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J-STD-016 Standard for Information Technology -- Software Life Cycle Processes: Software Development 
J-STD-016 is the industry revision of MIL-STD-498 planned for completion in late 1998 or 1999. It is possible that the U.S. Department of Defense will adopt the final version as a companion to the IEEE/EIA 12207 standards series.

J-STD-016 presents requirements for the software developer’s role, which corresponds to the development process in IEEE/EIA 12207. J-STD-016 only hints at what a software acquirer should do and what a software maintenance organization might do.

The standard incorporates twenty two software product descriptions derived from the twenty two MIL-STD-498 Data Item Descriptions (DIDs). These are cited by the life cycle data guidelines in the IEEE/EIA 12207 series.

J-STD-016 eliminates Government-specific language in MIL-STD-498, such as references to the FAR.

When compared with its predecessor MIL-STD-498, J-STD-016 shows two important trends as it evolves.

The first trend is the incorporation of concepts and language found in international standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This was already apparent in the trial-use standard J-STD-016-1995 released in the Fall of 1995. It is even more apparent in other standards since then, such as in IEEE/EIA 12207.

The second trend is the incorporation of concepts from various models of systems and software acquisition process maturity and development process maturity.

The planned replacement for J-STD-016-1995, tentatively called J-STD-016-1998, would be a full-use standard. As balloted in the Summer of 1998, it would replace language in the trial-use standard that suggests that J-STD-016 is intended only for use in two-part contractual situations. The full-use standard is intended for voluntary adoption by developers to define their organization’s software process, a task that software process maturity models have popularized.

Also, the full-use standard would change language on tailoring and compliance in the trial-use version to make it relative to an organization’s defined software process.

The assumption in the full-use standard that an organization has a defined software process shows the influence of process maturity models, such as those from the Software Engineering Institute.

 Description. This course presents the structure of J-STD-016 and explains the significant differences between J-STD-016 and its predecessor MIL-STD-498. It explains the major engineering and data requirements in the trial-use standard J-STD-016-1995, those for project planning and tracking, for system and software requirements definition, for system and software design, and for qualification testing. The course suggests and explains changes that may appear in the proposed full-use standard, J-STD-016-1998. 

The course compares J-STD-016 to older and companion standards such as DOD-STD-2167A, MIL-STD-498, IEEE/EIA 12207, and several Software Engineering Institute Capability Maturity ModelsSM (CMM®, SE-CMM®, and SA-CMM®). 

Objectives? Participants who complete this course will understand the major engineering and data requirements of J-STD-016 and the major differences between J-STD-016 and MIL-STD-498. They will understand how J-STD-016 models the roles of developer and acquirer. They will be able to compare this standard to other common process standards. They will be able to better assess the impact on their organizations of adopting this standard. 

Topics 

1. J-STD-016 At a Glance 

  • Rationale 
  • Structure 

2. Trends Shown by the Evolution of J-STD-016 

3. Project Planning and Oversight 

  • Tailoring for planning 
  • Life cycle models 
  • Plans 

4. System and Software Requirements 

  • The acquirer role 
  • Requirements descriptions 

5. System and Software Design 

  • Design activities and design elements 
  • Design descriptions 

6. System and Software Qualification Testing 

  • The acquirer role 
  • Independence 

7. Making Sense of All the Standards 
 
 
Materials? Students receive copies of the instructor's slides, exercises, a copy of  the trial-use standard J-STD-016-1995 (including all twenty two software product descriptions), a description of the changes expected to appear in the full-use standard J-STD-016-1998, a copy of MIL-STD-498 and its DIDs, supplementary reading, and an Abelia Corporation Certificate of Completion. All handouts are prepared or distributed by us in compliance with our strict standards for quality. 

Who Should Take the Course? This course is designed for software development leaders, software quality assurance personnel, and software process improvement staff who desire a quick introduction to the major characteristics of this new standard. 

Duration? The course takes one full day. 
 

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SM Capability Maturity Model is a service mark of Carnegie Mellon University.