Software Quality Assurance

Glossary – Abbreviations – Acronyms

Acceptance Test (ISO 2382-20)

The test of a system or functional unit usually performed by the purchaser on his premises after installation with the participation of the vendor to ensure that the contractual requirements are met.

Acquirer (ISO 12207)

Stakeholder that acquires or procures a product or service from a supplier.

Note: The acquirer could be one of the following: buyer, customer, owner, or purchaser.

Agreement (ISO 15288)

Mutual acknowledgement of terms and conditions under which a working relationship is conducted.

Alpha testing (ISO 24765)

First stage of testing before a product is considered ready for commercial or operational use (cf. beta testing).

Note: Often performed only by users within the organization developing the software.

Assurance case (ISO 15026-1)

A reasoned, auditable artifact created that supports the contention that its top-level claim (or set of claims), is satisfied, including systematic argumentation and its underlying evidence and explicit assumptions that support the claim(s).

Note 1 to entry: An assurance case contains the following and their relationships:

• – one or more claims about properties;
• – arguments that logically link the evidence and any assumptions to the claim(s);
• – a body of evidence and possibly assumptions supporting these arguments for the claim(s);
• – justification of the choice of top-level claim and the method of reasoning.

Audit

1. An independent examination of a software product, ...