The use of a quality assurance tool in the teaching of software engineering principles

A software quality assurance tool has been used by business computing undergraduates at Sunderland Polytechnic. The tool checks source code, which has been implemented from Jackson Structured Programming (JSP) designs, against formally defined implementation standards and reports any deviations. The development of the tool followed predictions of the benefits which could be expected by researchers within the United Kingdom´s Alvey programme. The researchers´ predictions, the development of the Sunderland Polytechnic tool, its use and the reactions to it are presented. Conclusions are drawn regarding the worth of the tool in a teaching environment and whether or not the predictions made by the Alvey researchers are valid. Some suggestions regarding the possible reasons for programmer resistance to the Polytechnic´s tool and other such tools which check programming standards is included.<>