In the heat of a project, we sometimes forget to make decisions about software quality explicit. This little cheat sheet aims to help to make these decisions deliberately.

1. A QUICK REMINDER ABOUT SOFTWARE QUALITY
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO OPTIMIZE?
INITIAL DEVELOPMENT
(30 % OF TOTAL COST)
MAINTENANCE
(70% OF TOTAL COST)

2. A QUICK REMINDER ABOUT SOFTWARE QUALITY
CONSTRAINT TRIANGLE: PICK TWO!
COSTTIME
SCOPE
QUALITY
▸ It’s either cheap & quick (usually low quality)
▸ cheap & small (less features)
▸ fast & good (expensive)

3. A QUICK REMINDER ABOUT SOFTWARE QUALITY
DECIDE DELIBERATELY! THINGS TO CONSIDER:
▸ Examples for types of software projects
▸ Prototype: short-lived, throw-away
▸ Migration project: medium-lived, throw-away
▸ Business-critical Backend: long-lived, extensible
▸ Proficiency means being able to foresee the longevity of the
project and pick the right quality measures!
▸ Always document and measure software quality goals
(this should be part of the software architecture documentation!)