CenterLine Software Inc has carried out a European survey of 300 or so software development organizations, asking them about software testing policies. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based error detection software company found that application developers had wholly inadequate testing policies in place. It found 76% of developers believe users are programed to accept software flaws on the basis that they will be addressed in a later release. This attitude probably goes some way to explain why 57% of respondents admitted that their organization had knowingly shipped software with bugs and a further 47% believe the software they create is not adequately tested. Paul Henderson, CenterLine’s marketing vice-president says this can be disasterous for mission critical applications. The survey indicated software was often shipped prematurely because of lack of communication between management and developers. With both sides of the equation subject to stringent schedules, and revenue often dependent on product rele ases, judgements have to be made and decisions taken. Henderson estimates the costs associated with rectifying bugs after the software had been shipped was anythi ng up to 60 times greater than if they were caught at the development stage. It is a difficult process to quantify, but fear not say CenterLine, help is at hand. A Wall Street trading company involved in beta testing CenterLine’s error detection software reported a 96% reduction in system downtime because of software crashes during the last 12 months. The unnamed firm stated that the increased productivity amounted to savings of approximately $100,000 in systems support staff and a further $100,000 indirectly, Henderson says. CenterLine added QC/Recall and QC/Replay to its family of QualityCenter automated software testing tools that claim to help developers improve the quality and speed of developing applications in C and C++ programing environments, in December 1995. QC/Recall runs seamlessly with applications to track and record user keystrokes, which are stored in a high-level file. When errors occur the file is transferred over the network to the systems support team, who are able to accurately back-track step-by-step to find the exact location and reason for the error. QC/Replay is a test development tool for use within graphical user interface environments that enables software to be continually tested throughout its life-span. By running the automatic error detection software throughout the development cycle without incurring time delays dramatically enhances the code quality, says Henderson, and we’re definitely knowledgeable about our source code. With 69% of those surveyed believing earlier testing in the development lifecycle would have the most positive effects on software quality, CenterLine hopes its new products will raise its share of the packaged software market, estimated by International Data Corp to be worth #68,000m worldwide this year alone.
