STATISTICAL PROCESS-CONTROL FOR SOFTWARE

Most businesses outside the software-engineering community, like hardware manufacturers and service suppliers, have made statistical process control part of their development regimen. Does this mean we can ultimately expect the technique to penetrate the software world? Although a few pioneers (mostly practitioners) have attempted to use statistical process control in software-engineering applications, the opinion of many academics and practitioners is that it simply doesn't fit in the software world. These objections probably stem from an unfamiliarity with the technique and how to use it to best advantage. Many tend to dismiss it simply on the grounds that software can't be measured, but properly applied, statistical process control can flag potential process problems, even though it cannot supply absolute scores or goodness ratings.