It does so by taking a systematic, quantifiable, and disciplined approach to the design, development, testing, production, and maintenance of a software system.

The objectives of defect prevention using quality engineering solutions include:

• Eliminate or minimize the number of defects in the system to enhance software quality.
• Increase overall efficiency and productivity.
• Reduce the cost of fixing defects at a later stage, especially during deployment.
• Undertake measures to prevent defects from being introduced into the software.
• Establish practices to identify defects in the software as early as possible.
• Establish better coordination between developers and testers to take quick decisions and minimize risks.

Methods and Techniques for Defect Prevention

Software quality engineering has several defect prevention methods, as discussed below:

Analysis of software requirements: The causal factors that introduce defects in any software system are errors in design and requirements. As a part of the SDLC, software requirements include the features and functionalities of a product to be developed as well as the expectations of users from it. So, software developers must understand the requirements properly to prevent any defect or issue from creeping into the process. One of the attributes of digital quality engineering is ensuring the requirements are fully understood across the pipeline for better and faster implementation.

Review and inspection: Before a code goes into production, it should be thoroughly reviewed by the testing team for errors or glitches. It helps the team identify and fix defects before they cause any negative impact on production. Review can be of two types: self-review and peer review, which are self-explanatory but can be applied at every stage or level of the SDLC. This phase of any enterprise quality engineering process helps in identifying and remediating defects in software applications under development.

Defect documentation: Once the review and inspection of the code are done successfully, the findings should be logged and documented for future reference. The documentation should include a complete description of the defects identified. This helps in better understanding the defects so that remedial steps can be taken to prevent them from recurring in the subsequent phases. The documentation of defects can play an important role in understanding their types, causes, sources, and remedial actions. It can save enterprise costs and resources from having to be invested to rerun the development process.

Root cause analysis: As the name suggests, a root cause analysis is a study to understand the cause of a defect in a software system. It analyzes the trigger for the defect so that its recurrence can be prevented. Since a defect can have massive ramifications for the software in use, understanding its cause beforehand can allow developers to modify their coding process. A root cause analysis can help developers engineer a better-quality product.

Conclusion

Quick detection and remediation of defects in software testing can entail quicker delivery of products, reduction in costs, increase in customer satisfaction, and reduction in rework, among others. A robust quality engineering strategy helps in establishing practices to prevent defects in an SDLC. It can help enterprises deliver glitch-free products that drive customer loyalty, better productivity, greater competitiveness, and higher revenues.