Fundamental Knowledge on Software

Engineering

Lecture 2
 Topics covered

• Professional software development

– What is meant by software engineering.
• Software engineering ethics
– A brief introduction to ethical issues that affect software
engineering.
• Case studies
– An introduction to three/four examples that are used in
later chapters in the slides.

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 Frequently asked question : Software
Engineering
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 are the attributes of good Good software should deliver the required
software? functionality and performance to the user and
should be maintainable, dependable and
usable.
What is software engineering? Software engineering is an engineering
discipline that is concerned with all aspects of
software production.
What are the fundamental software Software specification, software development,
engineering activities? software validation and software evolution.
What is the difference between Computer science focuses on theory and
software engineering and fundamentals; software engineering is
computer science? concerned with the practicalities of developing
and delivering useful software.
What is the difference between System engineering is concerned with all
software engineering and system aspects of computer-based systems
engineering? development including hardware, software and
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process engineering. Software engineering is
 Frequently asked question : Software
Engineering
Question Answer
What are the key challenges facing Coping with increasing diversity, demands for
software engineering? reduced delivery times and developing
trustworthy software.
What are the costs of software Roughly 60% of software costs are development
engineering? costs, 40% are testing costs. For custom
software, evolution costs often exceed
development costs.
What are the best software While all software projects have to be
engineering techniques and professionally managed and developed,
methods? different techniques are appropriate for
different types of system. For example, games
should always be developed using a series of
prototypes whereas safety critical control
systems require a complete and analyzable
specification to be developed. You can’t,
therefore, say that one method is better than
another.
What differences has the web The web has led to the availability of software
made to software engineering? services and the possibility of developing highly
distributed service-based systems. Web-based
systems development has led to important
advances in programming languages and 4
software reuse.
 Essential attributes of good software
Product characteristic Description
Maintainability Software should be written in such a way so that it can
evolve to meet the changing needs of customers. This is a
critical attribute because software change is an inevitable
requirement of a changing business environment.

Dependability and Software dependability includes a range of characteristics

security including reliability, security and safety. Dependable
software should not cause physical or economic damage in
the event of system failure. Malicious users should not be
able to access or damage the system.

Efficiency Software should not make wasteful use of system resources

such as memory and processor cycles. Efficiency therefore
includes responsiveness, processing time, memory
utilisation, etc.
Acceptability Software must be acceptable to the type of users for which it
is designed. This means that it must be understandable,
usable and compatible with other systems that they use.

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 Software process activities

•Software specification, where customers and

engineers define the software that is to be produced
and the restrictions 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.
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 General issues that affect most software

• Heterogeneity
– Increasingly, systems are required to operate as distributed
systems across networks that include different types of
computer and mobile devices.
• Business and social change
– Business and society are changing incredibly quickly as
emerging economies develop and new technologies
become available. They need to be able to change their
existing software and to rapidly develop new software.
• Security and trust
– As software is intertwined with all aspects of our lives, it is
essential that we can trust that software.

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 Software engineering diversity ####02

• There are many different types of software

system and there is no universal set of
software techniques that is applicable to
all of these.

• The software engineering methods and

tools used depend on the type of
application being developed, the
requirements of the customer and the
background of the development team.
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 Application types

• Stand-alone applications
– These are application systems that run on a local computer,
such as a PC. They include all necessary functionality and
do not need to be connected to a network.
• Interactive transaction-based applications
– Applications that execute on a remote computer and are
accessed by users from their own PCs or terminals. These
include web applications such as e-commerce applications.
• Embedded control systems
– These are software control systems that control and
manage hardware devices.Numerically, there are probably
more embedded systems than any other type of system.

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 Application types

• Batch processing systems

– These are business systems that are designed to process
data in large batches. They process large numbers of
individual inputs to create corresponding outputs.
• Entertainment systems
– These are systems that are primarily for personal use and
which are intended to entertain the user.
• Systems for modelling and simulation
– These are systems that are developed by scientists and
engineers to model physical processes or situations, which
include many, separate, interacting objects.

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 Application types

• Data collection systems

– These are systems that collect data from their
environment using a set of sensors and send that data
to other systems for processing.
• Systems of systems
– These are systems that are composed of a number of
other software systems.

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E-Commerce

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Embedded control systems

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Batch processing systems

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Entertainment systems

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Systems for modelling and simulation

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 Software Engineering: The Fundamental
Principles
• Some fundamental principles apply to all types of software
system, irrespective of the development techniques used:

– Systems should be developed using a managed and

understood development process. Of course, different
processes are used for different types of software.
– Dependability and performance are important for all types of
system.
– Understanding and managing the software specification and
requirements (what the software should do) are important.
– Where appropriate, you should reuse software that has
already been developed rather than write new software.

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 Software engineering and the web
• The Web is now a platform for running application and
organizations are increasingly developing web-based systems
rather than local systems.

• Web services allow application functionality to be accessed over

the web.

• Cloud computing is an approach to the provision of computer

services where applications run remotely on the ‘cloud’.
Instead of installing a suite of software for each computer, you'd only
have to load one application. That application would allow workers to log into
a Web-based service which hosts all the programs the user would need for his
or her job. Remote machines owned by another company would run
everything from e-mail to word processing to complex data analysis programs.
It's called cloud computing.

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– Users do not buy software, pay according to use.
Cloud Computing

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 Key points
• Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is
concerned with all aspects of software production.

• Essential software product attributes are maintainability,

dependability and security, efficiency and acceptability.

• The high-level activities of specification, development,

validation and evolution are part of all software processes.

• The fundamental notions of software engineering are

universally applicable to all types of system development.

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 Key points

• There are many different types of system and each requires

appropriate software engineering tools and techniques for their
development.

• The fundamental ideas of software engineering are applicable to all

types of software system.

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 Software engineering Ethics

• Software engineering involves wider responsibilities than

simply the application of technical skills.

• Software engineers must behave in an honest and ethically

responsible way if they are to be respected as professionals.

• Ethical behaviour is more than simply upholding the law but

involves following a set of principles that are morally correct.

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 Issues of professional responsibility

• Confidentiality
– Engineers should normally respect the confidentiality of
their employers or clients irrespective of whether or not
a formal confidentiality agreement has been signed.

• Competence
– Engineers should not misrepresent their level of
competence. They should not knowingly accept work
which is out with their competence.

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 Issues of professional responsibility

• Intellectual property rights

– Engineers should be aware of local laws governing the
use of intellectual property such as patents, copyright,
etc. They should be careful to ensure that the
intellectual property of employers and clients is
protected.
• Computer misuse
– Software engineers should not use their technical skills
to misuse other people’s computers. Computer misuse
ranges from relatively trivial (game playing on an
employer’s machine, say) to extremely serious
(dissemination of viruses).
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 Case studies

• A personal insulin pump

– An embedded system in an insulin pump used by
diabetics to maintain blood glucose control.

• A mental health case patient management system

– An information system used to maintain records of
people receiving care for mental health problems.

• A wilderness weather station

– A data collection system that collects data about weather
conditions in remote areas.
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 Insulin pump control system

• Collects data from a blood sugar sensor and calculates the

amount of insulin required to be injected.
• Calculation based on the rate of change of blood sugar
levels.
• Sends signals to a micro-pump to deliver the correct dose
of insulin.
• Safety-critical system as low blood sugars can lead to brain
malfunctioning, coma and death; high-blood sugar levels
have long-term consequences such as eye and kidney
damage.

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Insulin pump hardware architecture

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Activity model of the insulin pump

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 Essential high-level requirements

• The system shall be available to deliver insulin when

required.

• The system shall perform reliably and deliver the correct

amount of insulin to counteract the current level of blood
sugar.

• The system must therefore be designed and implemented

to ensure that the system always meets these
requirements.

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 A patient information system for mental health care

• A patient information system to support mental health care is a

medical information system that maintains information about
patients suffering from mental health problems and the
treatments that they have received.

• Most mental health patients do not require dedicated hospital

treatment but need to attend specialist clinics regularly where
they can meet a doctor who has detailed knowledge of their
problems.

• To make it easier for patients to attend, these clinics are not just
run in hospitals. They may also be held in local medical practices
or community centres.
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 MHC-PMS

• The MHC-PMS (Mental Health Care-Patient Management

System) is an information system that is intended for use in
clinics.

• It makes use of a centralized database of patient information but

has also been designed to run on a PC, so that it may be accessed
and used from sites that do not have secure network
connectivity.

• When the local systems have secure network access, they use
patient information in the database but they can download and
use local copies of patient records when they are disconnected.

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 MHC-PMS goals

• To generate management information that allows health

service managers to assess performance against local and
government targets.

• To provide medical staff with timely information to support

the treatment of patients.

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The organization of the MHC-PMS

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 MHC-PMS key features

• Individual care management

– Clinicians can create records for patients, edit the information in the system,
view patient history, etc. The system supports data summaries so that
doctors can quickly learn about the key problems and treatments that have
been prescribed.

• Patient monitoring
– The system monitors the records of patients that are involved in treatment
and issues warnings if possible problems are detected.

• Administrative reporting
– The system generates monthly management reports showing the number of
patients treated at each clinic, the number of patients who have entered and
left the care system, number of patients sectioned, the drugs prescribed and
their costs, etc.

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 MHC-PMS concerns

• Privacy
– It is essential that patient information is confidential and is never
disclosed to anyone apart from authorised medical staff and the
patient themselves.

• Safety
– Some mental illnesses cause patients to become suicidal or a
danger to other people. Wherever possible, the system should warn
medical staff about potentially suicidal or dangerous patients.
– The system must be available when needed otherwise safety may
be compromised and it may be impossible to prescribe the correct
medication to patients.

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 Wilderness weather station

• The government of a country with large areas of wilderness decides to

deploy several hundred weather stations in remote areas.

• Weather stations collect data from a set of instruments that measure

temperature and pressure, sunshine, rainfall, wind speed and wind
direction.

– The weather station includes a number of instruments that

measure weather parameters such as the wind speed and direction,
the ground and air temperatures, the barometric pressure and the
rainfall over a 24-hour period. Each of these instruments is
controlled by a software system that takes parameter readings
periodically and manages the data collected from the instruments.

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The weather station’s environment

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 Weather information system

• The weather station system

– This is responsible for collecting weather data, carrying out some
initial data processing and transmitting it to the data management
system.

• The data management and archiving system

– This system collects the data from all of the wilderness weather
stations, carries out data processing and analysis and archives the
data.

• The station maintenance system

– This system can communicate by satellite with all wilderness weather
stations to monitor the health of these systems and provide reports of
problems.
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A digital learning environment for schools

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 Additional software functionality###03

• Monitor the instruments, power and communication hardware and

report faults to the management system.

• Manage the system power, ensuring that batteries are charged

whenever the environmental conditions permit but also that
generators are shut down in potentially damaging weather conditions,
such as high wind.

• Support dynamic reconfiguration where parts of the software are

replaced with new versions and where backup instruments are
switched into the system in the event of system failure.

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 Generic View of Process

• During the time of developing we have to go through a series of

predictable steps that helps:

– Timely Delivery
– High quality Result

The steps we follow is called Process.

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 Layered Technology of Software Engineering

• For establish the sound engineering principles we have to ensure the

layers of S/W engineering:

Tools
Method

Process

Quality Focus

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 Layers of Software Engineering

Quality Focus
At first ensure the professional quality

Process
Enable timely delivery through framework and work products(models,
docs, report etc.)
Ensure technical method
Ensure the model and change is properly managed

Method
Define “how to” ’s and define broad array of tusks
Include communication, analysis, designing, program construction, testing
and support.

Tools
Provide support for the process and method.

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Software Process Framework
Activity

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 Framework Process

• Communication
• Planning
• Modeling
• Construction
• Deployment

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 Umbrella Activities

• S/w project tracking and control

• Risk management
• S/W quality assurance
• Formal technical review
• Measurement
• S/W configuration management
• Reusability management
• Work product preparation and production

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• Umbrella activities
Typical umbrella activities are:

1. Software project tracking and control In this activity, the developing

team accesses project plan and compares it with the predefined
schedule.
If these project plans do not match with the predefined schedule, then
the required actions are taken to maintain the schedule.
2. Risk management Risk is an event that may or may not occur.
If the event occurs, then it causes some unwanted outcome. Hence,
proper risk management is required.
3. Software Quality Assurance (SQA)SQA is the planned and systematic
pattern of activities which are required to give a guarantee of software
quality.
For example, during the software development meetings are conducted
at every stage of development to find out the defects and suggest
improvements to produce good quality software.
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4. Formal Technical Reviews (FTR)FTR is a meeting conducted by
the technical staff.
The motive of the meeting is to detect quality problems and
suggest improvements.
The technical person focuses on the quality of the software from
the customer point of view.
5. MeasurementMeasurement consists of the effort required to
measure the software.
The software cannot be measured directly. It is measured by
direct and indirect measures.
Direct measures like cost, lines of code, size of software etc.
Indirect measures such as quality of software which is measured
by some other factor. Hence, it is an indirect measure of software.
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6. Software Configuration Management (SCM)It manages the
effect of change throughout the software process.
7. Reusability managementIt defines the criteria for reuse the
product.
The quality of software is good when the components of the
software are developed for certain application and are useful for
developing other applications.
8. Work product preparation and productionIt consists of the
activities that are needed to create the documents, forms, lists,
logs and user manuals for developing a software.

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 Essence of Software Engineering Practice

1. Understand the problem (communication and analysis)

2. Plan a solution (modelling and software design)
3. Carry out the plan (code generation)
4. Examine the result for accuracy (testing and quality assurance)

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 General principles

1. The reason it all exists

2. KISS!
3. Maintain the vision
4. Be open to the future
5. Plan ahead for reuse
6. Think!

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 Key points

• Software engineers have responsibilities to the engineering profession and

society. They should not simply be concerned with technical issues.

• Professional societies publish codes of conduct which set out the standards of
behaviour expected of their members.

• Process Framework Activities

• Three case studies are used in the book:

– An embedded insulin pump control system
– A system for mental health care patient management
– A wilderness weather station

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