Requirements Engineering is the process of identifying, eliciting, analyzing, specifying, validating,

and managing the needs and expectations of stakeholders for a software system.
What is Requirements Engineering?
A systematic and strict approach to the definition, creation, and verification of requirements for a
software system is known as requirements engineering. To guarantee the effective creation of a
software product, the requirements engineering process entails several tasks that help in understanding,
recording, and managing the demands of stakeholders.
Requirements Engineering Process

Requirements Engineering Process

1. Feasibility Study
2. Requirements elicitation
3. Requirements specification
4. Requirements for verification and validation
5. Requirements management
1. Feasibility Study
The feasibility study mainly concentrates on below three mentioned areas below. Among these
Economic Feasibility Study is the most important part of the feasibility analysis and the Legal
Feasibility Study is less considered feasibility analysis.
1. Technical Feasibility: In Technical Feasibility current resources both hardware software
along required technology are analyzed/assessed to develop the project. This technical
feasibility study reports whether there are correct required resources and technologies that
will be used for project development. Along with this, the feasibility study also analyzes the
technical skills and capabilities of the technical team, whether existing technology can be
used or not, whether maintenance and up-gradation are easy or not for the chosen
technology, etc.
2. Operational Feasibility: In Operational Feasibility degree of providing service to
requirements is analyzed along with how easy the product will be to operate and maintain
after deployment. Along with this other operational scopes are determining the usability of
the product, Determining suggested solution by the software development team is acceptable
or not, etc.
3. Economic Feasibility: In the Economic Feasibility study cost and benefit of the project are
analyzed. This means under this feasibility study a detailed analysis is carried out will be
cost of the project for development which includes all required costs for final development
hardware and software resources required, design and development costs operational costs,
and so on. After that, it is analyzed whether the project will be beneficial in terms of finance
for the organization or not.
2. Requirements Elicitation
It is related to the various ways used to gain knowledge about the project domain and requirements.
The various sources of domain knowledge include customers, business manuals, the existing software
of the same type, standards, and other stakeholders of the project. The techniques used for requirements
elicitation include interviews, brainstorming, task analysis, Delphi technique, prototyping, etc. Some of
these are discussed here. Elicitation does not produce formal models of the requirements understood.
Instead, it widens the domain knowledge of the analyst and thus helps in providing input to the next
stage.
Requirements elicitation is the process of gathering information about the needs and expectations of
stakeholders for a software system. This is the first step in the requirements engineering process and it
is critical to the success of the software development project. The goal of this step is to understand the
problem that the software system is intended to solve and the needs and expectations of the
stakeholders who will use the system.
Several techniques can be used to elicit requirements, including:
 Interviews: These are one-on-one conversations with stakeholders to gather information
about their needs and expectations.
 Surveys: These are questionnaires that are distributed to stakeholders to gather information
about their needs and expectations.
 Focus Groups: These are small groups of stakeholders who are brought together to discuss
their needs and expectations for the software system.
 Observation: This technique involves observing the stakeholders in their work environment
to gather information about their needs and expectations.
 Prototyping: This technique involves creating a working model of the software system,
which can be used to gather feedback from stakeholders and to validate requirements.
It’s important to document, organize, and prioritize the requirements obtained from all these techniques
to ensure that they are complete, consistent, and accurate.
3. Requirements Specification
This activity is used to produce formal software requirement models. All the requirements including the
functional as well as the non-functional requirements and the constraints are specified by these models
in totality. During specification, more knowledge about the problem may be required which can again
trigger the elicitation process. The models used at this stage include ER diagrams, data flow
diagrams(DFDs), function decomposition diagrams(FDDs), data dictionaries, etc.
Requirements specification is the process of documenting the requirements identified in the analysis
step in a clear, consistent, and unambiguous manner. This step also involves prioritizing and grouping
the requirements into manageable chunks.
The goal of this step is to create a clear and comprehensive document that describes the requirements
for the software system. This document should be understandable by both the development team and
the stakeholders.
Several types of requirements are commonly specified in this step, including
1. Functional Requirements: These describe what the software system should do. They
specify the functionality that the system must provide, such as input validation, data storage,
and user interface.
2. Non-Functional Requirements : These describe how well the software system should do it.
They specify the quality attributes of the system, such as performance, reliability, usability,
and security.
3. Constraints: These describe any limitations or restrictions that must be considered when
developing the software system.
4. Acceptance Criteria: These describe the conditions that must be met for the software
system to be considered complete and ready for release.
To make the requirements specification clear, the requirements should be written in a natural language
and use simple terms, avoiding technical jargon, and using a consistent format throughout the
document. It is also important to use diagrams, models, and other visual aids to help communicate the
requirements effectively.
Once the requirements are specified, they must be reviewed and validated by the stakeholders and
development team to ensure that they are complete, consistent, and accurate.
4. Requirements Verification and Validation
Verification: It refers to the set of tasks that ensures that the software correctly implements a specific
function.
Validation: It refers to a different set of tasks that ensures that the software that has been built is
traceable to customer requirements. If requirements are not validated, errors in the requirement
definitions would propagate to the successive stages resulting in a lot of modification and rework. The
main steps for this process include:
1. The requirements should be consistent with all the other requirements i.e. no two
requirements should conflict with each other.
2. The requirements should be complete in every sense.
3. The requirements should be practically achievable.
Reviews, buddy checks, making test cases, etc. are some of the methods used for this.
Requirements verification and validation (V&V) is the process of checking that the requirements for a
software system are complete, consistent, and accurate and that they meet the needs and expectations of
the stakeholders. The goal of V&V is to ensure that the software system being developed meets the
requirements and that it is developed on time, within budget, and to the required quality.
1. Verification is checking that the requirements are complete, consistent, and accurate. It
involves reviewing the requirements to ensure that they are clear, testable, and free of errors
and inconsistencies. This can include reviewing the requirements document, models, and
diagrams, and holding meetings and walkthroughs with stakeholders.
2. Validation is the process of checking that the requirements meet the needs and expectations
of the stakeholders. It involves testing the requirements to ensure that they are valid and that
the software system being developed will meet the needs of the stakeholders. This can
include testing the software system through simulation, testing with prototypes, and testing
with the final version of the software.
3. Verification and Validation is an iterative process that occurs throughout the software
development life cycle. It is important to involve stakeholders and the development team in
the V&V process to ensure that the requirements are thoroughly reviewed and tested.
It’s important to note that V&V is not a one-time process, but it should be integrated and continue
throughout the software development process and even in the maintenance stage.
5. Requirements Management
Requirement management is the process of analyzing, documenting, tracking, prioritizing, and agreeing
on the requirement and controlling the communication with relevant stakeholders. This stage takes care
of the changing nature of requirements. It should be ensured that the SRS is as modifiable as possible
to incorporate changes in requirements specified by the end users at later stages too. Modifying the
software as per requirements in a systematic and controlled manner is an extremely important part of
the requirements engineering process.
Requirements management is the process of managing the requirements throughout the software
development life cycle, including tracking and controlling changes, and ensuring that the requirements
are still valid and relevant. The goal of requirements management is to ensure that the software system
being developed meets the needs and expectations of the stakeholders and that it is developed on time,
within budget, and to the required quality.
Several key activities are involved in requirements management, including:
1. Tracking and controlling changes: This involves monitoring and controlling changes to
the requirements throughout the development process, including identifying the source of
the change, assessing the impact of the change, and approving or rejecting the change.
2. Version control: This involves keeping track of different versions of the requirements
document and other related artifacts.
3. Traceability: This involves linking the requirements to other elements of the development
process, such as design, testing, and validation.
4. Communication: This involves ensuring that the requirements are communicated
effectively to all stakeholders and that any changes or issues are addressed promptly.
5. Monitoring and reporting: This involves monitoring the progress of the development
process and reporting on the status of the requirements.
Requirements management is a critical step in the software development life cycle as it helps to ensure
that the software system being developed meets the needs and expectations of stakeholders and that it is
developed on time, within budget, and to the required quality. It also helps to prevent scope creep and
to ensure that the requirements are aligned with the project goals.
Tools Involved in Requirement Engineering
 Observation report
 Questionnaire ( survey, poll )
 Use cases
 User stories
 Requirement workshop
 Mind mapping
 Roleplaying
 Prototyping
Advantages of Requirements Engineering Process
  Helps ensure that the software being developed meets the needs and expectations of the
stakeholders
 Can help identify potential issues or problems early in the development process, allowing
for adjustments to be made before significant
 Helps ensure that the software is developed in a cost-effective and efficient manner
 Can improve communication and collaboration between the development team and
stakeholders
 Helps to ensure that the software system meets the needs of all stakeholders.
 Provides an unambiguous description of the requirements, which helps to reduce
misunderstandings and errors.
 Helps to identify potential conflicts and contradictions in the requirements, which can be
resolved before the software development process begins.
 Helps to ensure that the software system is delivered on time, within budget, and to the
required quality standards.
 Provides a solid foundation for the development process, which helps to reduce the risk of
failure.
Disadvantages of Requirements Engineering Process
 Can be time-consuming and costly, particularly if the requirements-gathering process is not
well-managed
 Can be difficult to ensure that all stakeholders’ needs and expectations are taken into
account
 It Can be challenging to ensure that the requirements are clear, consistent, and complete
 Changes in requirements can lead to delays and increased costs in the development process.
 As a best practice, Requirements engineering should be flexible, adaptable, and should be
aligned with the overall project goals.
 It can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if the requirements are complex.
 It can be difficult to elicit requirements from stakeholders who have different needs and
priorities.
 Requirements may change over time, which can result in delays and additional costs.
 There may be conflicts between stakeholders, which can be difficult to resolve.
 It may be challenging to ensure that all stakeholders understand and agree on the
requirements.
Activities involved in Software Requirement Analysis
Software requirement means requirement that is needed by software to increase quality of software
product. These requirements are generally a type of expectation of user from software product that is
important and need to be fulfilled by software. Analysis means to examine something in an organized
and specific manner to know complete details about it.
Therefore, Software requirement analysis simply means complete study, analyzing, describing
software requirements so that requirements that are genuine and needed can be fulfilled to solve
problem. There are several activities involved in analyzing Software requirements. Some of them are
given below :

1. Problem Recognition :
The main aim of requirement analysis is to fully understand main objective of requirement
that includes why it is needed, does it add value to product, will it be beneficial, does it
increase quality of the project, does it will have any other effect. All these points are fully
recognized in problem recognition so that requirements that are essential can be fulfilled to
solve business problems.

2. Evaluation and Synthesis :

Evaluation means judgement about something whether it is worth or not and synthesis
 means to create or form something. Here are some tasks are given that is important in the
evaluation and synthesis of software requirement :
 To define all functions of software that necessary.
 To define all data objects that are present externally and are easily observable.
 To evaluate that flow of data is worth or not.
 To fully understand overall behavior of system that means overall working of
system.
 To identify and discover constraints that are designed.
 To define and establish character of system interface to fully understand how
system interacts with two or more components or with one another.
3. Modeling :
After complete gathering of information from above tasks, functional and behavioral models
are established after checking function and behavior of system using a domain model that
also known as the conceptual model.

4. Specification :
The software requirement specification (SRS) which means to specify the requirement
whether it is functional or non-functional should be developed.

5. Review :
After developing the SRS, it must be reviewed to check whether it can be improved or not
and must be refined to make it better and increase the quality.

SDLC:
The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) can be broken down into seven distinct phases, each with
its specific tasks and deliverables. These phases ensure a systematic approach to software development,
improving the chances of delivering a high-quality product that meets customer requirements.
Seven Phases of SDLC

1. Planning
2. Requirement Analysis
3. System Design
4. Implementation (Coding)
5. Integration and Testing
6. Deployment
7. Maintenance

Detailed Description of Each Phase

1. Planning
o Objective: Define the project scope and objectives, estimate costs, and plan resources.
o Activities:
 Feasibility study.
 Project plan creation.
 Resource allocation.
 Risk management.
o Output: Project Plan, Feasibility Study Report.
2. Requirement Analysis
o Objective: Gather and analyze the requirements of the system from stakeholders.
o Activities:
  Stakeholder interviews.
 Requirements gathering through techniques like surveys, observations, and
workshops.
 Creating use cases and user stories.
 Documenting requirements.
o Output: Requirements Specification Document (SRS).
3. System Design
o Objective: Design the system architecture and detailed system components.
o Activities:
 High-level design (HLD) and low-level design (LLD).
 Database design.
 User interface design.
 System modeling using UML diagrams.
o Output: System Design Documents, including architecture diagrams, data models, and UI
prototypes.
4. Implementation (Coding)
o Objective: Translate the design into code.
o Activities:
 Coding according to the design specifications.
 Code reviews and walkthroughs.
 Unit testing of individual components.
o Output: Source Code, Unit Test Reports.
5. Integration and Testing
o Objective: Integrate the individual components and test the system to ensure it meets the
requirements.
o Activities:
 Integrating modules.
 System testing, including functional testing, performance testing, and security
testing.
 User acceptance testing (UAT).
 Defect tracking and resolution.
o Output: Test Plans, Test Cases, Test Reports, Defect Logs.
6. Deployment
o Objective: Deploy the system to the production environment for use by end-users.
o Activities:
 Preparing the deployment environment.
 Installing the software.
 Migrating data.
 Conducting user training.
 Preparing deployment documentation.
o Output: Deployed System, User Manuals, Training Materials.
7. Maintenance
o Objective: Provide ongoing support and enhancements to the system after deployment.
o Activities:
 Monitoring system performance.
 Fixing bugs and issues.
 Implementing updates and enhancements.
 Providing user support and training.
o Output: Updated System, Maintenance Reports, Issue Logs.

SDLC Diagram
The steps/phases or activities involved in SDLC are explained below.
#1) Primary Investigation and Feasibility study
Primary investigation which is also termed as preliminary system study is the first stage of system
development life cycle.
During this phase, all the relevant information is collected from the customer to develop a product as per
their expectation. During feasibility study, user determines the overall project scope, including economic,
operational and human factors(technical), identify key personnel, and develop timelines.

#2) Analysis or Requirement Gathering

System Analysis is the process of studying a procedure or business in order to identify its goals and
purposes and create systems and procedures that will achieve them in an efficient way.
Business analyst and Project Manager set up a meeting with the customer to gather all the information
like what the customer wants to build, who will be the end-user, what is the purpose of the product.
Before building a product a core understanding or knowledge of the product is very important.
For Example, A customer wants to have an application which involves money transactions in this case,
the requirement has to be clear like what kind of transactions will be done, how it will be done, in which
currency it will be done, etc
Once the requirement is clearly understood, the SRS (Software Requirement Specification) document is
created. This document should be thoroughly understood by the developers and also should be reviewed
by the customer for future reference.

#3) Design
System design refers to the process of planning for a new system or for replacing the existing system.
In simple words, systems analysis describes what the system should do whereas systems design focuses
on how to achieve the objectives.
In this phase, the requirement gathered in the SRS document is used as an input and software architecture
that is used for implementing system development is derived.
All the technical details such as programming languages and environments, machines, packages,
application architecture, distributed architecture layering. memory size, platform, algorithms, data
structures, global type definitions. interfaces, and many other engineering details are established in this
design phase.
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 of the
software. The system design specifications serve as input for the next phase of the model.
#4) Implementation or Coding
Implementation/Coding starts once the developer gets the Design document. The Software design is
translated into source code. All the components of the software are implemented in this phase.
#5) Testing
Testing starts once the coding is complete and the modules are released for testing. In this phase, the
developed software is tested thoroughly and any defects found are assigned to developers
to get them fixed.
Retesting, regression testing is done until the point at which the software is as per the customer's
expectation. Testers refer SRS document to make sure that the software is as per the customer's standard.
#6) Deployment
Once the product is tested, it is deployed in the production environment or first UAT (User Acceptance
testing) is done depending on the customer expectation.
In the case of UAT, a replica of the production environment is created and the customer along with the
developers does the testing. If the customer finds the application as expected, then sign off is provided by
the customer to go live.
#7) Maintenance
After the software is deployed, then its maintenance begins.
Once when the client starts using the developed systems, then the real issues come up
and requirements to be solved from time to time. This procedure where the care is taken for the
developed product is known as maintenance.

System Evaluation: Evaluation is the final check point of the SDLC, it is nothing but feedback of
system. There are three categories of this evaluation:
(1) Developmental Evaluation: This evaluation verifies the development methods and tools used. Also
the system is developed on time and within budget.
(2) Operational Evaluation: This evaluation mainly focused on Response Time of system, user
friendliness, Reliability of computation and adequacy of storage capacity.
(3) User Management Assessment Evaluation: In this evaluation, check how frequently management
use the system and how far they are satisfied with the system.

3.2.2 Advantages of SDLC

A formally defined method for software development in the form of the SDLC achieves a number of
benefits:
 Defined communication channels between development teams and stakeholders.
 Clear roles and responsibilities among developers, designers, business analysts, and project
managers.
 Clearly-defined inputs and outputs from one step to the next.

Mc Call’s Quality Factor Process

McCall’s Software Quality Model was introduced in 1977. This model is incorporated with many
attributes, termed software factors, which influence software. The model distinguishes between two
levels of quality attributes:
 Quality Factors
 Quality Criteria
Quality Factors: The higher-level quality attributes that can be accessed directly are called quality
factors. These attributes are external. The attributes at this level are given more importance by the users
and managers.
Quality Criteria: The lower or second-level quality attributes that can be accessed either subjectively or
objectively are called Quality Criteria. These attributes are internal. Each quality factor has many second-
level quality attributes or quality criteria.
Example: The usability quality factor is divided into operability, training, communicativeness,
input/output volume, and input/output rate. This model classifies all software requirements into 11
software quality factors. The 11 factors are organized into three product quality factors:
Product Operation, Product Revision, and Product Transition.
Factors of Product Quality Diagram:
Product Operation
Product Operation includes five software quality factors, which are related to the requirements that
directly affect the operation of the software such as operational performance, convenience, ease of usage,
and correctness. These factors help in providing a better user experience.
 Correctness: The extent to which software meets its requirements specification.
 Efficiency: The number of hardware resources and code the software, needs to perform a
function.
 Integrity: The extent to which the software can control an unauthorized person from accessing
the data or software.
 Reliability: The extent to which software performs its intended functions without failure.
 Usability: The extent of effort required to learn, operate, and understand the functions of the
software.
Product Revision
Product Revision includes three software quality factors, which are required for testing and maintenance
of the software. They provide ease of maintenance, flexibility, and testing efforts to support the software
to be functional according to the needs and requirements of the user in the future.
 Maintainability: The effort required to detect and correct an error during maintenance.
 Flexibility: The effort needed to improve an operational software program.
 Testability: The effort required to verify software to ensure that it meets the specified
requirements.
Product Transition
Product Transition includes three software quality factors, that allow the software to adapt to the change
of environments in the new platform or technology from the previous.
 Portability: The effort required to transfer a program from one platform to another.
 Re-usability: The extent to which the program’s code can be reused in other applications.
 Interoperability: The effort required to integrate two systems.

Assignment No. 1

1. What is software? Explain the different types of software.

2. What is software engineering? Why there is need of software engineering?
3. What is software engineering? Enlist different types of software Engineering.
4. Explain the different characteristics of software.
5. Explain the concept
a. Requirement Engineering
b. Requirement Analysis
6. Explain SDLC in details with suitable diagram.
7. Explain McCall’s Quality Factors with suitable diagram.