How software systems fail: Part 1 - Products
Dr Richard Cook's 18 characteristics of complex systems failure applied to software. Part 1 of 3 focuses on six characteristics that demonstrate how quality is lost at the product level.
Key insight
Dr Richard Cook's 18 characteristics of how complex systems fail can help quality engineers identify the patterns that result in quality being lost at the product, process and people layers of organisations, allowing them to support engineering teams to build quality in. This post looks at how quality can be lost at the product layer.
Three key takeaways
Complex software systems are inherently unpredictable. They can exhibit unintended or hidden behaviours due to their socio-technical nature and constantly changing environments.
End users typically experience software systems as intended due to the numerous defences deployed by system designers, builders, maintainers, and operators. However, catastrophic failures can occur when multiple defences fail or do not exist.
Quality in complex software systems is not just the sum of its components. It is an emergent property that requires ongoing attention throughout the system's design, construction, maintenance, and operation.
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