IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTES PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE SHOULD HAVE

What are the four important attributes that all professional software should have?  

1) Maintainability

- Software should be written in such a way so that it can evolve to meet the changing needs of customers. This is a critical attribute because software change is an inevitable requirement of a changing business environment.

2) Dependability and security

- Software dependability includes a range of characteristics including reliability, security and safety. Dependable software should not cause physical or economic damage in the event of system failure. Malicious users should not be able to access or damage the system.

3) Efficiency

- Software should not make wasteful use of system resources such as memory and processor cycles. Efficiency therefore includes responsiveness, processing time, memory utilisation, etc.

4) Acceptability

- Software must be acceptable to the type of users for which it is designed. This means that it must be understandable, usable and compatible with other systems that they use.

Suggest four other attributes that may sometimes be significant.

1) Usable

- Should serve a purpose that makes it worth developing or downloading.

2) Friendly

- Should not be too difficult to operate.

3) Expandable

- Should cover a variety of uses, not just one purpose.  Should also be an option to expand across networks.

4) Upgrade-able

- Should not stay in one version for duration of life.