When developing software, or any sort of product or service, there exists a tension between the developers and the different stakeholder groups, such as management, users, and investors. This tension relates to how quickly the software can be developed (time), how much money will be spent (cost), and how well it will be built (quality). The quality triangle is a simple concept. It states that for any product or service being developed, you can only address two of the following: time, cost, and quality.
So what does it mean that you can only address two of the three? It means that you cannot complete a low-cost, high-quality project in a small amount of time. However, if you are willing or able to spend a lot of money, then a project can be completed quickly with high-quality results (through hiring more good programmers). If a project’s completion date is not a priority, then it can be completed at a lower cost with higher-quality results. Of course, these are just generalizations, and different projects may not fit this model perfectly. But overall, this model helps us understand the tradeoffs that we must make when we are developing new products and services.
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