| Term |
Definition |
| activity |
The phases
that make up the software development process are called activities. Examples of activities might be detailed
design, system test, or implementation. Activities typically
have inputs such as design documents and outputs such
as code. |
| budget |
The budget is the amount of money in dollars that is allocated to
the project. |
| category |
An attribute
of the software product which indicates the type of software
being developed. Examples could be embedded software,
user interface software or database application software.
Each software category is assigned a weight indicating
its relative complexity. |
| CMM |
The Capability
Maturity Model (CMM) is a process maturity framework
developed by the SEI to help organizations improve their
software process. It was initially created to provide
the U.S. government with a method for assessing the capability
of their software contractors. |
| code (new) |
New code is code that is created or modified during the project. |
| code (reused) |
Reused code is code that exists and can be used without modification
for the project. |
| defect |
A defect is a problem detected in the output from an activity,
such as a bug in software or a flaw in design. |
| defect type |
Defect type is an attribute of a defect used to group defects that
are similar. Example defect types are coding error, design
flaw, and interface error. You should specify valid defect
types in the software development process description. |
| development
staff |
Development
staff is a classification of staff members. Typically,
the development staff is composed of the engineers and
programmers who are developing the core project. |
| deviation |
A deviation from the software development process occurs any time
the procedures of the development process are not followed. |
| earned value |
Earned value (EV) is a tracking metric which measures the actual amount
of work accomplished, regardless of the effort expended
or the time elapsed. |
| experience
level |
An experience
level is an attribute of a staff member. It indicates
a staff member’s experience (relative to other staff
members). |
| failure |
A failure is a run-time error which renders the program or system
non-operational. |
| Gantt chart |
A Gantt
chart is a standard scheduling chart that depicts
work tasks as a sequence of horizontal time bars. |
| I/O transaction |
An I/O transaction typically refers to one bundle of data which is accepted
and processed by the system. You should define I/O transactions
explicitly for the system being developed. |
| inspected
code |
Inspected
code is code which has been subjected to a visual
verification or walkthrough by a group of impartial designers. |
| KLOD |
KLOD is one thousand lines of documentation. This refers
to non-executable text that is placed in a program source
file to explain details of the operation of the program. |
| KSLOC |
KSLOC is one thousand source lines of code, and is a
measurement of program size. |
| LOD |
LOD is lines of documentation. This refers to non-executable
text that is placed in a program source file to explain
details of the operation of the program. |
| labour rate |
The labour
rate is the cost (measured as effort) to put one unit
of product size through an activity. Each activity will
be characterized by its own labour rate. In this document,
the labour rate is presented as PH/KSLOC. |
| manager |
Manager is a classification of a staff member. Typically,
a manager is a person who performs management tasks. |
| milestone |
Milestones are check points in the development process. A milestone
is associated with a rigid set of criteria. When these
criteria are met, the milestone is said to have been reached. |
| person hours |
A person
hour is a measurement of effort. One person who works
for one hour will have performed one person hour worth
of work. This measure is often abbreviated as PH. |
| PERT chart |
A PERT chart is a standard scheduling chart that shows work tasks as
boxes. Lines between the boxes show the dependencies between
tasks. |
| PH |
PH is
person hours. |
| process |
The process,
or software development process, is the method
used to convert initial project requirements into a final
system. The process typically consists of a number of
phases, called activities. |
| process
exception report |
A process
exception report is a form that must be filled out,
and approved each time a staff member wishes to deviate
from the documented software development process. |
| product
complexity |
Product
complexity is defined as the relative difficulty in
creating the product compared to other software products. |
| productivity |
Productivity is the inverse of the labour rate, or rather, the number
of size units that can be put through an activity with
a given effort. In this document, productivity is measured
as KLSOC/PH. |
| requirements |
Requirements are desired characteristics of the software being developed.
The first activity in most software processes is one which
identifies and documents the requirements. You should
specify and number requirements individually for reference
during development. |
| rework |
Rework refers
to any work that is performed to correct defects. |
| SEI |
The Software
Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded
(U.S.) research and development centre sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Defense. The SEI and its founder, Watts
Humphrey, created the CMM. |
| SLOC |
SLOC is source lines of code (or lines of source code),
and is a measurement of program size. |
| staff |
The staff is the group of people who are contributing time to
a project. Staff can be categorized as management, support,
or development. |
| staff member |
A staff
member is one person from the staff. |
| support
staff |
Support
staff is a classification of staff members. Typically,
support staff are those who perform tasks which assist
the development and/or management staff. |
| tasks |
Tasks are units of work which are assigned to the staff. Tasks
can be classified according to the type of work being
performed. Typical classifications are management, development,
and support. |
| tests |
Tests are the individual tests specified in a test plan document.
Each test is typically described by 1) an initial system
state, 2) a set of actions to be performed, and 3) the
expected results of the test. |
| tests executed |
Tests are said
to have been executed if the described set of actions
have been performed. |
| tests passed |
Tests are said
to have passed if they have been executed, and
the output from the tests matches the expected results. |
| units |
Units are the elements of work required to complete each development
activity. Depending on the activity, a unit may be a document,
a test, or a module of code. |
| WBS |
WBS is Work Breakdown Structure. WBS is a standard software
project management technique of breaking the project down
into a hierarchy of work tasks which represent the work
to be done. |
Our goal is to ensure our clients have the right process,
technology and skills to deliver lasting change to their development
organization. To learn more, we encourage you to contact
an SPC representative. They understand our services from
your perspective. You will get an honest picture without the
hype. There’s no risk, no obligation, and plenty of
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