Software Engineering

Textbook(s):
•Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach by Roger S. Pressman,
7th Edition (2009)
•Systems Analysis and Design by Gary B. Shelly, Thomas J. Cashman and
Harry J. Rosenblatt, 7thEdition (2007).
 
Reference Material:
•Software Engineering by Ian Sommerville
 Chapter#1

SOFTWARE AND SOFTWARE

ENGINEERING
• The Nature of Software
• Defining Software
• Software Application Domains
• Legacy Software
• Software Engineering
• The Software Process
• Software Engineering Practice
• The Essence of Practice
• General Principles
• Software Myths
 What is Software?
The product that software professionals build and then
support over the long term.
Software encompasses:
(1) instructions (computer programs) that when executed
provide desired features, function, and performance
(2) data structures that enable the programs to adequately
store and manipulate information
(3) documentation that describes the operation and use of
the programs.

4
 Question Answer

• What is software?
• Computer programs and associated documentation.
Software products may be developed for a particular
customer or may be developed for a general market.
• What is software engineering?
• It is a systematic, discipline, cost effective techniques
for software development.
• Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is
concerned with all aspects of software production from
initial conception to operation and maintenance.
 Continue
• What are the fundamental software engineering
activities?
• Software specification, software development,
software validation and software evolution.
• What is the difference between software engineering
and computer science?
• Computer science focuses on theory and
fundamentals; software engineering is concerned with
the practicalities of developing and delivering useful
software.
 Software products
• Generic products
– Stand-alone systems that are marketed and sold to any
customer who wishes to buy them.
– Examples – PC software such as editing, graphics programs,
project management tools; CAD software; software for
specific markets such as appointments systems for dentists.
• Customized products
– Software that is commissioned by a specific customer to
meet their own needs.
– Examples – embedded control systems, air traffic control
software, traffic monitoring systems.

7
 Why Software is Important?
• The economies of ALL developed nations are
dependent on software.
• More and more systems are software controlled
(transportation, medical, telecommunications,
military, industrial, entertainment,)
• Software engineering is concerned with
theories, methods and tools for professional
software development.
 Software process
• The systematic approach that is used in
software engineering is sometimes called a
software process.
• A software process is a sequence of activities
that leads to the production of a software
product.
• Four fundamental activities are common to
all software processes.
 Continue
• Software specification, where customers and
engineers define the software that is to be produced
and the constraints on its operation.
• Software development, where the software is
designed and programmed.
• Software validation, where the software is checked
to ensure that it is what the customer requires.
• Software evolution, where the software is modified
to reflect changing customer and market
requirements.
 Features of Software?

• Software is developed or engineered, it is not

manufactured in the classical sense which has
quality problem.
• Software doesn't "wear out.” but it
deteriorates (due to change).
• Hardware has bathtub curve of failure rate
( high failure rate in the beginning, then drop
to steady state, then cumulative effects of
dust, vibration, abuse occurs).

11
 Wear vs. Deterioration

increased failure
rate due to side effects
Failure
rate

change
actual curve

idealized curve

Time

12
 Software Applications
1. System software: such as compilers, editors, file management utilities
2. Application software: stand-alone programs for specific needs.
3.Engineering/scientific software: Characterized by “number
crunching”algorithms. Such as automotive stress analysis, molecular
biology, orbital dynamics etc
4.Embedded software resides within a product or system. (keypad
control of a microwave oven, digital function of dashboard display in a
car)
5.Product-line software focus on a limited marketplace to address mass
consumer market. (word processing, graphics, database management)
6.WebApps (Web applications) network centric software. As web 2.0
emerges, more sophisticated computing environments is supported
integrated with remote database and business applications.
7.AI software uses non-numerical algorithm to solve complex problem.
Robotics, expert system, pattern recognition game playing

13
 Legacy Software
• Legacy software is software that has been
around a long time and still fulfills a business
need.
 Legacy Software

Why must it change?

– Software must be adapted to meet the needs
of new computing environments or
technology.
– Software must be enhanced to implement
new business requirements.
– Software must be extended to make it
interoperable with other more modern
systems or databases.
– Software must be re-architected to make it
viable within a network environment.
15
 Difference between Software &
Other Systems

The major thing that distinguishes a software

system from other systems is that:

“Software does not wear out”

16
 What does that mean?

Software systems does not affect by the

phenomenon of wear and tear.

If a software has any defect then that defect will

be there from very first day.

17
Software Engineering Definition

The seminal definition:

[Software engineering is] the establishment and use of
sound engineering principles in order to obtain
economically software that is reliable and works
efficiently on real machines.
Software Engineering as defined by IEEE

 
“The application of a systematic, disciplined,
quantifiable approach to the development,
operation, and maintenance of software; that is,
the application of engineering to software.”

19
 Somerville
Another definition of Software Engineering given
by Ian Somerville.
 “All aspects of software production’ Software
engineering is not just concerned with the
technical processes of software development but
also with activities such as software project
management and with the development of tools,
methods and theories to support software
production”.

20
 Importance of Software Engineering
• More and more, individuals and society rely on
advanced software systems. We need to be able to
produce reliable and trustworthy systems
economically and quickly.
• It is usually cheaper, in the long run, to use software
engineering methods and techniques for software
systems rather than just write the programs as if it
was a personal programming project. For most types
of system, the majority of costs are the costs of
changing the software after it has gone into use.
21
 Software Engineering

A Layered Technology
tools

methods

process model

a “quality” focus
 Any engineering approach must rest on organizational commitment to quality which
promote a continuous process improvement culture.
 Process layer as the foundation defines a framework with activities for effective delivery of
software engineering technology. Establish the context where products (model, data, report,
and forms) are produced, milestone are established, quality is ensured and change is
managed.
 Method provides technical how-to building software. It encompasses many tasks including
communication, requirement analysis, design modeling, program construction, testing and
support.
 Tools provide automated or semi-automated support for the process and methods. 22
 Software Process
• A process is a collection of activities, actions and tasks
that are performed when some work product is to be
created.
• It is not a rigid prescription for how to build computer
software. Rather, it is an adaptable approach that
enables the people doing the work to pick and choose
the appropriate set of work actions and tasks.
• Purpose of process is to deliver software in a timely
manner and with sufficient quality to satisfy those who
have sponsored its creation and those who will use it.

23
 Five Activities of a Generic Process
framework
• Communication: communicate with customer to understand objectives
and gather requirements
• Planning: creates a “map” defines the work by describing the tasks, risks
and resources, work products and work schedule.
• Modeling: Create a “sketch”, what it looks like architecturally, how the
constituent parts fit together and other characteristics.
• Construction: code generation and the testing.
• Deployment: Delivered to the customer who evaluates the products and
provides feedback based on the evaluation.

• These five framework activities can be used to all software development

regardless of the application domain, size of the project, complexity of the
efforts etc, though the details will be different in each case.

• For many software projects, these framework activities are applied

iteratively as a project progresses. Each iteration produces a software
increment that provides a subset of overall software features and
functionality.
24
 Umbrella Activities
Complement the five process framework activities and help team manage and
control progress, quality, change, and risk.
• Software project tracking and control: assess progress against the plan and
take actions to maintain the schedule.
• Risk management: assesses risks that may affect the outcome and quality.
• Software quality assurance: defines and conduct activities to ensure
quality.
• Technical reviews: assesses work products to uncover and remove errors
before going to the next activity.
• Measurement: define and collects process, project, and product measures
to ensure stakeholder’s needs are met.
• Software configuration management: manage the effects of change
throughout the software process.
• Reusability management: defines criteria for work product reuse and
establishes mechanism to achieve reusable components.
• Work product preparation and production: create work products such as
models, documents, logs, forms and lists.

25
 The Essence of Practice
• How does the practice of software engineering
fit in the process activities mentioned above?
Namely, communication, planning, modeling,
construction and deployment.
• George Polya outlines the essence of problem
solving, suggests:
1.Understand the problem (communication and
analysis).
2.Plan a solution (modeling and software design).
3.Carry out the plan (code generation).
4.Examine the result for accuracy (testing and
quality assurance).
26
 Understand the Problem
• Who has a stake in the solution to the
problem?
– That is, who are the stakeholders?
• What are the unknowns?
– What data, functions, and features are required to
properly solve the problem?
• Can the problem be compartmentalized?
– Is it possible to represent smaller problems that
may be easier to understand?
• Can the problem be represented graphically?
– Can an analysis model be created?

27
 Plan the Solution
• Have you seen similar problems before?
– Are there patterns that are recognizable in a potential
solution? Is there existing software that implements the
data, functions, and features that are required?
• Has a similar problem been solved?
– If so, are elements of the solution reusable?
• Can subproblems be defined?
– If so, are solutions readily apparent for the subproblems?
• Can you represent a solution in a manner that leads
to effective implementation?
– Can a design model be created?

28
 Carry Out the Plan
• Does the solutions conform to the plan?
– Is source code traceable to the design model?
• Is each component part of the solution
provably correct?
– Has the design and code been reviewed, or
better, have correctness proofs been applied to
algorithm?

29
 Examine the Result
• Is it possible to test each component part
of the solution?
– Has a reasonable testing strategy been
implemented?
• Does the solution produce results that
conform to the data, functions, and
features that are required?
– Has the software been validated against all
stakeholder requirements?
30
 Software Myths
• Erroneous beliefs about software and the process that is
used to build it.
• Affect managers, customers (and other non-technical
stakeholders) and practitioners
• Are believable because they often have elements of truth,
but …
• Invariably lead to bad decisions,
therefore …
• Insist on reality as you navigate your way through software
engineering

31
 Software Myths Examples
• Myth 1: Once we write the program and get it to work, our job is done.
• Reality: the sooner you begin writing code, the longer it will take you to get
done. 60% to 80% of all efforts are spent after software is delivered to the
customer for the first time.
• Myth 2: Until I get the program running, I have no way of assessing its
quality.
• Reality: technical review are a quality filter that can be used to find certain
classes of software defects from the inception of a project.
• Myth 3: software engineering will make us create voluminous and
unnecessary documentation and will invariably slow us down.
• Reality: it is not about creating documents. It is about creating a quality
product. Better quality leads to a reduced rework. Reduced work results in
faster delivery times.
• Many people recognize the fallacy of the myths. Unfortunately, habitual
attitudes and methods promote poor management and technical practices,
even when reality dictates a better approach.
32