SPI - Software Process Improvement
We provide consultancy and training in software
engineering
and the
Personal
Software Process (sm SEI)
We also provide training and expert consultancy in spreadsheet model review, testing, and auditing.
Contact Patrick O'Beirne to request a private in-company course or consultation.
Current books from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, see below for our recommended list
SoftTest Ireland - Software Testing SIG |
| This special interest group is open to all in Ireland interested in software testing. It holds quarterly evening meetings in Dublin and twice a year it hosts a half day mini-conference. |
| http://www.SoftTest.ie |
| The website contains registration information for the SIG with company and individual membership. It has a members mail list and information on events and downloads. |
SPI discussion groups |
| www.qaforums.com/
is an online web-based forum. Software Testing topics: Automated Testing, Performance & Load Testing, Defect Trackers, Training & Certification, User Groups, QAFAQ, Automated Test Tools, vendor forums for test tools, Quality Engineering topics: Code Coverage, Configuration Management, Security & Usability, Testing, Software Process Improvement. |
| The Software Process Improvement (SPI) eGroup is an open forum for exchanging info on Software Process Improvement (SPI) and the Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM(r)). To subscribe, send a blank email to spi-subscribe (at) yahoogroups (dot) com or use this online form: |
| The newsgroup comp.software-eng is the longest established list. |
CMMI Process Improvement YahooGroup |
| The Integrated Capability Maturity Model (CMMI) process improvement group is designed for discussion of best-in-class or simple clarification of the upgrade issues involved from SW-CMM, ISO-9000, and EIA/IS 731. SEI describe it as the logical successor to SW-CMM, SE-CMM, and P-CMM branches of the CMM v1.1 disciplines. To learn more about the cmmi_process_improvement group, please visit: |
| http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cmmi_process_improvement/ |
Click here for recommended books on CMM and CMMI
Software Quality Links
| extremeprogramming.org/index.html Extreme Programming user's group | |
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www.soft.com/Institute/HotList/index.html Software Research, Inc.
Software Quality HotList, over 2400 links to technical resources in software
quality and testing. SRI publish a Quality Techniques Newsletter. The Subscribe/Unsubscribe facility is at www.soft.com/News/QTN-Online/subscribe.html SRI also have a free demo download of a tool "eValid" that performs all functions needed for detailed WebSite static and dynamic testing, QA/Validation, and load imposition. |
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| Software Productivity Center Inc. of Canada have a biweekly e-newsletter with how-to's for successful project management and practical software development. | |
| www.cutter.com/consortium/ The Cutter Consortium have a free "Cutter Edge" newsletter to which we have contributed some articles. | |
| www.cs.queensu.ca/Software-Engineering/ the Software Engineering Archives has the HTML versions of the FAQs | |
| www.ifpug.org International Function Point User's Group | |
| ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/softcomp/fpfaq.htm Function Point FAQ by Ray Boehm | |
| www.spr.com Software Productivity Research (Capers Jones) on Function Points | |
| www.SoftwareMetrics.Com/Articles David Longstreet's articles related to software metrics and function points. | |
| www.sei.cmu.edu The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. The SEIR (Software Engineering Information Repository) has links to many articles, presentations, etc. The site requires registering (free) before you can access the materials | |
| www.tickit.org TickIT guides the developer to achieve quality objectives within the framework of ISO 9000. | |
| www.esi.es The European Software Institute is a European organization dedicated to the improvement of European and international software organization via state of the art in software process improvement. | |
| www.eurospi.net An SPI experience and knowledge exchange platform for Europe | |
| Bootcheck,
the Bootstrap Institute software process assessment tool, is no longer
available and the website Bootstrap-Institute.com is abandoned. www.man-info-systems.com Marc de Smet of Management Information Systems bvba offers toolkits for free download, for Interim Maturity Evaluation and Test Process Improvement Evaluation. |
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| www-sqi.cit.gu.edu.au Australian Software Quality Research Institute | |
| www.softwareqatest.com/qatlnks1.html QA Testing links | |
| www.software-engineer.org More than 200 software engineers worldwide have become contributors of this website and they share their expertise every day by posting links, news, articles, and messages. | |
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www.processmax.com www.faqs.org/faqs/software-eng/testing-faq/ the Testing FAQ with links to other resources such as www.rstcorp.com/c.s.t.faq.html |
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| computer-architecture.com Computer Architecture & Planning | |
| www.telepath.com/rcs Software Testing by Rice Consulting Services (not found Aug 2002) | |
| www.lynksoftware.com Everest from Lynk Software: customer relationship management; focus on complaint handling, issue tracking and corrective action requests. | |
| www.aimware.com have a newsletter on their Lotus Notes system for quality management: send an email to info(at)aimware(dot)com with a subject of "subscribe aimware.connect". | |
| www.rspa.com/spi/process.html A collection of Web-based and print resources that explore many different software engineering topics from R.S. Pressman & Associates, Inc. | |
| www.enteract.com/~bradapp/links/sw-pats.html Brad Appleton's Software Patterns Links | |
| www.software.org/quagmire The Software Productivity Consortium has studied frameworks that are relevant to companies building software-intensive systems. They have a chart showing how they relate, and if you click on any one you will find further information, including relationships, and links to more information. | |
| www.JoelOnSoftware.com Joel on Software. Index to articles such as: "Painless Software Schedules", a nine-chapter online book, "User Interface Design for Programmers", and many more. If you only read one, read this: The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code | |
| www.martinig.ch/mt/index.html Franco Martinig's Methods & Tools e-newsletter, a free PDF and HTML publication providing practical knowledge for software development professionals. | |
| www.qualitydigest.com/html/qlinks.html Quality Digest Magazine with many links to web resources. | |
| www.swebok.org The Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and ACM Software Engineering Coordinating Committee. Achieving consensus by the profession on a core body of knowledge is a key milestone in all disciplines and has been identified by the Coordinating Committee as crucial for the evolution of software engineering toward a professional status. | |
| www.qalinks.com QA Links is one of a family of sites qaforums.com, qajobs.net, qatraining.net, qanews.com, and qadownloads.com | |
| www.softwaredioxide.com aims to help Software Engineering and Management Professionals build software cheaper, better and faster. Meet, trade, learn, share, exchange, buy and sell. | |
| www.eirenicon.org has a compiled help file "Guide to the Software CMM" | |
| http://pep-inc.com Includes a CMM help file, and a SEPG presentation on behavioural clues in assessments. | |
| www.hraconsulting-ltd.co.uk/project-management.htm Project Management Articles including a collection of Project Management Proverbs, and a list of sites including this next one: | |
| www.softwarereality.com/ Software Reality - programming with a dose of satire, and the book "Extreme Programming Refactored" which takes a swipe at XP. | |
| http://consulting.dthomas.co.uk/software_architecture_consulting/articles_resources.htm Articles & White-papers from Dunstan Thomas Consultants and OOAD mentors on architecture, design, and the development process | |
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www.techsupportalert.com/search/p1134.pdf How to diagnose and solve
software errors (PDF) Graham Clarke, PC World (1999) - how to give a
helpful fault report to the vendors. http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/~nachumd/horror.html Software horror stories only up to 1999. http://www.risks.org The Risks Digest is an active list, subscribe at http://lists.csl.sri.com/mailman/listinfo/risks. The current issue can be found at http://www.csl.sri.com/users/risko/risks.txt |
Recommended books on Software Engineering:
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| If none of the books below are what you are looking for, then choose your preferred Amazon store for a list of all products (books, training CDs, software tools, etc) related to Software Engineering |
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Software Inspection by Tom Gilb, Dorothy Graham, Susannah Finzi, gets five star reviews. |
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Building Quality into Software: A Guide to Manage Quality in
Software Development and Use by Horst P. Richter |
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Professional Software Development: Shorter Schedules, Higher
Quality Products, More Successful Projects, Enhanced Careers by Steve McConnell |
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Rapid Development
by Steve McConnell |
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Code Complete
by Steve McConnell |
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| SOFTWARE PROCESS QUALITY | $ | £ | € | € |
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| Design Patterns by Erich Gamma , Richard Helm , Ralph Johnson , John Vlissides. A modern classic in the literature of object-oriented development, offering timeless and elegant solutions to common problems in software design. |
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USA | UK | Germany | France | Canada | Japan |
| Agile and Iterative Development: A Manager's Guide by Craig Larman. Using statistically significant research and large-scale case studies, noted methods expert Craig Larman presents the most convincing case ever made for iterative development. |
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USA | UK | Germany | France | Canada | Japan |
| Agile Database Techniques : Effective Strategies for the Agile Software Developer by Scott Ambler. Describes Agile Modeling Driven Design (AMDD) and Test-Driven Design (TDD) approaches, database refactoring, database encapsulation strategies, and tools that support evolutionary techniques. |
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USA | UK | Germany | France | Canada | Japan |
| Introduction to the Personal Software Process (SEI Series in Software Engineering) Introduction to the Personal Software Process (SEI Series in Software Engineering) Addison-Wesley Pub Co Watts S. Humphrey / Paperback / Published 1996 |
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USA | UK | Germany | France | Canada | Japan |
| CMMI: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement Mary Beth Chrissis, Mike Konrad, Sandy Shrum. The full, official book version of the CMMI, the follow up to the Capability Maturity Model. 5 star reviews: "I cannot rate this book more highly" |
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USA | UK | Germany | France | Canada | Japan |
| CMMI Distilled: A Practical Introduction to Integrated Process Improvement Dennis M. Ahern, Aaron Clouse, Richard Turner This guide outlines the structure and content of capability maturity model integration (CMMI) models for improving software engineering and management processes, |
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USA | UK | Germany | France | Canada | Japan |
Auditing links and resources for auditors
www.auditnet.org/karl.htm
The Official Kaplan's AuditNet Resource List. A substantial list of links, tools and resources developed for the benefit of the Audit Profession by Jim Kaplan, an Internet Audit pioneer and the founder of
AuditNet.
ISO 9000 Links |
| To subscribe to the moderated ISO9000 discussion group, send mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU Send the following commands in the body of the message. subscribe iso9000 (your name) |
| The ISO 9000 Discussion List info is at http://www.quality.org/lists/iso9000.nodak.list.txt |
| www.iso.ch/ ISO Central Secretariat in Switzerland. Note that ISO 9000 standards are copyrighted and are not available for download. If interested in purchasing any standard please contact your ISO Member Body: www.iso.ch/addresse/membodies.html |
| www.bsi-global.com The British Standards Institute |
| www.ansi.org/ American National Standards Institute |
| www.asq.org/ ASQ |
| www.nist.gov/ NIST |
| www.source4quality.com/new/ Charles Scalies ISO9000 Free Stuff, articles on Cost of Quality and The Seven Dynamics for Strategic Transformation, Examples of Audit Questions, Surviving an Audit, and sample procedures covering each ISO9001 element. |
| www.9sg.com/ Rob Kantner author of "ISO 9000 Answer Book" (John Wiley & Sons, 1994) also runs an egroup to discuss ISO 9000 - 2000. |
| Richard C. Randall Author of "Randall’s Practical Guide to ISO 9000" |
| www.SimplyQuality.org Frequently Asked Questions About ISO 9000 and Related Standards |
| praxiom.com/ ISO 9000 2000 Translated into Plain English This site in Canada has summaries of ISO9000:2000 and many links to their supporters. |
| www.the9000store.com downloadable ISO 9000:2000 tools including training and document templates. |
| www.iso9000plus.com web-based ISO 9000 management software |
| www.tothepointconsulting.bigstep.com ISO9000: 2000 software procedures guides with some free downloads |
Organisations
The Irish Computer Society: learn how membership of a professional body can
enhance your CV. |
| For U.S. readers, see the Independent Computer
Consultants Association and The Computer
Society |
| The Testing Standards Working Party is sponsored by the British Computer Society Specialist Interest Group In Software Testing (BCS SIGIST) and is a volunteer group devoted to the development of new software testing standards. You can download standards such as the BS 7925-1 vocabulary of testing terms, BS 7925-2 software component testing, and draft test standards (e.g. for database conversion). |
| The Centre for Software Engineering is the contact place for Software Quality Management advice in Ireland. They took part in projects such as ESPITI and Tri-Spin. |
| Continuus Software Corporation. Change Management. |
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UK National Computing Centre
launches "Towards
Software Excellence" scheme. The DTI recognise how important the software industry is to the future of the UK economy. They are particularly concerned that small to medium size UK software companies stay competitive by continuing to provide high quality products and services. DTI have appointed the National Computing Centre to implement an industry-backed initiative designed to help such organisations maintain and improve quality and business procedures - Towards Software Excellence (TSE). |
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