IT314: Software Engineering

Dr. Manish Khare

Dr. Saurabh Tiwari
Lecture 2
what’s a software anyway?” …
A software is a computer programs along with the
associated documents and the configuration data
that make these programs operate correctly.

A program is a set of instructions (written in form

of human-readable code) that performs a specific
task.
Software Engineering

• Software Engineering is am engineering discipline that’s

applied to the development of software in a systematic
approach (called a software process)

• It is the application of theories, methods, and tool to design

build a software that meets the specifications efficiently, cost-
effectively, and ensuring quality.

• It’s not only concerned with the technical process of building a

software, it also includes activities to manage the project,
develop tools, methods and theories that support the software
production.
What is Software Engineering? Definition

• “Software Engineering is the application of a systematic,

disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development,
operation, and maintenance of software.” [IEEE’90]

• “Software Engineering is intended to mean the best-practice

processes used to create and/or maintain software, whether for
groups or individuals.” [SEYP]

• “Software Engineering is an act of applying a collection of

techniques, methodologies and tools that help with the
production of a high quality software system, … with a given
budget, before a given deadline, while change occurs.”
` [Textbook]
Software Engineering vs. Computer Science

• Computer science is concerned with theory and fundamentals

(algorithms, programming languages, theories of computing, AI
and hardware design)

• Software engineering is concerned with the practicalities of

developing and delivering useful software (activities).
Software Engineering vs. Computer Science

COMPUTER
CUSTOMER
SCIENCE

Computer Problem
Theories
Functions

SOFTWARE
ENGINEERING

Tools and
Techniques to
Solve Problem
Communication is a critical element
Software Engineering vs. System Engineering

• System engineering is concerned with all aspects of computer-

based systems development including hardware, software and
process engineering.

• Software engineering is part of this process concerned with

developing the software infrastructure, control, applications and
databases in the system.

• System engineers are involved in system specification,

architectural design, integration and deployment.
Problems Behind the “Software Crisis”

• Increased size and complexity of systems

• Cost overruns

• Design bugs after implementation

• Maintenance ripple effect

• Requirements and design needed development tools, not just

in the programming tools
 Why Software Engineering?
• Research from Standish Group Data on 9236 development projects
completed in 2004.
9 software projects totaling $96.7 million: Where The Money Went
[Report to Congress, Comptroller General]

Delivered, but never

successfully used
45%

Used as delivered
2%
Usable w. rework
Paid for, but
3% not delivered
Used w. extensive rework, 30%
but later abandoned
20%
 Abandoned or Cancelled Projects

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Weapons Against Software Crisis

• Improving software engineering methodologies

• High-level languages and tools that encourage and enforce

these principles
Software Engineering Definition

The software crisis yielded yet another definition of software

engineering:

•Discipline whose aim is the production of fault-free software,

delivered on time and within budget, that satisfies the client’s
needs.
Costs of Software Engineering

• Software costs dominate computer systems costs.

– Roughly 60% of costs are development costs, 40% are testing
costs. For custom software, evolution costs often exceed
development costs.

• Software maintenance costs are more than software

development costs.

– For systems with a long life the maintenance may be

several times the development costs. And often even
bad software has a long life.
What is Software Engineering?

• A problem solving activity

• A modeling activity

• A knowledge-acquisition activity

• A rationale-driven activity

Elaboration
SE: A Problem Solving Activity

• Analysis: Understand the nature of the problem and break the

problem into pieces
• Synthesis: Solve them and put the solutions together to solve the
original problem

• For problem solving we use

• Techniques (methods):
• Formal procedures for producing results using some well-
defined notation
• Methodologies:
• Collection of techniques applied across software
development and unified by a philosophical approach
• Tools:
• Instrument or automated systems to accomplish a
technique
Difference from Other Engineering Disciplines

• The end product is abstract, not a concrete object like a

bridge
• Costs are almost all human
• Easy to fix bugs, but hard to test and validate
• Software typically never wears out...but the hardware/OS
platforms it runs on do
• Variations in application domain are open-ended, may require
extensive new non-software, non-engineering knowledge for
each project
• Changes occur in application and solution domains while the
problem is being solved (Software Evolution)
Difference from Other Engineering Disciplines

• Software Engineering is a collection of techniques,

methodologies and tools that help with the production of

• a high quality software system

• with a given budget
• before a given deadline

• while change occurs.

Scientist vs Engineer

♦ Computer Scientist
 Proves theorems about algorithms, designs languages, defines
knowledge representation schemes
 Has infinite time…
♦ Engineer
 Develops a solution for an application-specific problem for a client
 Uses computers & languages, tools, techniques and methods
♦ Software Engineer
 Works in multiple application domains
 Has only 3 months...
 …while changes occurs in requirements and available technology
Software Engineering Concepts

An Example – TicketDistributor

TicketDistributor is a machine that issues tickets for trains.

Travelers have the option of selecting a ticket for a single trip or
for multiple trips, or selecting a time card for a day or a week. The
machine computes the price of the requested ticket based on the
area in which the trip will take place and whether the traveler is a
child or an adult. The TicketDistributor must be able to handle
several exceptions, such as traveler who do not complete the
transaction, travelers who attempt to pay large bills, and resource
outages such as running out of tickets, change, or power.
Software Engineering Concepts

ROLES RESPONSIBILTIES EXAMPLE

Client Requirements, Scope, Constraints like Train Company
budget, schedule
User Domain Knowledge, use of the system Traveler
Project Managing the project, estimation, Alice (Boss)
Manager planning, scheduling and tracking,
hiring people, reporting
Human Factor Ensure Usability Zoe (HCI Specialist)
Specialist
Developer Various roles in software development John (Analyst),
Marc (Programmer),
Zoe (Tester)
Technical Documentation delivered to the John
Writer client that include SRS, User manual

Example of roles in software development for TicketDistributor project

Software Engineering Concepts

WORK PRODUCT TYPE DESCRIPTION

Specification (SRS) Deliverable Contractual document
between client and
development organization
Operation Manual Deliverable Installation and
configuration instructions
Status Report Internal Work Product Reports about tasks that
are completed or in
progress for the people in
the hierarchy
Test Report Internal Work Product Test plans, test procedure,
test cases and results
Release Report Deliverable Delivered functionality,
resolved and unresolved
issues
Example of work products in software development for TicketDistributor project
Software Development - Engineering Activities
A phased development (Process-oriented)
Requirements Specification
• Functional and Non-Functional Req. (Testable)
• Additional Constraints
• Interfaces to other systems including UI
RUP
Analysis Modeling
• Use cases
• Interaction Models
• Object Model (Problem Domain) XP
Design
• System Design
• Object Design
Construction (Coding) SCRUM
Testing
• At Different levels – Unit, Integration, System, User
• Regression Testing
• Specialized Testing like performance, security, load, Stress testing
Operation and Maintenance
• Deployment
• Change Management
Software Engineering Dimensions
S/W Characteristics (Boehm's)

1. Finding and fixing a software problem after delivery of the

product is 100 times more expensive than defect removal
during requirements and early design phases.

2. Nominal software development schedules can be compressed

up to 25% (by adding people, money, etc.) but no more.

3. Maintenance costs twice what development costs.

4. Development and maintenance costs are primarily a function

of size, e.g. the number of source lines of code, in the
product.

5. Variations in humans account for the greatest variations in

productivity.
S/W Characteristics (Boehm's Top 10)

6. The ratio of software to hardware costs went from 15:85 in

1955 to 85:15 in 1985 and continues to grow in favor of
software as the dominant cost.

7. Only about 15% of the development effort is in coding.

8. Walk-throughs catch 60% of the errors.

What are the attributes of good software?

• The software should deliver the required functionality and

performance to the user and should be maintainable,
dependable and acceptable.
• Maintainability
– Software must evolve to meet changing needs;
• Dependability
– Software must be trustworthy;
• Efficiency
– Software should not make wasteful use of system resources;
• Acceptability
– Software must accepted by the users for which it was
designed. This means it must be understandable, usable and
compatible with other systems.
What are the attributes of good software?

• From the Users Perspective

– Correctness
– Reliability
– Efficiency
– Maintainability
– Usability
– Robustness
• From the Developers Perspective
– Consistency
– Understandability
– Testability
– Compactness
– Compatibility
– Integrity
Questions??

Next Lectures…
SDLC, Software process, Software
process models, CMM
Other Processes