SQM 2010: Fourth International Workshop on System Quality and Maintainability

Software is playing a crucial role in modern societies. Not only do people rely on it for their daily operations or business, but for their lives as well. For this reason, correct and consistent behaviour of software systems is a fundamental part of end user expectations. Additionally, businesses require cost-effective production, maintenance, and operation of their systems. Thus, the demand for good quality software is increasing and is setting it as a differentiator for the success or failure of a software product. In fact, high quality software is becoming not just a competitive advantage but a necessary factor for companies to be successful. The main question that arises now is how quality is measured. What, where and when we assess and assure quality, are still open issues. Many views have been expressed about software quality attributes, including maintainability, evolvability, portability, robustness, reliability, usability, and efficiency. These have been formulated in standards such as ISO/IEC-9126 and CMMI. However, the debate about quality and maintainability between software producers, vendors and users is ongoing, while organizations need the ability to evaluate the software systems that they use or develop from multiple angles.