Software engineers not only have to develop good soft and hard skills to become licensed developers, but they also have to put their skills to the test by developing software that is of high quality and functionality. This is where the practice and concept of software quality comes in. Software quality is understood and practiced as a field of study among software engineers, developers, and quality checkers.
We’ll be discussing the best software qualities that every software engineer and developer should be aware of. If you may be a software and tech enthusiast, this guide may also be handy for you to determine if a program you’ve come across is of high quality, or if it’s sorely lacking.
There are any varying qualities and names for these said qualities among the industry of software professionals. However, Forrester Research Inc. has pinpointed seven vital software qualities that they have found to be present in every form of extraordinary software. We’ll be going through each of them.
Best Software Qualities
User Experience
Softwares can be as complicated and content-rich as developers want to make them, however, their creativity must not overshadow the important aspects that make user experience truly amazing. A lot of software developers can agree that user experience, otherwise known as UX, is one of, if not the most important, aspect of a software’s qualities. It’s also one of the most difficult qualities to pull off because they are entirely based on the opinions of a wide variety of people who may come across your program.
User experience is defined as the “experience and thoughts” of a user regarding a software’s functionality, desirability, usability, and more. Providing users with a good UX can make or break a software’s success, making it one of the highest priorities for developers.
Performance
Good software should be able to perform well, but by what standards? Performance usually refers to the speed of accomplishing a task on the program. Whether it be switching from a different feature to another or the efficiency of different photos and videos from being displayed, a software should perform quickly to be considered as high performance. Good performance can also refer to how well it can handle “heavier” tasks.
Availability
Availability in this sense can be synonymous to functionality. Good and high-quality software should be able to perform all of the tasks you need it to perform without any issues. It also means that a software should be “ready” to perform such tasks. Good software needs to be able to be equipped with the different tools and services that its clients may need.
Security
Certain software and programs will need to retrieve information from its use, specifically information that is quite personal and private. This is where good software security comes in. A software should be able to protect itself from risks such as hacks, malware, and viruses from terrorizing the program.
What are the qualities of good software?
There are multiple qualities of varying terms and importance. We’ve already listed three different qualities that are important for all softwares to have, but there are also other qualities that shouldn’t be overlooked by developers, such as reliability, correctness, and more.
What are the 4 characteristics of software?
The four characteristics of software can vary from person to person depending on the context. However, we can say that good software that we encounter on a daily basis usually are of high speed and performance, meaning that it can perform a lot of different tasks and activities without strain; it is flexible for all types and versions of computers to be able to read and run; it can be maintained without any major issues when it comes to updating it; and it is highly user-friendly. There are more characteristics, especially for specific kinds of software, but these are some qualities that are of common ground between them.
What are the 3 main characteristics of any software?
Every software should be able to accomplish the following: be reusable, flexible, and secure. There are other important characteristics that make up different software to make them efficient and successful, but they should first be able to meet these minimum qualities.
What do you think are 3 qualities of a good software developer?
Good software developers are the keys to creating amazing software. It is important that they possess the optimal hard and soft skills to be used in approaching software development. Again, there are multiple different qualities that are required of software developers to not only become licensed but also successful and well-desired by the industry. These kinds of qualities include being great problem-solvers, a well-developed skillset, and being collaborative team players.
