software documentation

MIL-STD-498 (Military-Standard-498) was a United States military standard whose purpose was to "establish uniform requirements for software development and documentation." It was released Nov. 8, 1994, and replaced DOD-STD-2167A, DOD-STD-7935A, and DOD-STD-1703. It was meant as an interim standard, to be in effect for about two years until a commercial standard was developed.

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it was cancelled on May 27, 1998 and replaced by J-STD-016 and IEEE 12207.
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A key component of the standard is 22 Data Item Descriptions (DIDs). Each DID generically describes the required content of a data item, a "document" that describes the software or some aspect of the software life-cycle. These documents could take many forms, from source code, to installation scripts, to various electronic and paper reports, and the contracting party (e.g., the government) is encouraged to specify acceptable formats. The set of data item descriptions, once tailored for a specific contract, then become Contract Data Requirement List items ("CDRLs") that represent the deliverable items of a contract. Depending on the nature of the project, not all data items may be required.

The terms "DOD-STD-2167" and "DOD-STD-2168" (often mistakenly referred to as "MIL-STD-2167" and "MIL-STD-2168" respectively) are the official specification numbers for superseded U.S. DoD military standards describing documents and procedures required for developing military computer systems. (These specifications were superseded by MIL-STD-498 in 1994). Specifically:

* DOD-STD-2167 described the necessary project documentation to be delivered when developing a computer software system using the waterfall model

* DOD-STD-2168 was the DoD's software quality assurance standard, titled "Defense System Software Quality Program".

On December 5th, 1994, the standards DOD-STD-2167A and DOD-STD-2168 were superseded by MIL-STD-498, and that document merged DOD-STD-2167A, DOD-STD-7935A, and DOD-STD-2168 into a single document, and incorporated changes to address vendor criticisms.