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Introduction to Software
Engineering

Introduction to Software Engineering

Prof. Nasir Shahzad

Elite College of Management Sciences
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INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

The term software engineering is composed of two words, software and engineering.
Software is more than just a program code. A program is an executable code, which serves
some computational purpose. Software is considered to be a collection of executable
programming code, associated libraries and documentations. Software, when made for a
specific requirement is called software product.
Engineering on the other hand, is all about developing products, using well-defined,
scientific principles and methods.
So, we can define software engineering as an engineering branch associated with the
development of software product using well-defined scientific principles, methods and
procedures. The outcome of software engineering is an efficient and reliable software
product.
IEEE defines software engineering as:
The application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the
development, operation and maintenance of software.
We can alternatively view it as a systematic collection of past experience. The
experience is arranged in the form of methodologies and guidelines. A small program can be
written without using software engineering principles. But if one wants to develop a large
software product, then software engineering principles are absolutely necessary to achieve a
good quality software cost effectively.
Without using software engineering principles it would be difficult to develop large
programs. In industry it is usually needed to develop large programs to accommodate
multiple functions. A problem with developing such large commercial programs is that the
complexity and difficulty levels of the programs increase exponentially with their sizes.
Software engineering helps to reduce this programming complexity. Software engineering
principles use two important techniques to reduce problem complexity: abstraction and
decomposition. The principle of abstraction implies that a problem can be simplified by
omitting irrelevant details. In other words, the main purpose of abstraction is to consider only
those aspects of the problem that are relevant for certain purpose and suppress other aspects
that are not relevant for the given purpose. Once the simpler problem is solved, then the
omitted details can be taken into consideration to solve the next lower level abstraction, and
so on. Abstraction is a powerful way of reducing the complexity of the problem. The other
approach to tackle problem complexity is decomposition. In this technique, a complex
problem is divided into several smaller problems and then the smaller problems are solved
one by one. However, in this technique any random decomposition of a problem into smaller
parts will not help. The problem has to be decomposed such that each component of the
decomposed problem can be solved independently and then the solution of the different
components can be combined to get the full solution. A good decomposition of a problem
should minimize interactions among various components. If the different subcomponents are
interrelated, then the different components cannot be solved separately and the desired
reduction in complexity will not be realized
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NEED OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
The need of software engineering arises because of higher rate of change in user
requirements and environment on which the software is working.
Large software - It is easier to build a wall than to a house or building, likewise, as the size
of software become large engineering has to step to give it a scientific process.
Scalability- If the software process were not based on scientific and engineering concepts, it
would be easier to re-create new software than to scale an existing one.
Cost- As hardware industry has shown its skills and huge manufacturing has lower down the
price of computer and electronic hardware. But the cost of software remains high if proper
process is not adapted.
Dynamic Nature- The always growing and adapting nature of software hugely depends upon
the environment in which the user works. If the nature of software is always changing, new
enhancements need to be done in the existing one. This is where software engineering plays a
good role.
Quality Management- Better process of software development provides better and quality
software product.

CHARACTERESTICS OF GOOD SOFTWARE

A software product can be judged by what it offers and how well it can be used. This
software must satisfy on the following grounds:
 Operational
 Transitional
 Maintenance

Well-engineered and crafted software is expected to have the following characteristics:

Operational
This tells us how well software works in operations. It can be measured on:
 Budget
 Usability
 Efficiency
 Correctness
 Functionality
 Dependability
 Security
 Safety
Transitional
This aspect is important when the software is moved from one platform to another:
 Portability
 Interoperability
 Reusability
 Adaptability
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Maintenance
This aspect briefs about how well software has the capabilities to maintain itself in the ever-
changing environment:
 Modularity
 Maintainability
 Flexibility
 Scalability

In short, Software engineering is a branch of computer science, which uses well-defined

engineering concepts required to produce efficient, durable, scalable, in-budget and on-time
software products