TEAM Zarate Tarrani Notes From the Field

Oldies, But Goodies. One of my personal favorite books, and one that has had a profound influence on me, is Quality Assurance for Information Systems. This book represents a pivot point in Perry's prolific published works that date from 1981. What makes it pivotal is the fact that this book synthesizes his approach to IS quality assurance from a production support viewpoint and his future work which focuses on software testing.

Although over 11 years old the QA approach contained in this book is still valid. To get at the gems, though, you have to overlook a few things. For example, terminology common in the mainframe data center of past decades sounds quaint even to those of us who came from that environment. Also, the code examples used to illustrate quality problems are sure to confuse the younger generation of C++ and Java developers and test professionals who probably never heard of PL/I and only vaguely know about FORTRAN.

What I like about this book and the reason why I think it's still an important reference is the fact that application quality from an enterprise perspective is addressed. This goes beyond testing and release processes, as well as beyond project issues surrounding applications delivery and SQA. The focus is on production and maintenance, although testing, SQA and project metrics are addressed.

In addition to the focus, the book contains checklists, questionnaires and sample forms that can be updated to reflect modern computing environments - and you may be surprised to find that much of this 'ancient' material requires very little modification. Another aspect of this book that I like is the material on software maintenance, which seems to be a lost art, although it's as important now as it ever was.

Don't let the age of this book deter you if you're interested in quality assurance from a production support point of view. The best recommendation I can give is that this book has served me well in over a decade of consulting, and it probably will for years to come. However, it shouldn't be your only reference either.