XH53015-06

Two Hours

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Software Quality

For candidates taking:

BSc IN COMPUTATION
FINAL EXAMINATION

BSc IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

FINAL EXAMINATION

BSc IN COMPUTING SCIENCE

FINAL EXAMINATION

BSc IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

FINAL EXAMINATION

BSc IN MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

FINAL EXAMINATION

BSc IN MATHEMATICS WITH SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

FINAL EXAMINATION

MEng IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

FINAL EXAMINATION

Monday 22 May 2006 2.00-5.00

Answer all questions in Section A and One question from Section B.

Section A: No mark will be awarded/deducted if a question is not attempted.

1
/4 of the mark for a question will be deducted for each wrong answer

The use of electronic calculators is NOT permitted.

Note: Do not answer more than the required number of questions.

Additional questions will not be marked. Clearly cross
out anything you do not wish to be marked.

© University of Manchester, 2006

PTO
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SECTION A: You must answer ALL questions in this section to obtain maximum marks. Select
the correct answer and mark on the accompanying answer sheet. Some questions are awarded
1
more than one mark. No mark will be awarded/deducted if the question is not attempted. /4 of
the mark for a question will be deducted for each wrong answer

1) Software quality is defined as:

a) The series of steps that define the specific use of each system element or the procedural context
in which the system resides
b) The procedures for handling customer change requests
c) The efforts undertaken by users and maintenance personnel to identify the reasons for software
failures, to correct the failures and to verify the success of the corrections
d) The procedures for handling customer complaints and problems detected after acceptance,
including non-conformity to specifications detected after the warranty period
e) The degree to which a system, component, or process meets specified requirements
(1 mark)

2) Software process is defined as:

a) A set of activities, methods and practices that people use for high quality software procedures
b) A set of activities, methods, practices and trans-formations that people use to develop and
maintain software and the associated products
c) A set of activities, methods and practices that people use in order to develop software iteratively
d) A set of documents or artefacts created during a project
e) A set of documents or artefacts created during a project, independent of whether or not it is
designated for delivery to the customer
(1 mark)

3) Project risk has two main characteristics. Identify one of these characteristics from the list below:

a) Consistency
b) Uncertainty
c) Validation
d) Gain
e) Change
(1 mark)
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4) Which maturity level is characterised by:

“Software process for management and engineering activities is documented, standardised and
integrated across organisations. All projects use an approved, tailored version of the organisation’s
standard software process.”

a) Level 1
b) Level 2
c) Level 3
d) Level 4
e) Level 5
(1 mark)

5) Which project has the highest productivity value?

Project Effort Cost £ KLOC Defects

Project 1 26 168 13 29
Project 2 64 445 28 88
Project 3 40 357 39 69
Project 4 55 400 45 89
Project 5 21 220 66 30

a) Project 1
b) Project 2
c) Project 3
d) Project 4
e) Project 5
(2 marks)

6) Which project (detailed in the table in question 5 above) is the worst in terms of its quality value?

a) Project 1
b) Project 2
c) Project 3
d) Project 4
e) Project 5
(2 marks)

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7) Which statement is characteristic of organisations attitude to attainment of maturity?

a) Few organisations seem willing to strive for higher levels of maturity

b) Most organisations seem willing to strive for higher levels of maturity
c) Most organisations are very willing to strive for higher levels of maturity at whatever cost
d) Organisations are not willing to strive for higher levels of maturity as the majority of
organisations worldwide have reached level 4 or above
e) Organisations are willing to strive for higher levels of maturity and increase staffing levels to
achieve this
(1 mark)

8) Identify a major difference between software products and other industrial products that
consequently makes the development of Software Quality Assurance methods and its successful
implementation challenging.

a) The only phase when defects can be detected in software is the product production planning
phase
b) Software is highly visible
c) Opportunities to detect defects arise in all phases of development and production of software
d) Opportunities to detect defects are limited to the software product development phase
e) Software has at most a few operational options
(1 mark)

9) Software quality control is defined as:

a) The implicit characteristics that are expected of professionally developed software

b) Conformance to explicitly and implicitly defined requirements
c) The series of inspections, reviews and tests used throughout the software process to ensure each
work product meets the requirements placed upon it
d) The auditing and reporting functions of management
e) A clear agreement concerning work products, resources, timescales and change procedures
(1 mark)
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10) IDEF Modelling:

a) Provides a rigorous and formal set of semantics for describing systems

b) Is a high level of abstraction for a software process in which there should be some means
for performing validation of the task
c) Enables periodic assessment of systems to be made
d) Is a modelling technique for management, in which engineering activities are
documented, standardised and integrated across an organisation
e) Is a modelling technique for making estimates and plans for basic project management
(1 mark)

11) Which statement about the Capability Maturity Model is most correct?

a) An organisation can move up from level 1 to level 3 in one step

b) No organisation can move from level 2 to level 3 in one step
c) As an organisation matures the development times increase
d) Most organisations worldwide are at level 4
e) As an organisation matures the software process becomes better defined
(1 mark)

12) Consider the following cost estimates table for a number of system functions:

Requirements Design Code Test Integrate

Function 1 30 66 40 16 12
Function 2 38 98 68 45 15
Function 3 55 121 73 29 22
Function 4 20 44 26 10 8
Function 5 10 22 13 5 4

Which of the system functions estimated cost of some development steps is disproportionately
distributed as compared to the other system functions?

a) Function 1
b) Function 2
c) Function 3
d) Function 4
e) Function 5
(2 marks)

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13) When an organisation improves from CMM Level 4 to CMM Level 5, the mean time (in months) is:

a) More than the mean number of months to progress from CMM Level 3 to CMM Level 4
b) Less than any other progress transition
c) As much as from CMM Level 3 to CMM Level 4
d) Twice as much as from CMM Level 2 to CMM Level 3
e) More than any other progress transition
(2 marks)

14) Software Project Tracking and Oversight in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is primarily
concerned with:

a) Providing management with appropriate visibility into the process being used to develop the
product
b) Establishing reasonable plans for performing software engineering tasks and managing the
project
c) Ensuring that qualified software subcontractors are selected and managed effectively
d) Providing adequate visibility into actual project progress so that management can take effective
action when progress deviates significantly from the plan
e) Establishing a common understanding between the customer and the software project team
(1 mark)

15) Which of the following statements is true about AHP:

a) AHP is used to identify customer priorities and resolve conflicts

b) AHP is used as a method for defining requirements
c) AHP is used as a design methodology
d) AHP is used to ensure a higher level of quality through an iterative process
e) AHP is used to ensure a higher level of quality by detecting errors in software
(1 mark)

16) Which Key Process Area from the following is found at CMM Level 3:

a) Software Quality Management

b) Technology Change Management
c) Software Product Engineering
d) Requirements Management
e) Software Project Planning
(1 mark)
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17) Using the following table for function point weightings:

Factors Weights
Simple Average Complex
Number of user inputs 3 4 6
Number of user outputs 4 5 7
Number of user inquiries 3 4 6
Number of files 7 10 15
Number of external interfaces 5 7 10

A system being developed has the following characteristics:

Number of user inputs 3 (simple)

Number of user outputs 10 (average)
Number of user inquiries 14 (simple)
Number of files 7 (complex)
Number of external interfaces 3 (average)

The function point count for the system is:

a) 33
b) 37
c) 76
d) 227
e) 257
(2 marks)

18) Which statement is typical of software testing:

a) Testing alone cannot prove that software has no errors

b) Testing can prove all software errors
c) Testing proves that there are no errors and that software is ready
d) Testing should be carried out by the project team
e) Testing alone is sufficient to ensure product quality
(1 mark)

19) Which maturity level is characterised by:

“Continuous process improvement is enabled by quantitative feedback from the process and from
piloting innovative ideas and technologies”.

a) Level 1
b) Level 2
c) Level 3
d) Level 4
e) Level 5
(1 mark)

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20) What is the main principle of the House of Quality:

a) The row sums provide a measure of the different stages in the development of software
b) The row sums provide a measure of the different parts of the software system
c) The row sums provide a measure of how much the system functions are contributing to meeting
the customers’ design
d) The row sums provide measure of how much the system functions are contributing to meeting
the customers’ requirements
e) The row sums provide a measure of the different sections of code
(1 mark)
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SECTION B: You must answer one question in this section

21) (a) Briefly outline the purpose and goals of the Software Quality Assurance and Software
Configuration Management key process areas found in level 2 of the CMM (Capability
Maturity Model).
(5 marks)

(b) With reference to the Capability Maturity Model identify the key differences between a
mature organisation and an immature organisation. Use graphs to illustrate your answer.
(5 marks)

(c) Critical Path Network

(i) Produce a critical path network, showing the earliest start times and latest start times for
each task, using the data in the table below. Write down the sequence of tasks on the
critical path. (13 marks)

Task Task name Duration Starts after completion of

code task number(s)
A Produce detailed design of program unit 1 8 None
B Produce code for program unit 1 10 A
C Unit test program unit 1 6 B
D Produce detailed design of program unit 2 9 None
E Produce code for program unit 2 11 D
F Unit test program unit 2 7 E
G Integrate program unit 1 with program unit 2 4 C, F
H Produce detailed design of program unit 3 7 None
I Produce code for program unit 3 9 H
J Unit test program unit 3 5 I
K Integrate program unit 3 with program unit 1 5 G, J
and 2

(ii) Briefly explain the goals of critical path analysis.

(2 marks)

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22) (a) Explain the purpose and benefits of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM).
(5 marks)

(b) Explain the DIANE method of testing.

(5 marks)

(c) Discuss the advantages of peer reviews (Capability Maturity Model: Level 3). Mention one
method of peer reviews to support your arguments.
(5 marks)

(d) Consider the defect amplification model:

(i) Describe the key features of the model.

(ii) Comment on the effectiveness of using this model for error detection.
(10 marks)
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23) (a) Compare and contrast developers and users viewpoints regarding the internal defects of a
software product.
(4 marks)

(b)Capability Maturity Model: Level 3:

(i) Identify the main differences between Organisation Process Focus and Organisation
Process Definition
(ii) Identify the advantages and disadvantages of two different methods of process
modelling
(iii) Discuss the main problems associated with processes
(12 marks)

(c) Discuss the importance of testing with reference to the following statement “Testing is not the
only type of Software Quality Assurance tool applied to software code.”
(5 marks)

(d)CMM Level 3 – Key Process Area – Training Program

Identify four measures that would demonstrate an organisations commitment to training.
(4 marks)

END OF PAPER