NASA's plan to embark on an agencywide effort to improve its software will have four areas of focus:
NASA's plan to embark on an agencywide effort to improve its software will
have four areas of focus:
1. Improve the process the NASA contractor work force uses to develop software.
That includes reaching higher levels on the software Capability Maturity
Model developed at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute.
2. Establish metrics to measure productivity and quality of software
developed at NASA. Two sets of metrics will be used to evaluate the characteristics
of a project and to evaluate development by comparing the actual cost, schedule
and requirements with the planned allocations.
3. Strengthen the use of verification and validation internally and
at the agency's Independent Verification and Validation Center in West Virginia
early in software design.
4. Conduct software research into ways to improve the reliability and reusability
of software code and development processes.
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