Software is nothing more than programming code that is designed to perform a certain task. If you use a computer, then you're using software. It may be the online hotel reservation system you use when planning trips or the navigation system in your car or even the bells and whistles in your cell phone. These are all driven by software and software sometimes has bugs that need to be fixed. An ideal situation would be to avoid them in the beginning, and that is exactly what Six Sigma methodology helps software developers to do.
For instance, a software bug in a program like a restaurant waiter's terminal could manifest itself in different ways. It could assign the food to the wrong group of guests, or cause the kitchen to get an incorrect order, or even miscalculate the bill total or the taxes under certain circumstances. One could imagine the dire results of such software bugs.
Generally speaking, there are two types of software bugs - programming bugs and data bugs. Programming bugs are more difficult to discover because they are usually of the logical error type. The program will need to be modified and the code recompiled before it can be used again. Data bugs are more easy discovered and isolated, as they mainly occur because of errors in tables.
Employing Six Sigma culture into the software development process can help overcome these errors by mistake proofing. Various controls can be used to proof data bugs. If there were certain minimum charges or parameters for a specific reason, then any value below the minimum would be an error. Putting a control mechanism in place at this stage helps to minimize the bugs. Using Six Sigma can be invaluable for software development projects.
Six Sigma discipline is data driven, and generally software projects are begun after collecting data pertaining to the problem area. Using the Six Sigma technique for collecting information, the organization can be ensured that the data is as correct as it can possibly be. Then when developing the program, the areas containing the data collected can be eliminated as problems and used for mistake proofing the program. By the time the program reaches the testing stage, these areas can be isolated and modifications can be made. Six Sigma methodology can help minimize losses from bugs to a large extent. - 16747
For instance, a software bug in a program like a restaurant waiter's terminal could manifest itself in different ways. It could assign the food to the wrong group of guests, or cause the kitchen to get an incorrect order, or even miscalculate the bill total or the taxes under certain circumstances. One could imagine the dire results of such software bugs.
Generally speaking, there are two types of software bugs - programming bugs and data bugs. Programming bugs are more difficult to discover because they are usually of the logical error type. The program will need to be modified and the code recompiled before it can be used again. Data bugs are more easy discovered and isolated, as they mainly occur because of errors in tables.
Employing Six Sigma culture into the software development process can help overcome these errors by mistake proofing. Various controls can be used to proof data bugs. If there were certain minimum charges or parameters for a specific reason, then any value below the minimum would be an error. Putting a control mechanism in place at this stage helps to minimize the bugs. Using Six Sigma can be invaluable for software development projects.
Six Sigma discipline is data driven, and generally software projects are begun after collecting data pertaining to the problem area. Using the Six Sigma technique for collecting information, the organization can be ensured that the data is as correct as it can possibly be. Then when developing the program, the areas containing the data collected can be eliminated as problems and used for mistake proofing the program. By the time the program reaches the testing stage, these areas can be isolated and modifications can be made. Six Sigma methodology can help minimize losses from bugs to a large extent. - 16747
About the Author:
Craig Calvin is a noted author on Six Sigma. If you are considering taking the Six Sigma certification course, be sure to visit the top Six Sigma provider at www.sixsigmaonline.org for a comprehensive overview of what's involved.
