SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS AND ANTIPATTERNS.

513 Pages·2022·6.559 MB·English

by  CAPERS JONES

Software Development Patterns
and Antipatterns

Software Development Patterns
and Antipatterns
Capers Jones
First edition published 2022
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ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 02912- 2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 01722- 8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 19312- 8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003193128
Typeset in Garamond
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Contents
Appreciation and Acknowledgment.............................................. xv
Preface ........................................................................................xvii
Biography ....................................................................................xix
PART 1 WORST- CASE PATTERNS OF SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT 1
1 Challenges of Software Project Management..........................3
Improving Software Project Management Tools and Training .......7
Initial Education for New Project Managers ...............................8
Continuing Education for Software Project Managers ...............9
Guest Lectures from Visiting Experts (Remotely via
Zoom or Other Tools) .......................................................10
Acquisition and Use of Software Parametric
Estimation Tools ................................................................13
Acquisition and Use of Progress and Milestone
Tracking Tools ...................................................................17
The Use of Formal Project Offices (PMOs) for
Applications >1,000 Function Points ................................18
Use and Measurement of Effective Quality Control Methods ..19
Elimination of Bad Metrics and Adoption of
Effective Software Metrics.................................................26
Primary Software Metrics for High Precision ...........................29
Supplemental Software Metrics for High Precision .................29
Commissioning Annual Software Benchmark Studies .............31
Formal Best Practice Analysis of Software Tools,
Methods, and Quality ........................................................34
Summary and Conclusions on Software Project Management .....36
v
vi ◾ Contents
Suggested Readings on Software Project Management ................41
Suggested Web Sites ......................................................................44
2 Wastage: Lost Time and Money Due to
Poor Software Quality...........................................................47
Introduction ...................................................................................47
Analyzing the Work Patterns of Software Engineers and
Programmers ........................................................................48
Reuse of Certified Materials for Software Projects .......................55
Achieving Excellence in Software Quality Control .......................56
Excellent Quality Control ..........................................................56
Average Quality Control ............................................................57
Poor Quality Control .................................................................58
Summary and Conclusions ............................................................64
3 Root Causes of Poor Software Quality ..................................67
Introduction ...................................................................................67
Software Quality Education Curricula ..........................................71
References and Readings in Software Quality Control ................79
4 Defenses against Breach of Contract Litigation ....................85
Introduction ...................................................................................85
Problem 1: Estimating Errors and Estimate Rejection ..................86
Problem 2: Missing Defensible Objective Benchmarks ................87
Problem 3: Rapidly Changing Requirements ................................88
Problem 4: Poor Quality Control ..................................................89
Problem 5: Poor Software Milestone Tracking .............................91
Problem 6: Flawed Outsource Agreements that
Omit Key Topics ...................................................................96
Summary and Observations Based on Breach of
Contract Litigation ................................................................97
Suggested Readings .......................................................................98
Web Sites......................................................................................101
Suggested Web Sites ....................................................................101
5 The Mess of Software Metrics .............................................105
Introduction .................................................................................105
Defining Software Productivity ...................................................115
Defining Software Quality ...........................................................116
Patterns of Successful Software Measurements and Metrics ......121
Successful Software Measurement and Metric Patterns .............121
Function Points for Normalizing Productivity Data ...............122
Function Points for Normalizing Software Quality ................122
Defect Potentials Based on all Defect Types ..........................123
Contents ◾ vii
Defect Removal Efficiency (DRE) Based on All
Defect Types....................................................................123
Defect Removal Efficiency Including Inspections and
Static Analysis..................................................................124
Defect Removal Efficiency Based on 90 Days after Release ..124
Activity-B ased Benchmarks for Development ........................125
Activity-B ased Benchmarks for Maintenance .........................134
Cost of Quality (COQ) for Quality Economics .......................134
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for
Software Economic Understanding ................................141
Needs for Future Metrics .............................................................143
Summary and Conclusions ..........................................................145
Appendix A: Problems with Cost per Defect Metrics .................148
Why Cost per Defect Penalizes Quality ..................................149
Case A: Poor Quality ...............................................................149
Case B: Good Quality ..............................................................149
Case C: Zero Defects ...............................................................152
Using Function Point Metrics for Defect Removal
Economics .......................................................................156
The Value of Quality for Large Applications of
10,000 Function Points ...................................................157
Appendix B: Side- by- Side Comparisons of
79 Languages using LOC and Function Points ..................157
References and Readings ............................................................168
Books and monographs by Capers Jones ......................168
Monographs by Capers Jones 2012–2020 available from
Namcook Analytics LLC .....................................................169
Books by Other Authors .............................................................169
Software Benchmark Providers (listed in alphabetic order) ......173
6 Variations in Software Costs and Quality by
Application Size ..................................................................175
Introduction .................................................................................175
Summary and Conclusions ..........................................................176
7 Advancing Software from a Craft to a Profession ...............185
Introduction .................................................................................185
What Are the Indicators of a Profession? ...................................187
Why Software Engineering in Not Yet a Profession ...................188
Topic 1: Reduce the Many Software Failures .........................189
Topic 2: Reduce Cost and Schedule Overruns .......................190
Topic 3: Improve Software Quality after Deployment ...........191
Topic 4: Improve Today’s Low Software Development
Productivity and Long Schedules ...................................192
viii ◾ Contents
Topic 5: Improve Poor Software Security and
Reduce Cyber- Attacks .....................................................192
Topic 6: Stop Using Inaccurate and
Invalid Metrics That Distort Reality ................................193
Topic 7: Adopt Accurate Metrics and
Effective Measurement Practices ....................................194
Topic 8: Improve Inaccurate and
Optimistic Estimates before Starting Projects ................195
Topic 9: Eliminate Inaccurate Status Tracking .......................196
Topic 10: Reduce High Maintenance Costs after
Deployment .....................................................................196
Topic 11: Reduce or Eliminate Litigation from
Unhappy Clients ..............................................................197
Topic 12: Improve Undergraduate and
Graduate Software Education .........................................198
Topic 13: Improve Post- Graduate and
On- the- Job Software Education ......................................198
Topic 14: Introduce Software Licensing and
Board Certification ..........................................................199
Topic 15: Move from Custom and Manual
Development to Standard Reusable Components ..........200
Topic 16: Develop Effective Methods for Working at
Home Due To Corona Virus ...........................................201
Summary and Conclusions on Software Professionalism ......201
References and Readings on Software and
Selected Texts on Medical Practice ....................................202
PART 2 BEST- CASE PATTERNS OF SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT 209
8 Corporate Software Risk Reduction in a
Fortune 500 Company.........................................................211
Introduction .................................................................................211
A National Talent Search .............................................................212
Fact Finding and Software Assessments .....................................213
Software Applications in Use ......................................................213
The Initial Report to the Chairman .............................................216
Corporate Software Risk Factors Found by the
Initial Assessment ...............................................................217
The Corporate Risk Reduction Strategy: Fix Quality First .........218
Four-Y ear Software Risk Reduction Targets ................................220
Creating a Software Engineering Laboratory ..............................221
Education .................................................................................221
Contents ◾ ix
Applied Technology ................................................................221
Advanced Technology .............................................................222
Measurements ..........................................................................222
Communications ......................................................................223
Administration .........................................................................224
Results of the Corporate Risk Reduction Program .....................224
Cost Justifying a Corporate Risk Reduction Program ................225
Cost Recovery on the Development Side ...............................228
Cost Recovery on the Maintenance Side ................................229
Asset Value of a Library of Reusable Artifacts ........................231
Adding Value through Shorter Development Schedules ........232
Adding Value through Higher Revenues ................................233
Adding Value from Disaster Avoidance ..................................233
Adding Value from Reduced Litigation Risk ...........................234
Adding Value from Improved Staff and Management Morale ...234
Adding Value from Recruiting and Keeping
Top- Ranked Personnel ....................................................234
Adding Value from Customer Loyalty .....................................235
Overall Value from Effective Process Improvements .............235
Summary and Conclusions ..........................................................235
Appendix A: Master List of 210 Corporate Software Risks ........236
References and Readings ............................................................236
9 Achieving Software Excellence ...........................................247
Introduction .................................................................................247
Software Sizing, Estimating, and Project Tracking Differences..248
Software Quality Differences for Best, Average, and Poor
Projects ...............................................................................252
Excellent Quality Control ........................................................254
Average Quality Control ..........................................................255
Poor Quality Control ...............................................................256
Reuse of Certified Materials for Software Projects .....................258
Reusable Software Artifacts Circa 2019 ......................................258
Software Methodologies ..............................................................261
Quantifying Software Excellence ................................................262
The Metaphor of Technical Debt ................................................265
Stages in Achieving Software Excellence ....................................267
Stage 1: Quantify Your Current Software Results ...................268
Stage 2: Begin to Adopt State of the
Art Quality Tools and Methods .......................................269
Formal Sizing, Estimating, and Tracking ............................269
Defect Prevention ................................................................269
Pre- test Defect Removal ......................................................270