Practical tips for working with quality standards

Understand Core Quality Characteristics

Start by familiarising yourself with the key quality attributes outlined in standards like ISO 25000, such as functionality, performance, maintainability, and security. Each attribute represents a specific area that impacts the software’s overall quality and user satisfaction. Recognising these characteristics helps you align your coding and design practices with recognised quality goals.
Set Clear Quality Objectives

When working on a new project or feature, set specific goals for each quality characteristic. For example, aim to meet response time benchmarks for performance, or adhere to secure coding practices for security. Clear objectives provide a focus and allow you to measure progress against standards throughout development.
Incorporate Standards into Daily Workflows

Make quality standards part of your daily development practices. Use tools like static code analysers for maintainability and performance tests to check efficiency. When writing code, periodically review it with a focus on these quality benchmarks, ensuring it aligns with established standards.
Learn to Use Quality Metrics

Quality standards often involve specific metrics, such as response time for performance or error rates for functionality. Familiarise yourself with these metrics and tools that can help you measure them, such as SonarQube for maintainability and security or benchmarking tools for performance testing.
Prioritise Documentation and Readability

Maintainability is a key aspect of quality, and readable, well-documented code is crucial. Adopt a clear and consistent coding style, add inline comments where needed, and use external documentation to explain complex logic. This practice not only helps others understand your work but also aligns with quality standards.
Incorporate Continuous Testing

To meet quality standards, testing should be an ongoing process. Run unit tests, integration tests, and performance tests as you code to catch issues early. Continuous testing ensures your work is on track with quality objectives, making it easier to meet standard benchmarks in the final product.
Use Code Reviews to Evaluate Against Standards

When participating in code reviews, evaluate not only for functionality but also for compliance with quality standards like security and performance. This peer feedback loop helps reinforce best practices and keeps the code aligned with quality goals.
Stay Informed on Standards Updates

Quality standards evolve, so stay updated on changes or new practices introduced by bodies like ISO. Following updates can provide insights into emerging quality expectations, allowing you to improve your approach and apply the latest best practices.