Software Quality: The Elusive Target

In the recent past, when bank statements contained errors or the telephone network broke down, the general public usually blamed "the computer," making no distinction between hardware and software. However, high-profile disasters and the ensuing debates in the press are alerting more people to the crucial nature of software quality in their everyday lives. Before long, we can expect increasing public concern about the pervasiveness of software, not only in public services but also in consumer products like automobiles, washing machines, telephones, and electric shavers. Consequently, we software professionals need to worry about the quality of all our products from large, complex, stand-alone systems to small embedded ones.