Software Engineering Tutorial
Software Engineering Tutorial
Tutorial
Audience
This tutorial is designed for the readers pursuing education in software development
domain and all enthusiastic readers.
Prerequisites
This tutorial is designed and developed for absolute beginners. Though, awareness
about
software
systems,
software
development
process
and
computer
Table of Contents
SOFTWARE OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................. 1
DEFINITIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 2
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION ............................................................................................................................ 2
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION LAWS .................................................................................................................... 3
E-TYPE SOFTWARE EVOLUTION .................................................................................................................. 3
SOFTWARE PARADIGMS ............................................................................................................................ 4
Software Development Paradigm ................................................................................................... 5
Software Design Paradigm .............................................................................................................. 5
Programming Paradigm .................................................................................................................. 5
NEED OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING............................................................................................................. 5
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD SOFTWARE ....................................................................................................... 6
Operational ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Transitional ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Maintenance ................................................................................................................................... 7
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE.......................................................................................... 8
SDLC ACTIVITIES ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Communication ............................................................................................................................... 8
Requirement Gathering .................................................................................................................. 8
Feasibility Study .............................................................................................................................. 9
System Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 9
Software Design .............................................................................................................................. 9
Coding ............................................................................................................................................. 9
Testing ........................................................................................................................................... 10
Integration .................................................................................................................................... 10
Implementation ............................................................................................................................ 10
Operation and Maintenance ......................................................................................................... 10
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM ...................................................................................................... 10
Waterfall Model ............................................................................................................................ 11
Iterative Model ............................................................................................................................. 11
Spiral Model .................................................................................................................................. 12
V model ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Big Bang Model ............................................................................................................................. 14
SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................... 15
SOFTWARE PROJECT............................................................................................................................... 15
NEED OF SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................. 15
SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGER ............................................................................................................... 16
Managing People .......................................................................................................................... 16
Managing Project .......................................................................................................................... 17
SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ...................................................................................................... 17
PROJECT PLANNING ............................................................................................................................... 17
SCOPE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................ 17
PROJECT ESTIMATION............................................................................................................................. 18
i
Example ......................................................................................................................................... 93
Reuse Process ............................................................................................................................... 93
SOFTWARE CASE TOOLS OVERVIEW ........................................................................................... 95
CASE TOOLS ........................................................................................................................................ 95
COMPONENTS OF CASE TOOLS ............................................................................................................... 95
SCOPE OF CASE TOOLS ........................................................................................................................... 96
Diagram tools ................................................................................................................................ 96
Process Modeling Tools ................................................................................................................ 96
Project Management Tools ........................................................................................................... 97
Documentation Tools.................................................................................................................... 97
Analysis Tools ................................................................................................................................ 97
Design Tools .................................................................................................................................. 97
Configuration Management Tools ................................................................................................ 97
Change Control Tools .................................................................................................................... 98
Programming Tools ....................................................................................................................... 98
Prototyping Tools .......................................................................................................................... 98
Web Development Tools............................................................................................................... 98
Quality Assurance Tools ................................................................................................................ 98
Maintenance Tools........................................................................................................................ 98
Software Overview
Let us understand what Software Engineering stands for. The term is made 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 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 welldefined, scientific principles and methods.
Definitions
IEEE defines software engineering as:
(1) The application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to
the development, operation, and maintenance of software; that is, the
application of engineering to software.
(2) The study of approaches as in the above statement.
Fritz Bauer, a German computer scientist, defines software engineering as:
Software engineering is the establishment and use of sound engineering
principles in order to obtain economically software that is reliable and work
efficiently on real machines.
Software Evolution
The process of developing a software product using software engineering
principles and methods is referred to as Software Evolution. This includes the
initial development of software and its maintenance and updates, till desired
software product is developed, which satisfies the expected requirements.
Evolution starts from the requirement gathering process. After which developers
create a prototype of the intended software and show it to the users to get their
feedback at the early stage of the software product development. The users
suggest changes, on which several consecutive updates and maintenance keep on
changing too. This process changes to the original software, till the desired
software is accomplished.
2
Even after the user has the desired software in hand, the advancing technology
and the changing requirements force the software product to change accordingly.
Re-creating software from scratch and to go one-on-one with the requirement is
not feasible. The only feasible and economical solution is to update the existing
software so that it matches the latest requirements.
(P-type)
This
is
software
with
collection
(E-type)
This
software
works
closely
as
the
Software Paradigms
Software paradigms refer to the methods and steps, which are taken while
designing the software. There are many methods proposed and are implemented.
But, we need to see where in the software engineering concept, these paradigms
stand. These can be combined into various categories, though each of them is
contained in one another:
Requirement gathering
Software design
Programming
Design
Maintenance
Programming
Programming Paradigm
This paradigm is related closely to programming aspect of software development.
This includes
Coding
Testing
Integration
Cost- As hardware industry has shown its skills and huge manufacturing
has lower down the price of computer and electronic hardware. But, cost of
the software remains high if proper process is not adapted.
Maintenance
This aspect briefs about how well the 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 welldefined engineering concepts required to produce efficient, durable, scalable, inbudget, and on-time software products.
SDLC Activities
SDLC provides a series of steps to be followed to design and develop a software
product efficiently. SDLC framework includes the following steps:
Communication
This is the first step where the user initiates the request for a desired software
product. The user contacts the service provider and tries to negotiate the terms,
submits the request to the service providing organization in writing.
Requirement Gathering
This step onwards the software development team works to carry on the project.
The team holds discussions with various stakeholders from problem domain and
tries to bring out as much information as possible on their requirements. The
requirements are contemplated and segregated into user requirements, system
8
Feasibility Study
en29.02 i-101ete systemllected usin
e,
Testing
An estimate says that 50% of whole software development process should be
tested. Errors may ruin the software from critical level to its own removal.
Software testing is done while coding by the developers and thorough testing is
conducted by testing experts at various levels of code such as module testing,
program testing, product testing, in-house testing, and testing the product at
users end. Early discovery of errors and their remedy is the key to reliable
software.
Integration
Software may need to be integrated with the libraries, databases, and other
program(s). This stage of SDLC is involved in the integration of software with
outer world entities.
Implementation
This means installing the software on user machines. At times, software needs
post-installation configurations at user end. Software is tested for portability and
adaptability and integration related issues are solved during implementation.
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Waterfall Model
Waterfall model is the simplest model of software development paradigm. All the
phases of SDLC will function one after another in linear manner. That is, when the
first phase is finished then only the second phase will start and so on.
This model assumes that everything is carried out and taken place perfectly as
planned in the previous stage and there is no need to think about the past issues
that may arise in the next phase. This model does not work smoothly if there are
some issues left at the previous step. The sequential nature of model does not
allow us to go back and undo or redo our actions.
This model is best suited when developers already have designed and developed
similar software in the past and are aware of all its domains.
Iterative Model
This model leads the software development process in iterations. It projects the
process of development in cyclic manner repeating every step after every cycle of
SDLC process.
The software is first developed on very small scale and all the steps are followed
which are taken into consideration. Then, on every next iteration, more features
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and modules are designed, coded, tested, and added to the software. Every cycle
produces a software, which is complete in itself and has more features and
capabilities than that of the previous one.
After each iteration, the management team can do work on risk management and
prepare for the next iteration. Because a cycle includes small portion of whole
software process, it is easier to manage the development process but it consumes
more resources.
Spiral Model
Spiral model is a combination of both, iterative model and one of the SDLC model.
It can be seen as if you choose one SDLC model and combined it with cyclic
process (iterative model).
This model considers risk, which often goes un-noticed by most other models. The
model starts with determining objectives and constraints of the software at the
start of one iteration. Next phase is of prototyping the software. This includes risk
analysis. Then one standard SDLC model is used to build the software. In the
fourth phase of the plan of next iteration is prepared.
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V model
The major drawback of waterfall model is we move to the next stage only when
the previous one is finished and there was no chance to go back if something is
found wrong in later stages. V-Model provides means of testing of software at
each stage in reverse manner.
At every stage, test plans and test cases are created to verify and validate the
product according to the requirement of that stage. For example, in requirement
gathering stage the test team prepares all the test cases in correspondence to the
requirements. Later, when the product is developed and is ready for testing, test
cases of this stage verify the software against its validity towards requirements at
this stage.
This makes both verification and validation go in parallel. This model is also known
as verification and validation model.
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For this model, very small amount of planning is required. It does not follow any
process, or at times the customer is not sure about the requirements and future
needs. So the input requirements are arbitrary.
This model is not suitable for large software projects but good one for learning
and experimenting.
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Software Creation
Software Project
A Software Project is the complete procedure of software development from
requirement gathering to testing and maintenance, carried out according to the
execution methodologies, in a specified period of time to achieve intended
software product.
15
applied to the other one. All such business and environmental constraints bring
risk in software development hence it is essential to manage software projects
efficiently.
The image above shows triple constraints for software projects. It is an essential
part of software organization to deliver quality product, keeping the cost within
clients budget constrain and deliver the project as per scheduled. There are
several factors, both internal and external, which may impact this triple constrain
triangle. Any of the three factors can severely impact the other two.
Therefore, software project management is essential to incorporate user
requirements along with budget and time constraints.
Managing People
Managing Project
Project Planning
Scope Management
Project Estimation
Project Planning
Software project planning is task, which is performed before the production of
software actually starts. It is there for the software production but involves no
concrete activity that has any direct connection with the software production;
rather it is a set of multiple processes, which facilitates software production.
Project planning may include the following:
Scope Management
It defines scope of the project; this includes all the activities, process need to be
done in order to make a deliverable software product. Scope management is
essential because it creates boundaries of the project by clearly defining what
would be done in the project and what would not be done. This makes project to
contain limited and quantifiable tasks, which can easily be documented and in turn
avoids cost and time overrun.
During Project Scope management, it is necessary to
Divide the project into various smaller parts for ease of management.
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Project Estimation
For an effective management, accurate estimation of various measures is a must.
With the correct estimation, managers can manage and control the project more
efficiently and effectively.
Project estimation may involve the following:
Effort estimation
The manager estimates efforts in terms of personnel requirement and
man-hour required to produce the software. For effort estimation software
size should be known. This can either be derived by managers experience,
historical data of organization, or software size can be converted into
efforts by using some standard formulae.
Time estimation
Once size and efforts are estimated, the time required to produce the
software can be estimated. Efforts required is segregated into sub
categories as per the requirement specifications and interdependency of
various components of software. Software tasks are divided into smaller
tasks, activities or events by Work Breakthrough Structure (WBS). The
tasks are scheduled on day-to-day basis or in calendar months.
The sum of time required to complete all tasks in hours or days is the total
time invested to complete the project.
Cost estimation
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Software quality
Hardware
Travel involved
Communication
Decomposition Technique
This technique assumes the software as a product of various compositions.
There are two main models
Putnam Model
This model is made by Lawrence H. Putnam, which is based on Nordens
frequency distribution (Rayleigh curve). Putnam model maps time and
efforts required with software size.
COCOMO
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Project Scheduling
Project Scheduling in a project refers to roadmap of all activities to be done with
specified order and within time slot allotted to each activity. Project managers
tend to define various tasks, and project milestones and then arrange them
keeping various factors in mind. They look for tasks like in critical path in the
schedule, which are necessary to complete in specific manner (because of task
interdependency) and strictly within the time allocated. Arrangement of tasks
which lies out of critical path are less likely to impact over all schedule of the
project.
For scheduling a project, it is necessary to
Calculate total time required for the project from start to finish
Resource management
All elements used to develop a software product may be assumed as resource for
that project. This may include human resource, productive tools, and software
libraries.
The resources are available in limited quantity and stay in the organization as a
pool of assets. The shortage of resources hampers development of the project and
it can lag behind the schedule. Allocating extra resources increases development
cost in the end. It is therefore necessary to estimate and allocate adequate
resources for the project.
Resource management includes
Experienced staff leaving the project and new staff coming in.
Identification - Make note of all possible risks, which may occur in the
project.
Categorize - Categorize known risks into high, medium and low risk
intensity as per their possible impact on the project.
Monitor - Closely monitor the potential risks and their early symptoms.
Also monitor the effective steps taken to mitigate or avoid them.
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Closure - At the end of each major event, end of a phase of SDLC or end
of the project itself, administrative closure is formally announced to update
every stakeholder by sending email, by distributing a hardcopy of document
or by other mean of effective communication.
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Configuration Management
Configuration management is a process of tracking and controlling the changes in
software in terms of the requirements, design, functions and development of the
product.
IEEE defines it as the process of identifying and defining the items in the system,
controlling the change of these items throughout their life cycle, recording and
reporting the status of items and change requests, and verifying the completeness
and correctness of items.
Generally, once the SRS is finalized there is less chance of requirement of changes
from user. If they occur, the changes are addressed only with prior approval of
higher management, as there is a possibility of cost and time overrun.
Baseline
A phase of SDLC is assumed over if it baselined, i.e. baseline is a measurement
that defines completeness of a phase. A phase is baselined when all activities
pertaining to it are finished and well documented. If it was not the final phase, its
output would be used in next immediate phase.
Configuration management is a discipline of organization administration, which
takes care of occurrence of any changes (process, requirement, technological,
strategical etc.) after a phase is baselined. CM keeps check on any changes done
in software.
Change Control
Change control is function of configuration management, which ensures that all
changes made to software system are consistent and made as per organizational
rules and regulations.
A change in the configuration of product goes through following steps
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Control - If the prospective change either impacts too many entities in the
system or it is unavoidable, it is mandatory to take approval of high
authorities before change is incorporated into the system. It is decided if
the change is worth incorporation or not. If it is not, change request is
refused formally.
Gantt Chart
Gantt chart was devised by Henry Gantt (1917). It represents project schedule
with respect to time periods. It is a horizontal bar chart with bars representing
activities and time scheduled for the project activities.
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PERT Chart
Program Evaluation & Review Technique) (PERT) chart is a tool that depicts project
as network diagram. It is capable of graphically representing main events of
project in both parallel and consecutive ways. Events, which occur one after
another, show dependency of the later event over the previous one.
Events are shown as numbered nodes. They are connected by labeled arrows
depicting the sequence of tasks in the project.
Resource Histogram
This is a graphical tool that contains bar or chart representing number of resources
(usually skilled staff) required over time for a project event (or phase). Resource
Histogram is an effective tool for staff planning and coordination.
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Software Requirements
Requirement Engineering
The process to gather the software requirements from client, analyze, and
document them is known as requirement engineering.
The goal of requirement engineering is to develop and maintain sophisticated and
descriptive System Requirements Specification document.
Feasibility Study
Requirement Gathering
Feasibility study
When the client approaches the organization for getting the desired product
developed, it comes up with a rough idea about what all functions the software
must perform and which all features are expected from the software.
Referencing to this information, the analysts do a detailed study about whether
the desired system and its functionality are feasible to develop.
This feasibility study is focused towards goal of the organization. This study
analyzes whether the software product can be practically materialized in terms of
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Requirement Gathering
If the feasibility report is positive towards undertaking the project, next phase
starts with gathering requirements from the user. Analysts and engineers
communicate with the client and end-users to know their ideas on what the
software should provide and which features they want the software to include.
experts may interpret the requirements inaccurately. This results in huge increase
in cost if not nipped in the bud. Requirements can be checked against following
conditions
Requirements gathering - The developers discuss with the client and end
users and know their expectations from the software.
Interviews
Interviews are strong medium to collect requirements. Organization may conduct
several types of interviews such as:
Oral interviews
Written interviews
One-to-one interviews which are held between two persons across the
table.
Group interviews which are held between groups of participants. They help
to uncover any missing requirement as numerous people are involved.
Surveys
Organization may conduct surveys among various stakeholders by querying about
their expectation and requirements from the upcoming system.
Questionnaires
A document with pre-defined set of objective questions and respective options is
handed over to all stakeholders to answer, which are collected and compiled.
A shortcoming of this technique is, if an option for some issue is not mentioned in
the questionnaire, the issue might be left unattended.
Task analysis
Team of engineers and developers may analyze the operation for which the new
system is required. If the client already has some software to perform certain
operation, it is studied and requirements of proposed system are collected.
Domain Analysis
Every software falls into some domain category. The expert people in the domain
can be a great help to analyze general and specific requirements.
Brainstorming
An informal debate is held among various stakeholders and all their inputs are
recorded for further requirements analysis.
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Prototyping
Prototyping is building user interface without adding detail functionality for user
to interpret the features of intended software product. It helps giving better idea
of requirements. If there is no software installed at clients end for developers
reference and the client is not aware of its own requirements, the developer
creates a prototype based on initially mentioned requirements. The prototype is
shown to the client and the feedback is noted. The client feedback serves as an
input for requirement gathering.
Observation
Team of experts visit the clients organization or workplace. They observe the
actual working of the existing installed systems. They observe the workflow at the
clients end and how execution problems are dealt. The team itself draws some
conclusions which aid to form requirements expected from the software.
Clear
Correct
Consistent
Coherent
Comprehensible
Modifiable
Verifiable
Prioritized
Unambiguous
Traceable
Credible source
Software Requirements
We should try to understand what sort of requirements may arise in the
requirement elicitation phase and what kinds of requirement are expected from
the software system.
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Functional Requirements
Requirements, which are related to functional aspect of software fall into this
category.
They define functions and functionality within and from the software system.
EXAMPLES
Users can be divided into groups and groups can be given separate rights.
Non-Functional Requirements
Requirements, which are not related to functional aspect of software, fall into this
category. They are implicit or expected characteristics of software, which users
make assumption of.
Non-functional requirements include
Security
Logging
Storage
Configuration
Performance
Cost
Interoperability
Flexibility
Disaster recovery
Accessibility
Could have : Software can still properly function with these requirements.
easy to operate
quick in response
User acceptance majorly depends upon how user can use the software. UI is the
only way for users to perceive the system. A well performing software system
must also be equipped with attractive, clear, consistent, and responsive user
interface. Otherwise the functionalities of software system can not be used in
convenient way. A system is said to be good if it provides means to use it
efficiently. User interface requirements are briefly mentioned below
Content presentation
Easy Navigation
Simple interface
Responsive
Consistent UI elements
Feedback mechanism
Default settings
Purposeful layout
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Validation of requirement
34
ETBTnto on ess
Process Metrics - In various phases of SDLC, the methods and tools used,
the company standards and the performance of development are software
process metrics.
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High-level Design - The high-level design breaks the single entitymultiple component concept of architectural design into less-abstracted
view of sub-systems and modules and depicts their interaction with each
other. High-level design focuses on how the system along with all of its
components can be implemented in forms of modules. It recognizes
modular structure of each sub-system and their relation and interaction
among each other.
Modularization
Modularization is a technique to divide a software system into multiple discrete
and independent modules, which are expected to be capable of carrying out
task(s) independently. These modules may work as basic constructs for the entire
software. Designers tend to design modules such that they can be executed and/or
compiled separately and independently.
Modular design unintentionally follows the rule of divide and conquer problemsolving strategy, this is because there are many other benefits attached with the
modular design of a software.
Advantage of modularization:
Concurrency
Back in time, all software are meant to be executed sequentially. By sequential
execution, we mean that the coded instruction will be executed one after another
implying only one portion of program being activated at any given time. Say, a
software has multiple modules, then only one of all the modules can be found
active at any time of execution.
In software design, concurrency is implemented by splitting the software into
multiple independent units of execution, like modules and executing them in
parallel. In other words, concurrency provides capability to the software to
execute more than one part of code in parallel to each other.
It is necessary for the programmers and designers to recognize those modules,
which can be made parallel execution.
Example
The spell check feature in word processor is a module of software, which runs
along side the word processor itself.
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Cohesion
Cohesion is a measure that defines the degree of intra-dependability within
elements of a module. The greater the cohesion, the better is the program design.
There are seven types of cohesion, namely
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Coupling
Coupling is a measure that defines the level of inter-dependability among modules
of a program. It tells at what level the modules interfere and interact with each
other. The lower the coupling, the better the program.
There are five levels of coupling, namely
Common coupling- When multiple modules have read and write access to
some global data, it is called common or global coupling.
Data coupling- Data coupling is when two modules interact with each
other by means of passing data (as parameter). If a module passes data
structure as parameter, then the receiving module should use all its
components.
Design Verification
The output of software design process is design documentation, pseudo codes,
detailed logic diagrams, process diagrams, and detailed description of all
functional or non-functional requirements.
The next phase, which is the implementation of software, depends on all outputs
mentioned above.
It is then becomes necessary to verify the output before proceeding to the next
phase. The early any mistake is detected, the better it is or it might not be
detected until testing of the product. If the outputs of design phase are in formal
notation form, then their associated tools for verification should be used otherwise
a thorough design review can be used for verification and validation.
By structured verification approach, reviewers can detect defects that might be
caused by overlooking some conditions. A good design review is important for
good software design, accuracy, and quality.
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Software analysis and design includes all activities, which help the transformation
of requirement specification into implementation. Requirement specifications
specify all functional and non-functional expectations from the software. These
requirement
specifications
come
in
the
shape
of
human
readable
and
Types of DFD
Data Flow Diagrams are either Logical or Physical.
Logical DFD - This type of DFD concentrates on the system process, and
flow of data in the system. For example in a banking software system, how
data is moved between different entities.
Physical DFD - This type of DFD shows how the data flow is actually
implemented in the system. It is more specific and close to the
implementation.
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DFD Components
DFD can represent source, destination, storage, and flow of data using the
following set of components -
Process - Activities and action taken on the data are represented by Circle
or Round-edged rectangles.
Data Storage - There are two variants of data storage - it can either be
represented as a rectangle with absence of both smaller sides or as an
open-sided rectangle with only one side missing.
Levels of DFD
Level 1 - The Level 0 DFD is broken down into more specific, Level 1 DFD.
Level 1 DFD depicts basic modules in the system and flow of data among
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various modules. Level 1 DFD also mentions basic processes and sources
of information.
Level 2 - At this level, DFD shows how data flows inside the modules
mentioned in Level 1.
Higher level DFDs can be transformed into more specific lower level DFDs
with deeper level of understanding unless the desired level of specification
is achieved.
Structure Charts
Structure chart is a chart derived from Data Flow Diagram. It represents the
system in more detail than DFD. It breaks down the entire system into lowest
functional modules, describes functions and sub-functions of each module of the
system to a greater detail than DFD.
Structure chart represents hierarchical structure of modules. At each layer a
specific task is performed.
Here are the symbols used in construction of structure charts -
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Jump - An arrow is shown pointing inside the module to depict that the
control will jump in the middle of the sub-module.
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Data flow - A directed arrow with empty circle at the end represents data
flow.
Control flow - A directed arrow with filled circle at the end represents
control flow.
HIPO Diagram
Hierarchical Input Process Output (HIPO) diagram is a combination of two
organized
methods
to
analyze
the
system
and
provide
the
means
of
HIPO diagram represents the hierarchy of modules in the software system. Analyst
uses HIPO diagram in order to obtain high-level view of system functions. It
decomposes functions into sub-functions in a hierarchical manner. It depicts the
functions performed by system.
HIPO
diagrams
are
good
for
documentation
purpose.
Their
graphical
representation makes it easier for designers and managers to get the pictorial idea
of the system structure.
In contrast to Input Process Output (IPO) diagram, which depicts the flow of
control and data in a module, HIPO does not provide any information about data
flow or control flow.
Example
Both parts of HIPO diagram, Hierarchical presentation, and IPO Chart are used for
structure designing of software program as well as documentation of the same.
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Structured English
Most programmers are unaware of the large picture of software so they only rely
on what their managers tell them to do. It is the responsibility of higher software
management to provide accurate information to the programmers to develop
accurate yet fast code.
Different methods, which use graphs or diagrams, at times might be interpreted
in a different way by different people.
Hence, analysts and designers of the software come up with tools such as
Structured English. It is nothing but the description of what is required to code
and how to code it. Structured English helps the programmer to write error-free
code. Here, both Structured English and Pseudo-Code tries to mitigate that
understanding gap.
Structured English uses plain English words in structured programming paradigm.
It is not the ultimate code but a kind of description what is required to code and
how to code it. The following are some tokens of structured programming:
IF-THEN-ELSE,
DO-WHILE-UNTIL
Analyst uses the same variable and data name, which are stored in Data
Dictionary, making it much simpler to write and understand the code.
Example
We take the same example of Customer Authentication in the online shopping
environment. This procedure to authenticate customer can be written in
Structured English as:
Enter Customer_Name
SEEK Customer_Name in Customer_Name_DB file
IF Customer_Name found THEN
Call procedure USER_PASSWORD_AUTHENTICATE()
ELSE
PRINT error message
Call procedure NEW_CUSTOMER_REQUEST()
ENDIF
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The code written in Structured English is more like day-to-day spoken English. It
can not be implemented directly as a code of software. Structured English is
independent of programming language.
Pseudo-Code
Pseudo code is written more close to programming language. It may be considered
as augmented programming language, full of comments, and descriptions.
Pseudo code avoids variable declaration but they are written using some actual
programming languages constructs, like C, Fortran, Pascal, etc.
Pseudo code contains more programming details than Structured English. It
provides a method to perform the task, as if a computer is executing the code.
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Example
Program to print Fibonacci up to n numbers.
void function Fibonacci
Get value of n;
Set value of a to 1;
Set value of b to 1;
Initialize I to 0
for (i=0; i< n; i++)
{
if a greater than b
{
Increase b by a;
Print b;
}
else if b greater than a
{
increase a by b;
print a;
}
}
Decision Tables
A Decision table represents conditions and the respective actions to be taken to
address them, in a structured tabular format.
It is a powerful tool to debug and prevent errors. It helps group similar information
into a single table and then by combining tables it delivers easy and convenient
decision-making.
Example
Let us take a simple example of day-to-day problem with our Internet
connectivity. We begin by identifying all problems that can arise while starting the
internet and their respective possible solutions.
We list all possible problems under column conditions and the prospective actions
under column Actions.
Conditions
Actions
Conditions/Actions
Rules
Shows Connected
Ping is Working
Opens Website
X
X
Do no action
Table : Decision Table In-house Internet Troubleshooting
Entity-Relationship Model
Entity-Relationship model is a type of database model based on the notion of real
world entities and relationship among them. We can map real world scenario onto
ER database model. ER Model creates a set of entities with their attributes, a set
of constraints and relation among them.
50
ER Model is best used for the conceptual design of database. ER Model can be
represented as follows :
Relationship -
The
logical
association
among
entities
is
called
one to one
one to many
many to one
many to many
Data Dictionary
Data dictionary is the centralized collection of information about data. It stores
meaning and origin of data, its relationship with other data, data format for usage,
etc. Data dictionary has rigorous definitions of all names in order to facilitate user
and software designers.
Data dictionary is often referenced as meta-data (data about data) repository. It
is created along with DFD (Data Flow Diagram) model of software program and is
expected to be updated whenever DFD is changed or updated.
Contents
Data dictionary should contain information about the following:
Data Flow
Data Structure
Data Elements
Data Stores
Data Processing
Composed of
{}
Repetition
()
Optional
And
[/]
Or
Example
Address = House No + (Street / Area) + City + State
Course ID = Course Number + Course Name + Course Level + Course Grades
Data Elements
Data elements consist of Name and descriptions of Data and Control Items,
Internal or External data stores etc. with the following details:
Primary Name
52
Data Store
It stores the information from where the data enters into the system and exists
out of the system. The Data Store may include
Files
o
Internal to software.
Tables
o
Naming convention
Indexing property
Data Processing
There are two types of Data Processing:
53
Structured Design
Structured design is a conceptualization of problem into several well-organized
elements of solution. It is basically concerned with the solution design. Benefit of
structured design is, it gives better understanding of how the problem is being
solved. Structured design also makes it simpler for designer to concentrate on the
problem more accurately.
Structured design is mostly based on divide and conquer strategy where a
problem is broken into several small problems and each small problem is
individually solved until the whole problem is solved.
The small pieces of problem are solved by means of solution modules. Structured
design emphasis that these modules be well organized in order to achieve precise
solution.
These modules are arranged in hierarchy. They communicate with each other. A
good structured design always follows some rules for communication among
multiple modules, namely
54
Design Process
The whole system is seen as how data flows in the system by means of data
flow diagram.
DFD depicts how functions change data and state of the entire system.
The entire system is logically broken down into smaller units known as
functions on the basis of their operation in the system.
Objects - All entities involved in the solution design are known as objects.
For example, person, banks, company, and customers are treated as
objects. Every entity has some attributes associated to it and has some
methods to perform on the attributes.
55
Design Process
Software design process can be perceived as series of well-defined steps. Though
it varies according to design approach (function oriented or object oriented, yet It
may have the following steps involved:
56
Bottom-up Design
The bottom up design model starts with most specific and basic components. It
proceeds with composing higher level of components by using basic or lower level
components. It keeps creating higher level components until the desired system
is not evolved as one single component. With each higher level, the amount of
abstraction is increased.
Bottom-up strategy is more suitable when a system needs to be created from
some existing system, where the basic primitives can be used in the newer
system.
Both, top-down and bottom-up approaches are not practical individually. Instead,
a good combination of both is used.
57
User interface is the front-end application view to which user interacts in order to
use the software. User can manipulate and control the software as well as
hardware by means of user interface. Today, user interface is found at almost
every place where digital technology exists, right from computers, mobile phones,
cars, music players, airplanes, ships etc.
User interface is part of software and is designed in such a way that it is expected
to provide the user insight of the software. UI provides fundamental platform for
human-computer interaction.
UI can be graphical, text-based, audio-video based, depending upon the
underlying hardware and software combination. UI can be hardware or software
or a combination of both.
The software becomes more popular if its user interface is:
Attractive
Simple to use
Clear to understand
58
CLI provides a command prompt, the place where the user types the command
and feeds to the system. The user needs to remember the syntax of command
and its use. Earlier CLI were not programmed to handle the user errors effectively.
A command is a text-based reference to set of instructions, which are expected to
be executed by the system. There are methods like macros, scripts that make it
easy for the user to operate.
CLI uses less amount of computer resource as compared to GUI.
CLI Elements
59
GUI Elements
GUI provides a set of components to interact with software or hardware.
Every graphical component provides a way to work with the system. A GUI system
has following elements such as:
60
also helps in viewing preference panel in application. All modern webbrowsers use this feature.
Cursor - Interacting devices such as mouse, touch pad, digital pen are
represented in GUI as cursors. On screen cursor follows the instructions
from hardware in almost real-time. Cursors are also named pointers in GUI
systems. They are used to select menus, windows and other application
features.
61
List-box - Provides list of available items for selection. More than one item
can be selected.
Sliders
Combo-box
Data-grid
Drop-down list
62
A model used for GUI design and development should fulfill these GUI specific
steps.
GUI Requirement Gathering - The designers may like to have list of all
functional and non-functional requirements of GUI. This can be taken from
user and their existing software solution.
User Analysis - The designer studies who is going to use the software GUI.
The target audience matters as the design details change according to the
knowledge and competency level of the user. If user is technical savvy,
advanced and complex GUI can be incorporated. For a novice user, more
information is included on how-to of software.
63
Testing - GUI testing can be done in various ways. Organization can have
in-house inspection, direct involvement of users and release of beta version
are few of them. Testing may include usability, compatibility, user
acceptance etc.
Example
Mobile GUI, Computer GUI, Touch-Screen GUI etc. Here is a list of few tools which
come handy to build GUI:
FLUID
AppInventor (Android)
LucidChart
Wavemaker
Visual Studio
64
Permit easy reversal of actions - This feature relieves anxiety, since the
user knows that errors can be undone. Easy reversal of actions encourages
exploration of unfamiliar options. The units of reversibility may be a single
action, a data entry, or a complete group of actions.
65
66
The term complexity stands for state of events or things, which have multiple
interconnected links and highly complicated structures. In software programming,
as the design of software is realized, the number of elements and their
interconnections gradually emerge to be huge, which becomes too difficult to
understand at once.
Software design complexity is difficult to assess without using complexity metrics
and measures. Let us see three important software complexity measures.
67
Parameter
Meaning
n1
n2
N1
N2
When we select source file to view its complexity details in Metric Viewer, the
following result is seen in Metric Report:
Metric Meaning
Mathematical Representation
Vocabulary
n1 + n2
Size
N1 + N2
Volume
Difficulty
(n1/2) * (N1/n2)
Efforts
Difficulty * Volume
Errors
Volume / 3000
Testing time
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=4
Function Point
It is widely used to measure the size of software. Function Point concentrates on
functionality provided by the system. Features and functionality of the system are
used to measure the software complexity.
Function point counts on five parameters, named as External Input, External
Output, Logical Internal Files, External Interface Files, and External Inquiry. To
consider the complexity of software each parameter is further categorized as
simple, average or complex.
External Input
Every unique input to the system, from outside, is considered as external input.
Uniqueness of input is measured, as no two inputs should have same formats.
These inputs can either be data or control parameters.
External Output
All output types provided by the system are counted in this category. Output is
considered unique if their output format and/or processing are unique.
External Inquiry
An inquiry is a combination of input and output, where user sends some data to
inquire about as input and the system responds to the user with the output of
inquiry processed. The complexity of a query is more than External Input and
External Output. Query is said to be unique if its input and output are unique in
terms of format and data.
Simple - if query needs low processing and yields small amount of output
data
Complex - if query needs high process and yields large amount of output
data
71
Each of these parameters in the system is given weightage according to their class
and complexity. The table below mentions the weightage given to each parameter:
Parameter
Simple
Average
Complex
Inputs
Outputs
Enquiry
Files
10
15
Interfaces
10
The table above yields raw Function Points. These function points are adjusted
according to the environment complexity. System is described using fourteen
different characteristics:
Data communications
Distributed processing
Performance objectives
Transaction rate
Online update
Re-usability
Installation ease
Operational ease
Multiple sites
No influence
Incidental
72
Moderate
Average
Significant
Essential
All ratings are then summed up as N. The value of N ranges from 0 to 70 (14
types of characteristics x 5 types of ratings). It is used to calculate Complexity
Adjustment Factors (CAF), using the following formulae:
CAF = 0.65 + 0.01N
Then,
Delivered Function Points (FP)= CAF x Raw FP
This FP can then be used in various metrics, such as:
Cost = $ / FP
Quality = Errors / FP
Productivity = FP / person-month
73
Software Implementation
10
Structured Programming
In the process of coding, the lines of code keep multiplying, thus, size of the
software increases. Gradually, it becomes next to impossible to remember the
flow of program. If one forgets how software and its underlying programs, files,
procedures are constructed, it then becomes very difficult to share, debug, and
modify the program. The solution to this is structured programming. It encourages
the developer to use subroutines and loops instead of using simple jumps in the
code, thereby bringing clarity in the code and improving its efficiency Structured
programming also helps programmer to reduce coding time and organize code
properly.
Structured programming states how the program shall be coded. It uses three
main concepts:
1. Top-down analysis - A software is always made to perform some rational
work. This rational work is known as problem in the software parlance. Thus
it is very important that we understand how to solve the problem. Under
top-down analysis, the problem is broken down into small pieces where
each one has some significance. Each problem is individually solved and
steps are clearly stated about how to solve the problem.
2. Modular Programming - While programming, the code is broken down
into smaller group of instructions. These groups are known as modules,
subprograms, or subroutines. Modular programming based on the
understanding of top-down analysis. It discourages jumps using goto
74
statements in the program, which often makes the program flow nontraceable. Jumps are prohibited and modular format is encouraged in
structured programming.
3. Structured Coding - In reference with top-down analysis, structured
coding sub-divides the modules into further smaller units of code in the
order of their execution. Structured programming uses control structure,
which controls the flow of the program, whereas structured coding uses
control structure to organize its instructions in definable patterns.
Functional Programming
Functional programming is style of programming language, which uses the
concepts of mathematical functions. A function in mathematics should always
produce the same result on receiving the same argument. In procedural
languages, the flow of the program runs through procedures, i.e. the control of
program is transferred to the called procedure. While control flow is transferring
from one procedure to another, the program changes its state.
In procedural programming, it is possible for a procedure to produce different
results when it is called with the same argument, as the program itself can be in
different state while calling it. This is a property as well as a drawback of
procedural programming, in which the sequence or timing of the procedure
execution becomes important.
Functional programming provides means of computation as mathematical
functions, which produces results irrespective of program state. This makes it
possible to predict the behavior of the program.
Functional programming uses the following concepts:
First class and High-order functions - These functions have capability to
accept another function as argument or they return other functions as results.
Common Lisp, Scala, Haskell, Erlang, and F# are some examples of functional
programming languages.
Programming style
Programming style is set of coding rules followed by all the programmers to write
the code. When multiple programmers work on the same software project, they
frequently need to work with the program code written by some other developer.
This becomes tedious or at times impossible, if all developers do not follow some
standard programming style to code the program.
An appropriate programming style includes using function and variable names
relevant to the intended task, using well-placed indentation, commenting code for
the convenience of reader and overall presentation of code. This makes the
program code readable and understandable by all, which in turn makes debugging
and error solving easier. Also, proper coding style helps ease the documentation
and updation.
Coding Guidelines
Practice of coding style varies with organizations, operating systems and language
of coding itself.
The following coding elements may be defined under coding guidelines of an
organization:
Indenting - This is the space left at the beginning of line, usually 2-8
whitespace or single tab.
Control Structures - The rules of writing if-then-else, case-switch, whileuntil and for control flow statements solely and in nested fashion.
76
Line length and wrapping - Defines how many characters should be there
in one line, mostly a line is 80 characters long. Wrapping defines how a line
should be wrapped, if is too long.
Software Documentation
Software documentation is an important part of software process. A well written
document provides a great tool and means of information repository necessary to
know about software process. Software documentation also provides information
about how to use the product.
A well-maintained documentation should involve the following documents:
running
software
at
the
clients
end,
clients
interview,
software
design
the program, they give all necessary information that is required for coding
and implementation.
All previous
documentations
are
maintained
to
provide
information about the software and its development process. But user
documentation explains how the software product should work and how it
should be used to get the desired results.
These documentations may include, software installation procedures, howto guides, user-guides, uninstallation method and special references to get
more information like license updation etc.
the code, which was created earlier for some other soeBTes, uninstalla icated an4(er )82(
78
79
11
Software Validation
Validation is process of examining whether or not the software satisfies the user
requirements. It is carried out at the end of the SDLC. If the software matches
requirements for which it was made, it is validated.
Software Verification
Verification is the process of confirming if the software is meeting the business
requirements, and is developed adhering to the proper specifications and
methodologies.
80
Fault - When error exists fault occurs. A fault, also known as a bug, is a
result of an error which can cause system to fail.
A test needs to check if a webpage can be opened in Internet Explorer. This can
be easily done with manual testing. But to check if the web-server can take the
load of 1 million users, it is quite impossible to test manually.
There are software and hardware tools which helps tester in conducting load
testing, stress testing, regression testing.
Testing Approaches
Tests can be conducted based on two approaches
1. Functionality testing
2. Implementation testing
When functionality is being tested without taking the actual implementation in
concern it is known as black-box testing. The other side is known as white-box
testing where not only functionality is tested but the way it is implemented is also
analyzed.
81
Exhaustive tests are the best-desired method for a perfect testing. Every single
possible value in the range of the input and output values is tested. It is not
possible to test each and every value in real world scenario if the range of values
is large.
Black-box testing
It is carried out to test functionality of the program and also called Behavioral
testing. The tester in this case, has a set of input values and respective desired
results. On providing input, if the output matches with the desired results, the
program is tested ok, and problematic otherwise.
In this testing method, the design and structure of the code are not known to the
tester, and testing engineers and end users conduct this test on the software.
Black-box testing techniques:
Boundary values - The input is divided into higher and lower end values.
If these values pass the test, it is assumed that all values in between may
pass too.
82
White-box testing
It is conducted to test program and its implementation, in order to improve code
efficiency or structure. It is also known as Structural testing.
In this testing method, the design and structure of the code are known to the
tester. Programmers of the code conduct this test on the code.
The below are some White-box testing techniques:
Data-flow testing - This testing technique emphasis to cover all the data
variables included in the program. It tests where the variables were
declared and defined and where they were used or changed.
Testing Levels
Testing itself may be defined at various levels of SDLC. The testing process runs
parallel to software development. Before jumping on the next stage, a stage is
tested, validated and verified.
Testing separately is done just to make sure that there are no hidden bugs or
issues left in the software. Software is tested on various levels -
Unit Testing
While coding, the programmer performs some tests on that unit of program to
know if it is error free. Testing is performed under white-box testing approach.
Unit testing helps developers decide that individual units of the program are
working as per requirement and are error free.
83
Integration Testing
Even if the units of software are working fine individually, there is a need to find
out if the units if integrated together would also work without errors. For example,
argument passing and data updation etc.
System Testing
The software is compiled as product and then it is tested as a whole. This can be
accomplished using one or more of the following tests:
Performance testing - This test proves how efficient the software is. It
tests the effectiveness and average time taken by the software to do desired
task. Performance testing is done by means of load testing and stress
testing where the software is put under high user and data load under
various environment conditions.
Security & Portability - These tests are done when the software is meant
to work on various platforms and accessed by number of persons.
Acceptance Testing
When the software is ready to hand over to the customer it has to go through last
phase of testing where it is tested for user-interaction and response. This is
important because even if the software matches all user requirements and if user
does not like the way it appears or works, it may be rejected.
Regression Testing
Whenever a software product is updated with new code, feature or functionality,
it is tested thoroughly to detect if there is any negative impact of the added code.
This is known as regression testing.
84
Testing Documentation
Testing documents are prepared at different stages -
Before Testing
Testing starts with test cases generation. Following documents are needed for
reference
Test Policy document - This describes how far testing should take place
before releasing the product.
Test case report - This document contains test case report as a result of
the test.
Test logs - This document contains test logs for every test case report.
After Testing
The following documents may be generated after testing :
Test summary - This test summary is collective analysis of all test reports
and logs. It summarizes and concludes if the software is ready to be
launched. The software is released under version control system if it is
ready to launch.
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86
12
Software maintenance is widely accepted part of SDLC now a days. It stands for
all the modifications and updations done after the delivery of software product.
There are number of reasons, why modifications are required, some of them are
briefly mentioned below:
and
newly
introduced
constraints
like,
how
to
maintain
Client Requirements - Over the time, customer may ask for new features
or functions in the software.
Types of maintenance
In a software lifetime, type of maintenance may vary based on its nature. It may
be just a routine maintenance tasks as some bug discovered by some user or it
may be a large event in itself based on maintenance size or nature. Following are
some types of maintenance based on their characteristics:
Cost of Maintenance
Reports suggest that the cost of maintenance is high. A study on estimating
software maintenance found that the cost of maintenance is as high as 67% of
the cost of entire software process cycle.
On an average, the cost of software maintenance is more than 50% of all SDLC
phases. There are various factors, which trigger maintenance cost go high, such
as:
Older softwares, which were meant to work on slow machines with less
memory and storage capacity cannot keep themselves challenging against
newly coming enhanced softwares on modern hardware.
88
Most maintenance engineers are newbie and use trial and error method to
rectify problem.
Often, changes made can easily hurt the original structure of the software,
making it hard for any subsequent changes.
Changes are often left undocumented which may cause more conflicts in
future.
Programming Language
Maintenance Activities
IEEE provides a framework for sequential maintenance process activities. It can
be used in iterative manner and can be extended so that customized items and
processes can be included.
system may itself report via logs or error messages.Here, the maintenance
type is classified also.
into
requirement
specifications.
The
cost
of
Implementation - The new modules are coded with the help of structured
design created in the design step.Every programmer is expected to do unit
testing in parallel.
Delivery - After acceptance test, the system is deployed all over the
organization either by small update package or fresh installation of the
system. The final testing takes place at client end after the software is
delivered.
Training facility is provided if required, in addition to the hard copy of user
manual.
Software Re-engineering
When we need to update the software to keep it to the current market, without
impacting its functionality, it is called software re-engineering. It is a thorough
process where the design of software is changed and programs are re-written.
90
Legacy software cannot keep tuning with the latest technology available in the
market. As the hardware become obsolete, updating of software becomes a
headache. Even if software grows old with time, its functionality does not.
For example, initially Unix was developed in assembly language. When language
C came into existence, Unix was re-engineered in C, because working in assembly
language was difficult.
Other than this, sometimes programmers notice that few parts of software need
more maintenance than others and they also need re-engineering.
Re-Engineering Process
Restructure Program if required. For example, changing functionoriented programs into object-oriented programs.
91
Reverse Engineering
It is a process to achieve system specification by thoroughly analyzing,
understanding the existing system. This process can be seen as reverse SDLC
model, i.e. we try to get higher abstraction level by analyzing lower abstraction
levels.
An existing system is previously implemented design, about which we know
nothing. Designers then do reverse engineering by looking at the code and try to
get the design. With design in hand, they try to conclude the specifications. Thus,
going in reverse from code to system specification.
Program Restructuring
It is a process to re-structure and re-construct the existing software. It is all about
re-arranging the source code, either in same programming language or from one
programming language to a different one. Restructuring can have either source
code-restructuring and data-restructuring or both.
Re-structuring does not impact the functionality of the software but enhance
reliability and maintainability. Program components, which cause errors very
frequently can be changed, or updated with re-structuring.
The dependability of software on obsolete hardware platform can be removed via
re-structuring.
Forward Engineering
Forward engineering is a process of obtaining desired software from the
specifications in hand which were brought down by means of reverse engineering.
It assumes that there was some software engineering already done in the past.
Forward engineering is same as software engineering process with only one
difference it is carried out always after reverse engineering.
92
Component reusability
A component is a part of software program code, which executes an independent
task in the system. It can be a small module or sub-system itself.
Example
The login procedures used on the web can be considered as components, printing
system in software can be seen as a component of the software.
Components have high cohesion of functionality and lower rate of coupling, i.e.
they work independently and can perform tasks without depending on other
modules.
In OOP, the objects are designed are very specific to their concern and have fewer
chances to be used in some other software.
In modular programming, the modules are coded to perform specific tasks which
can be used across number of other software programs.
There is a whole new vertical, which is based on re-use of software component,
and is known as Component Based Software Engineering (CBSE).
Reuse Process
Two kinds of method that can be adopted: either by keeping requirements same
and adjusting components or by keeping components same and modifying
requirements.
93
Requirement
Specification -
The
functional
and
non-functional
requirements are specified, which a software product must comply to, with
the help of existing system, user input or both.
94
13
CASE Tools
CASE tools are set of software application programs, which are used to automate
SDLC activities. CASE tools are used by software project managers, analysts and
engineers to develop software system.
There are number of CASE tools available to simplify various stages of Software
Development Life Cycle such as Analysis tools, Design tools, Project management
tools, Database Management tools, Documentation tools are to name a few.
Use of CASE tools accelerates the development of project to produce desired result
and helps to uncover flaws before moving ahead with next stage in software
development.
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Upper Case Tools - Upper CASE tools are used in planning, analysis and
design stages of SDLC.
Lower Case Tools - Lower CASE tools are used in implementation, testing
and maintenance.
Integrated Case Tools - Integrated CASE tools are helpful in all the stages
of SDLC, from Requirement gathering to Testing and documentation.
CASE tools can be grouped together if they have similar functionality, process
activities and capability of getting integrated with other tools.
Diagram tools
These tools are used to represent system components, data and control flow
among various software components and system structure in a graphical form.
For example, Flow Chart Maker tool for creating state-of-the-art flowcharts.
96
Documentation Tools
Documentation in a software project starts prior to the software process, goes
throughout all phases of SDLC and after the completion of the project.
Documentation tools generate documents for technical users and end users.
Technical users are mostly in-house professionals of the development team who
refer to system manual, reference manual, training manual, installation manuals
etc. The end user documents describe the functioning and how-to of the system
such as user manual. For example, Doxygen, DrExplain, Adobe RoboHelp for
documentation.
Analysis Tools
These
tools
help
to
gather
requirements,
automatically
check
for
any
Design Tools
These tools help software designers to design the block structure of the software,
which may further be broken down in smaller modules using refinement
techniques. These tools provides detailing of each module and interconnections
among modules. For example, Animated Software Design.
CASE tools help in this by automatic tracking, version management and release
management. For example, Fossil, Git, Accu REV.
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Programming Tools
These
tools
consist
of
programming
environments
like
IDE
(Integrated
98
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