A software technology evaluation program (abstract only)
David N. Card · 1985
A wealth of potentially beneficial software engineering tools, practices, and techniques has emerged in the past several years. Simultaneously, realization has grown that all software engineering technologies are not equally effective for all software development problems and environments. The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL), a cooperative project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Computer Sciences Corporation, and the University of Maryland, conducts an extensive technology evaluation program. Measurement is the basic prerequisite for evaluation. The SEL collects measures on the production of FORTRAN software for spacecraft navigation systems. Recent SEL investigations demonstrated that the use of structured programming and quality assurance improves software reliability. However, the major factor in both productivity and reliability continues to be personnel capability. Such technology evaluation programs provide an empirical basis for defining software development standards and selecting tools.