Writing Zero defect code - a Utopia?

Software testing as a market is spiking up in India. But to ride the growth wave, the testing companies need to re-invent and add more value by offering differentiated services. This was the message Dataquest got when we did the special story to look at the dynamics of the software testing market.

The story looked at the market potential, the companies in the fray and the activities they are doing and India's competitive advantage in this industry. One of the main points we touched upon was ‘Zero Defect Code'. Is it possible?

In truth, nobody aims for a zero defect code but find a balance between minimum errors in areas that matter. Reflecting on this T Nandakumar, head, Testing Solutions and Consulting, Infosys Testing Practice says, "In practice, project goals and SLAs are defined keeping in mind the project specific challenges, risks, timeline, etc and practitioners consider high severity defects with a threshold of 2-5% for this purpose."

Agrees Navin Rao, assistant VP, Testing Practice, Cognizant: "Zero-defect software is still a distant reality. He admits, "However, it is important for organizations to ensure that the code developed is consistent and enables easy integration. It has always been a challenge for IT organizations to ensure that business requirements are captured in their entirety and translated into IT requirements."

Click here to read the complete story.