Unit 2
Unit 2
Theoldwayandthenew:TheprinciplesofconventionalsoftwareEngineering,principlesofmodern
software management, transitioning to an iterative process.
Life cycle phases: Engineering and production stages, inception, Elaboration, construction,
transition phases.
Artifacts of the process: The artifact sets, Management artifacts, Engineering artifacts,
programmatic artifacts.
Table 4-1 maps top 10 risks of the conventional process to the key attributes and principles of a
modern process
TRANSITIONING TO AN ITERATIVE PROCESS
Modern software development processes have moved away from the conventional waterfall
model, in which each stage of the development process is dependent on completion of the
previous stage.
The economic benefits inherent in transitioning from the conventional waterfall model to an
iterative development process are significant but difficult to quantify. As one benchmark of the
expected economic impact of process improvement, consider the process exponent parameters
of the COCOMO II model. (Appendix B provides more detail on the COCOMO model) This
exponent can range from 1.01 (virtually no diseconomy of scale) to 1.26 (significant
diseconomy of scale). The parameters that govern the value of the process exponent are
application precedentedness, process flexibility, architecture risk resolution, team cohesion, and
software process maturity.
The following paragraphs map the process exponent parameters of COCOMO II to mytop10
principles of a modern process.
Explain briefly Waterfall model. Also explain Conventional s/w management performance?
1.
Define Software Economics. Also explain Pragmatic s/w cost estimation?
2.
4. Explain five staffing principal offered by Boehm. Also explain Peer Inspections?
Explain principles of conventional software engineering?
5..
Explain briefly principles of modern software management
6.
LIFECYCLE PHASES
Characteristic of a successful software development process is the well-defined separation
between "research and development" activities and "production" activities. Most unsuccessful
projects exhibit one of the following characteristics:
An overemphasis on research and development
An overemphasis on production.
Successful modern projects-and even successful projects developed under the conventional
process-tend to have a very well-defined project milestone when there is a noticeable transition
from a research attitude to a production attitude. Earlier phases focus on achieving functionality.
Later phases revolve around achieving a product that can be shipped to a customer, with explicit
attention to robustness, performance, and finish.
Amodernsoftwaredevelopmentprocessmustbedefinedtosupportthefollowing:
Evolution of the plans, requirements, and architecture, together with well
defined synchronization points
Risk management and objective measures of progress and quality
Evolutionofsystemcapabilitiesthroughdemonstrationsofincreasingfunctionality
ENGINEERINGANDPRODUCTIONSTAGES
To achieve economies of scale and higher returns on investment, we must move toward a
software manufacturing process driven by technological improvements in process automation
and component-based development. Two stages of the life cycle are:
1. The engineering stage, driven by less predictable but smaller teams doing
design and synthesis activities
2. The production stage, driven by more predictable but larger teams doing
construction, test, and deployment activities
The transition between engineering and production is a crucial event for the various
stakeholders. The production plan has been agreed upon, and there is a good enough
understanding of the problem and the solution that all stakeholders can make a firm
commitment to go ahead with production.
Engineeringstageisdecomposedintotwodistinctphases,inceptionandelaboration,andtheproduction
stage into construction and transition. These four phases of the life-cycle process are loosely
mapped to the conceptual framework of the spiral model as shown in Figure 5-1
INCEPTIONPHASE
The overriding goal of the inception phase is to achieve concurrence among stakeholders on the
life-cycle objectives for the project.
PRIMARYOBJECTIVES
Establishing the project's software scope and boundary conditions, including an
operational concept, acceptance criteria, and a clear understanding of what is and is not
intended to be in the product
Discriminating the critical use cases of the system and the primary scenarios of
operation that will drive the major design trade-offs
Demonstratingatleastonecandidatearchitectureagainstsomeoftheprimary scenanos
Estimating the cost and schedule for the entire project (including
detailed estimates for the elaboration phase)
Estimating potential risks(sources of unpredictability)
ESSENTIALACTMTIES
Formulating the scope of the project. The information repository should be
sufficient to define the problem space and derive the acceptance criteria for the end
product.
Synthesizing the architecture. An information repository is created that is
sufficient to demonstrate the feasibility of at least one candidate architecture and an, initial
baseline of make/buy decisions so that the cost, schedule, and resource estimates can be
derived.
Planning and preparing a business case. Alternatives for risk management,
staffing, iteration plans, and cost/schedule/profitability trade-offs are evaluated.
PRIMARYEVALUATIONCRITERIA
Do all stakeholders concur on the scope definition and cost and schedule estimates?
Are requirements understood, as evidenced by the fidelity of the critical use cases?
Are the cost and schedule estimates, priorities, risks, and development processes
credible?
Do the depth and breadth of an architecture prototype demonstrate the preceding
criteria? (The primary value of prototyping candidate architecture is to provide a vehicle
for understanding the scope and assessing the credibility of the development group in
solving the particular technical problem.)
Are actual resource expenditures versus planned expenditures acceptable
ELABORATIONPHASE
At the end of this phase, the "engineering" is considered complete. The elaboration phase
activities must ensure that the architecture, requirements, and plans are stable enough, and the
risks sufficiently mitigated, that the cost and schedule for the completion of the development
can be predicted with in an acceptable range. During the elaboration phase, an executable
architecture prototype is built in one or more iterations, depending on the scope, size, & risk.
PRIMARYOBJECTIVES
Base lining the architecture as rapidly as practical (establishing a configuration-
managed snapshot in which all changes are rationalized, tracked, and maintained)
Base lining the vision
Base lining a high-fidelity plan for the construction phase
Demonstrating that the baseline architecture will support the vision at a reasonable
cost in a reasonable time
ESSENTIALACTIVITIES
Elaborating the vision.
Elaborating the process and infrastructure.
Elaborating the architecture and selecting components.
PRIMARYEVALUATIONCRITERIA
Is the vision stable?
Is the architectures table?
Does the executable demonstration show that the major risk elements have been
addressed and credibly resolved?
Is the construction phase plan of sufficient fidelity, and is it backed up with a credible
basis of estimate?
Do all stake holders agree that the current vision can be met if the current plan is
executed to develop the complete system in the context of the current architecture?
Are actual resource expenditures versus planned expenditures acceptable?
CONSTRUCTIONPHASE
During the construction phase, all remaining components and application features are integrated into the
application, and all features are thoroughly tested. Newly developed software is integrated where required.
The construction phase represents a production process, in which emphasis is placed on managing resources
and controlling operations to optimize costs, schedules, and quality.
PRIMARYOBJECTIVES
Minimizing development costs by optimizing resources and avoiding
unnecessary scrap and rework
Achieving adequate quality as rapidly as practical
Achieving useful versions (alpha, beta, and other test releases) as rapidly as practical
ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES
Resource management, control, and process optimization
Complete component development and testing against evaluation criteria
Assessment of product releases against acceptance criteria of the vision
PRIMARYEVALUATIONCRITERIA
Is this product baseline mature enough to be deployed in the user community?
(Existing defects are not obstacles to achieving the purpose of the next release.)
Is this product baseline stable enough to be deployed in the user community?
(Pending changes are not obstacles to achieving the purpose of the next release.)
Are the stakeholders ready for transition to the user community?
Are actual resource expenditures versus planned expenditures acceptable?
TRANSITIONPHASE
The transition phase is entered when a base line is mature enough to be deployed in the end-user
domain. This typically requires that a usable subset of the system has been achieved with
acceptable quality levels and user documentation so that transition to the user will provide
positive results. This phase could include any of the following activities:
PRIMARYOBJECTIVES
Achieving user self-supportability
Achieving stakeholder concurrence that deployment baselines are complete and
consistent with the evaluation criteria of the vision
Achieving final product base lines as rapidly and cost-effectively as practical
ESSENTIALACTIVITIES
Synchronization and integration of concurrent construction increments into
consistent deployment baselines
Deployment-specific engineering (cutover, commercial packaging and
production, sales rollout kit development, field personnel training)
Assessment of deployment baselines against the complete vision and
acceptance criteria in the requirements set
EVALUATIONCRITERIA
Is the user satisfied?
Are actual resource expenditures versus planned expenditures acceptable?
Requirements Set
Requirements artifacts are evaluated, assessed, and measured through a combination of the
following:
Design Set
UML notation is used to engineer the design models for the solution. The design set contains
varying levels of abstraction that represent the components of the solution space (their
identities, attributes, static relationships, dynamic interactions). The design set is evaluated,
assessed, and measured through a combination of the following:
Analysis of the internal consistency and quality of the design model
Analysis of consistency with the requirements models
Translation into implementation and deployment sets and notations (for example,
traceability, source code generation, compilation, linking) to evaluate the consistency and
completeness and the semantic balance between information in the sets
Analysis of changes between the current version of the design model and
previous versions (scrap, rework, and defect elimination trends)
Subjective review of other dimensions of quality
Implementation set
The implementation set includes source code (programming language notations) that represents
the tangible implementations of components (their form, interface, and dependency relationships)
implementation sets are human-readable formats that are evaluated, assessed, and measured
through a combination of the following:
Analysis of consistency with the design models
Translation into deployment set notations (for example, compilation and linking) to
evaluate the consistency and completeness among artifact sets
Assessment of component source or executable files against relevant evaluation criteria
through inspection, analysis, demonstration, or testing
Execution of stand-alone component test cases that automatically compare expected
results with actual results
Analysis of changes between the current version of the implementation set and previous
versions (scrap, rework, and defect elimination trends)
Subjective review of other dimensions of quality
Deployment Set
The deployment set includes user deliverables and machine language notations, executable
software, and the
build scripts, installation scripts, and executable target specific data necessary to use the product
in its target
environment.
Deployment sets are evaluated, assessed, and measured through a combination of the following:
Testing against the usage scenarios and quality attributes defined in the requirements set
to evaluate the consistency and completeness and the~ semantic balance between information in
the two sets
Testing the partitioning, replication, and allocation strategies in mapping components of
the implementation set to physical resources of the deployment system (platform type, number,
network topology)
Testing against the defined usage scenarios in the user manual such as installation, user-
orient dynamic reconfiguration, mainstream usage, and anomaly management
Analysis of changes between the current version of the deployment set and previous versions
(defect elimination trends, performance changes)
Subjective review of other dimensions of quality
Each artifact set is the predominant development focus of one phase of the life cycle; the other
sets take on check and balance roles. As illustrated in Figure 6-2, each phase has a predominant
focus: Requirements are the focus of the inception phase; design, the elaboration phase;
implementation, the construction phase; and deployment, the transition phase. The management
artifacts also evolve, butat a fairly constant level across the life cycle.
Most of today's software development tools map closely to one of the five artifact sets.
1. Management: scheduling, workflow, defect tracking, change management,
documentation, spreadsheet, resource management, and presentation tools
2. Requirements: requirements management tools
3. Design: visual modeling tools
4. Implementation: compiler/debugger tools, code analysis tools, test coverage analysis tools, and
test
management tools
5. Deployment: test coverage and test automation tools, network management tools, commercial
components (operating systems, GUIs, RDBMS, networks, middleware), and installation tools.
The inception phase focuses mainly on critical requirements usually with a secondary focus on
an initial deployment view. During the elaboration phase, there is much greater depth in
requirements, much more breadth in the design set, and further work on implementation and
deployment issues. The main focus of the construction phase is design and implementation.
The main focus of the transition phase is on achieving consistency and completeness of the
deployment set in the context of the other sets.
MANAGEMENTARTIFACTS
Themanagementsetincludesseveralartifactsthatcaptureintermediateresultsandancillary
information necessary to document the product/process legacy, maintain the product,
improve the product, and improve the process.
Business Case
The business case artifact provides all the information necessary to determine whether the
project is worth investing in. It details the expected revenue, expected cost, technical and
management plans, and backup data necessary to demonstrate the risks and realism of the
plans. The main purpose is to transform the vision into economic terms so that an
organization can make an accurate ROI assessment. The financial forecasts are
evolutionary, updated with more accurate forecasts as the life cycle progresses. Figure 6-4
provides a default outline for a business case.
Release Specifications
The scope, plan, and objective evaluation criteria for each baseline release are derived from the
vision statement as well as many other sources (make/buy analyses, risk management concerns,
architectural considerations, shots in the dark, implementation constraints, quality thresholds).
These artifacts are intended to evolve along with the process, achieving greater fidelity as the
life cycle progresses and requirements understanding matures. Figure 6-6 provides a default
outline for a release specification
Release Descriptions
Releasedescriptiondocumentsdescribetheresultsofeachrelease,includingperformanceagainsteach
of
theevaluationcriteriainthecorrespondingreleasespecification.Releasebaselinesshouldbeaccompan
ied by a release description document that describes the evaluation criteria for that configuration
baseline and provides substantiation (through demonstration, testing, inspection, or analysis)
that each criterion has been addressed in an acceptable manner. Figure 6-7 provides a default
outline for a release description.
Status Assessments
Status assessments provide periodic snapshots of project health and status, including the
software project manager's risk assessment, quality indicators, and management indicators.
Typical status assessments should include a review of resources, personnel staffing, financial
data (cost and revenue), top 10 risks, technical progress (metrics snapshots), major milestone
plans and results, total project or product scope & action items
Environment
An important emphasis of a modern approach is to define the development and maintenance
environment as a first-class artifact of the process. A robust, integrated development environment
must support automation of the development process. This environment should include requirements
management, visual modeling, document automation, host and target programming tools, automated
regression testing, and continuous and integrated change management, and feature and defect
tracking.
Deployment
A deployment document can take many forms. Depending on the project, it could include several
document subsets for transitioning the product into operational status. In big contractual efforts in
which the system is delivered to a separate maintenance organization, deployment artifacts may
include computer system operations manuals, software installation manuals, plans and procedures for
cutover (from a legacy system), site surveys, and so forth. For commercial software products,
deployment artifacts may include marketing plans, sales rollout kits, and training courses.
Management Artifact Sequences
In each phase of the life cycle, new artifacts are produced and previously developed artifacts are
updated to incorporate lessons learned and to capture further depth and breadth of the solution. Figure
6-8 identifies a typical sequence of artifacts across the life-cycle phases.
6.3 ENGINEERING ARTIFACTS
Most of the engineering artifacts are captured in rigorous engineering notations such as UML, programming
languages, or executable machine codes. Three engineering artifacts are explicitly intended for more general
review, and they deserve further elaboration.
Vision Document
The vision document provides a complete vision for the software system under development and. Supports the
contract between the funding authority and the development organization. A project vision is meant to be
changeable as understanding evolves of the requirements, architecture, plans, and technology. A good vision
document should change slowly. Figure 6-9 provides a default outline for a vision document.
Architecture Description
The architecture description provides an organized view of the software architecture under
development. It is extracted largely from the design model and includes views of the design,
implementation, and deployment sets sufficient to understand how the operational concept of
the requirements set will be achieved. The breadth of the architecture description will vary from
project to project depending on many factors. Figure 6-10 provides a default outline for an
architecture description.
The software user manual provides the user with the reference documentation necessary to support the
delivered software. Although content is highly variable across application domains, the user manual
should include installation procedures, usage procedures and guidance, operational constraints, and a
user interface description, at a minimum. For software products with a user interface, this manual
should be developed early in the life cycle because it is a necessary mechanism for communicating
and stabilizing an important subset of requirements. The user manual should be written by members
of the test team, who are more likely to understand the user's perspective than the development team.
6.4 PRAGMATIC ARTIFACTS
People want to review information but don't understand the language of the artifact.
Many interested reviewers of a particular artifact will resist having to learn the engineering language
in which the artifact is written. It is not uncommon to find people (such as veteran software managers,
veteran quality assurance specialists, or an auditing authority from a regulatory agency) who react as
follows: "I'm not going to learn UML, but I want to review the design of this software, so give me a
separate description such as some flowcharts and text that I can understand."
People want to review the information but don't have access to the tools. It is not very
common for the development organization to be fully tooled; it is extremely rare that the/other
stakeholders have any capability to review the engineering artifacts on-line. Consequently,
organizations are forced to exchange paper documents. Standardized formats (such as UML,
spreadsheets, Visual Basic, C++, and Ada 95), visualization tools, and the Web are rapidly making it
economically feasible for all stakeholders to exchange information electronically.
Human-readable engineering artifacts should use rigorous notations that are complete,
consistent, and used in a self-documenting manner. Properly spelled English words should be used
for all identifiers and descriptions. Acronyms and abbreviations should be used only where they are
well accepted jargon in the context of the component's usage. Readability should be emphasized and
the use of proper English words should be required in all engineering artifacts. This practice enables
understandable representations, browse able formats (paperless review), more-rigorous notations, and
reduced error rates.
Useful documentation is self-defining: It is documentation that gets used.
Paper is tangible; electronic artifacts are too easy to change. On-line and Web-based
artifacts can be changed easily and are viewed with more skepticism because of their inherent
volatility.