Software Quality Assurance

Software quality assurance is a set of planned, systematic activities that monitor and improve the processes used to build software, aiming to prevent defects before they reach testing or production.

SQA operates at the process level rather than the product level, distinguishing it from quality control. Where quality control finds defects in a specific artifact, software quality assurance examines whether the development and testing processes themselves are sound enough to produce reliable software consistently. Audits, process reviews, and compliance checks against standards such as ISO 25010 or CMMI are typical SQA activities.

Within the QA lifecycle, SQA activities run in parallel with development rather than after it. Entry and exit criteria, peer code review processes, audit trail documentation, and defect prevention strategies all fall under its scope. By embedding quality checkpoints early, teams reduce the cost of fixing issues that would otherwise surface late in the cycle.

SQA also feeds continuous improvement: root cause analysis of escaped defects, defect density trends, and continuous integration metrics are reviewed to refine the process itself. Roles involved range from dedicated SQA engineers who conduct audits to test managers who define standards and track compliance across teams and projects.

Also known as: SQA, software QA

• en.wikipedia.org — Software quality assurance