Abstract :
Although some methodologies for evaluating the quality of software artifacts exist, all of these are isolated proposals, which focus on specific artifacts and apply specific evaluation techniques. There is no generic and flexible methodology that allows quality evaluation of any kind of software artifact, regardless of type, much less a tool that supports this. To tackle that problem in this paper, we propose the CQA Environment, consisting of a methodology (CQA-Meth) and a tool that implements it (CQA-Tool). We began applying this environment in the evaluation of the quality of UML models (use cases, class and statechart diagrams). To do so, we have connected CQA-Tool to the different tools needed to assess the quality of models, which we also built ourselves. CQA-Tool, apart from implementing the methodology, provides the capacity for building a catalogue of evaluation techniques that integrates the evaluation techniques (e.g. metrics, checklists, modeling conventions, guidelines, etc.) which are available for each software artifact. CQA Environment is suitable for use by companies that offer software quality evaluation services, especially for clients who are software development organizations and who are outsourcing software construction. They will obtain an independent quality evaluation of the software products they acquire. Software development organizations that perform their own evaluation will be able to use it as well.
