System quality through structured programming

Experience in development and maintenance of large computer-based systems for government and industry has led the IBM Federal Systems Division to the formulation of a new approach to production programming. This approach, which couples a new kind of programming organization (a Chief Programmer Team) with formal tools for using structured programming in system development, was recently applied on a contract with The New York Times for an online information system. Compared to experience on similar contracts in the past, the approach resulted in increased programmer productivity coupled with improved quality. An earlier paper describes the approach in detail and gives productivity measures in a form which should allow comparability to other systems. Following a brief description of the system and a review of the approach, this paper discusses the quality of the system as observed during a thorough acceptance test and in the initial period of operation following its delivery.