Final answer:
Portability is the ease with which a software system can be transferred to work in different operating environments. It is a key factor in evaluating the quality of a system's design, with successful portability entailing considerations of various constraints and the potential for adaptation. It's important to distinguish portability from other aspects such as security, responsiveness, and user-friendliness.
Step-by-step explanation:
Portability is an internal quality attribute of a system or software. It is described as how easily the system can be made to work in other operating environments. This does not refer to security measures against unauthorized access, nor does it describe system responsiveness or user-friendliness, but rather the adaptability of software to different environments beyond the original specifications.
In assessing the quality of a system's design, engineers often focus on various attributes of the product. The ability to design a system that meets desired needs within realistic constraints is a key criterion used to evaluate a design's quality. These constraints can include economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability. Adequately testing prototypes is crucial in ensuring that these attributes meet the standards set for the design.
An example of portability might be an application developed for Windows that can easily be adapted to run on macOS or Linux without extensive rework. In such a case, the engineers would have considered portability during the design phase and made choices to facilitate this adaptation, possibly by using cross-platform technologies or by adhering to standards that are commonly supported across various systems.