Achieving ultra high quality software

Since software is becoming more complex, and is increasingly employed in applications affecting safety and security, it is vital that the development process should be fully understood and controlled to assure high quality. This paper discusses the current state of the art, and some of the major problems facing the developers of ultra high quality software, together with the strengths and weaknesses of the advanced techniques now available to increase reliability. These techniques include the use of high order languages, such as the Ada language, and toolsets such as integrated project support environments (IPSE).