Some elementary questions on software quality control

Some elementary questions relating to the subject of quality control in software development are addressed. What is software quality? What obstacles should be removed in order to obtain quality control? What are directions for research regarding quality control in software development? A central issue is the notion that complete objectivity in quality assessment cannot be achieved. It is argued that the consequences of this should not be ignored if any progress is to be made towards the achievement of quality control. The result of the exploration into quality is that three distinct components of quality can be identified: an objectively assessable component, a subjectively assessable component and a nonassessable component. It is argued that it would be unwise to limit attention to any single one of these, although only the first is suited to be engineered