garbage in, garbage out
Home > Software Quality Definitions - Garbage in, garbage out
SearchSoftwareQuality.com Definitions (Powered by WhatIs.com)
EMAIL THIS
LOOK UP TECH TERMS Powered by: WhatIs.com
Search listings for thousands of IT terms:
Browse tech terms alphabetically:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

garbage in, garbage out


Show me everything on Software testing and quality assurance (QA) fundamentals

DEFINITION - GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) is a concept common to computer science and mathematics: the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input. So, for example, if a mathematical equation is improperly stated, the answer is unlikely to be correct. Similarly, if incorrect data is input to a program, the output is unlikely to be informative.

George Fuechsel, an early IBM programmer and instructor, is generally given credit for coining the term. Fuechsel is said to have used "garbage in, garbage out" as a concise way of reminding his students that a computer just processes what it is given. The term is now widely used in computer science classes, IT services and elsewhere. In fact, GIGO is sometimes used to refer to situations in the analog world, such as a faulty decision made as a result of incomplete information.

A variation on the term, "garbage in, gospel out," refers to a tendency to put unwarranted faith in the accuracy of computer-generated data.

Learn more about Software testing and quality assurance (QA) fundamentals
How to make your software tamperproof: Learn ways to tamperproof and secure your software app from this chapter of the book, Surreptitious Software: Obfuscation, Watermarking, and Tamperproofing for Software Protection.
Agile software development tutorial: Agile testing: In this section of our agile tutorial, learn how to be a successful software tester in an agile environment, from tips on test development to exploratory testing techniques.
Creating strong QA and testing strategies in a changing world: Software quality and testing can remain robust -- even in lean economic times -- when a clear, consistent project strategy is in place and automation is used judiciously.
Software testing fundamentals: Other useful resources: Software testing books, FAQs, expert advice, tools and blogs.
Software testing fundamentals: Testing basics: Software testing experts weigh in on creating test plans, writing test cases, choosing test models and other basic building blocks of software testing.

LAST UPDATED: 12 Mar 2008

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.
Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

More resources from around the web:
- Kehinde Eseyin's SAP Library blog post explains the importance of stringent data quality management to avoid implementation pitfalls.
- Sean Igo explains how worse-than-average spelling errors lead to worse-than-average spell check errors.





FILE EXTENSION AND FILE FORMAT LIST
File Extension and File Format List:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #


RELATED CONTENT
Software Testing: New software testing technologies bring new challenges
This issue covers two new technology areas - virtualization and rich Internet applications (RIAs) - that are changing software testing approaches and...
Testing strategies for complex environments
In this issue of SoftwareTesting Ezine, the new "places" are a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and an agile software development environment.
Astronaut's STPCon advice: Teamwork delivers "The Right Stuff"
STPcon keynote speaker delivers aeronautic analogy to introduce topics for the software conference. Matt Heusser, a test pro for SocialText describes...

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
auditor  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com)
build  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com)
In a programming context, a build is a version of a program.




Software Quality - garbage in, garbage out Articles
About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
SEARCH 
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2006 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts