My recent visit to a spray drier plant in Devon gave me first hand exposure to quality control in action in the context of a production line scenario and it got me thinking about quality and its relation to the software engineering process.
We have the quality controllers - the testers but we by no means have an integrated Quality Assurance function. Elements that could be incorporated into an integrated programme are largely carried out by disparate parties. I include among these code reviews, employment of code analysis tools, enforcement of unit testing and code coverage.
Should all these be incorporated into a separate body vis a vis manufacturing industry thus imposing a Quality Assurance layer on what is already arguably a complex administrative structure?
Indeed, is it wise to apply management processes taken from manufacturing industry where perhaps processes aren't readily transferable from the start stop nature of the production line to the environment of the software house?
We have the quality controllers - the testers but we by no means have an integrated Quality Assurance function. Elements that could be incorporated into an integrated programme are largely carried out by disparate parties. I include among these code reviews, employment of code analysis tools, enforcement of unit testing and code coverage.
Should all these be incorporated into a separate body vis a vis manufacturing industry thus imposing a Quality Assurance layer on what is already arguably a complex administrative structure?
Indeed, is it wise to apply management processes taken from manufacturing industry where perhaps processes aren't readily transferable from the start stop nature of the production line to the environment of the software house?
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