L1 - Introduction

COMP3297 by Leo Yeung L1 - Introduction 1

Topics covered

 Professional software development

▪ What is meant by software engineering?
 Software engineering ethics
▪ A brief introduction to ethical issues that affect software
engineering.

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Software engineering

 The economies of ALL developed nations are dependent

on software.
 More and more systems are software controlled
 Software engineering is concerned with theories,
methods and tools for professional software
development.

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Think-Pair-Share

 Can we use the same method and tool to develop i) an

information system, ii) a controller, and iii) a game? Why?

Information system Controller Game

Think Individually → Discuss with Groupmates → Share in Class

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Software costs

 Software costs often dominate computer system costs.

The costs of software on a PC are often greater than
the hardware cost.
 Software costs more to maintain than it does to develop.
For systems with a long life, maintenance costs may
be several times development costs.
 Software engineering is concerned with cost-effective
software development.

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Software project failure

 Increasing system complexity

▪ New SE techniques help us to build
larger and more complex systems,
and delivered more quickly
 Failure to use software
engineering methods
▪ It is fairly easy to write computer
programs without using SE
methods and techniques
▪ Consequently, their software is often
more expensive and less reliable
than it should be.

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 Professional software development

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Real examples - UnaGPT on Una Platform: AI Auto
Grading and Feedback System

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Associated documentation of Una Platform

 For example, the user guides of Una Platform are created

by WordPress (https://una.study/help-center/)

User view of a document WordPress’s editor view

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Professional software engineers create good software

What is software?
▪ Computer programs and associated
documentation
▪ may be developed for a particular customer or a
general market
What are the attributes of good software?
▪ should deliver the required functionality and
performance to the user and should be
maintainable, dependable and usable.

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Essential attributes of good software

Product characteristic Description

Maintainability Software should be written in such a way so that it can evolve
to meet the changing needs of customers. This is a critical
attribute because software change is an inevitable
requirement of a changing business environment.
Dependability and Software dependability includes a range of characteristics
security including reliability, security and safety. Dependable software
should not cause physical or economic damage in the event of
system failure. Malicious users should not be able to access or
damage the system.
Efficiency Software should not make wasteful use of system resources
such as memory and processor cycles. Efficiency therefore
includes responsiveness, processing time, memory
utilisation, etc.
Acceptability Software must be acceptable to the type of users for which it is
designed. This means that it must be understandable, usable
and compatible with other systems that they use.

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Software products

 Generic products
▪ Stand-alone systems that are marketed and sold to any
customer who wishes to buy them.
▪ Examples – PC software such as graphics programs, project
management tools; CAD software; software for specific markets
such as appointments systems for dentists.
 Customized products
▪ Software that is commissioned by a specific customer to
meet their own needs.
▪ Examples – embedded control systems, air traffic control
software, traffic monitoring systems.

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Product specification

 Product specification is the

specification of what the
software should do
e.g. Una Platform: Real-time
 Generic products are owned by interactive AI education platform

the software developers

 Customized products are owned
by the customer
 Decisions on software change e.g. Making Smart Choices 2:
are made by the owners. Sexuality Education
Experiential Learning Game

Question: What if an accident happens?

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Software engineering

 Definition of SE:
▪ “Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is
concerned with all aspects of software production from the
early stages of system specification through to maintaining the
system after it has gone into use.”
 Engineering discipline
▪ Using appropriate theories and methods to solve problems
bearing in mind organizational and financial constraints.
 All aspects of software production
▪ Not just technical process of development. Also project
management and the development of tools, methods etc. to
support software production.

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Importance of software engineering

 More and more, individuals and society rely on advanced

software systems. We need to be able to produce
reliable and trustworthy systems economically and
quickly.
 It is usually cheaper, in the long run, to use software
engineering methods and techniques for software
systems rather than just write the programs as if it was a
personal programming project.

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Software process activities

1. Software specification, where customers and

engineers define the software that is to be produced
and the constraints on its operation.
2. Software development, where the software is designed
and programmed.
3. Software validation, where the software is checked to
ensure that it is what the customer requires.
4. Software evolution, where the software is modified to
reflect changing customer and market requirements.

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General issues that affect software

 Heterogeneity Example: Una Platform for AI

Education does not support mobile
version, due to the requirement of a
large screen size for blocks coding

 Business and
Example: Web browser does not
social change support Flash game anymore, thus we
revamp the games to HTML5 version.

 Security and trust

Hackers? AI?

 Scale
Global Community?

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Software engineering diversity

 There are many different types of software system and

there is no universal set of software techniques that is
applicable to all of these.
 The software engineering methods and tools used
depend on:
▪ the type of application being developed
▪ the requirements of the customer and
▪ the background of the development team

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Application types (1)

 Stand-alone applications
▪ run on a local computer without connecting to a network
 Interactive transaction-based applications
▪ execute on a remote computer and accessed by users from their
own PCs.
 Embedded control systems
▪ control and manage hardware devices.
 Batch processing systems
▪ process data in large batches.

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Application types (2)

 Entertainment systems
▪ primarily for personal use and intended to entertain the user
 Systems for modelling and simulation
▪ model physical processes or situations, which include many,
separate, interacting objects.
 Data collection systems
▪ collect data from their environment using a set of sensors and
send that data to other systems for processing.
 Systems of systems
▪ composed of a number of other software systems.

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Software engineering fundamentals

 Some fundamental principles apply to all types of

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

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 Software engineering ethics

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Software engineering ethics

 Software engineering involves wider responsibilities

than simply the application of technical skills.
 Software engineers must behave in an honest and
ethically responsible way if they are to be respected as
professionals.
 Ethical behaviour is more than simply upholding the
law but involves following a set of principles that are
morally correct.

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Issues of professional responsibility

 Confidentiality
▪ Engineers should normally respect the
confidentiality of their employers or clients
irrespective of whether or not a formal
confidentiality agreement has been signed.
 Competence
▪ Engineers should NOT misrepresent their
level of competence.
▪ They should not knowingly accept work which is
outwith their competence.

VR or METAVERSE?

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Issues of professional responsibility

 Intellectual Property (IP) rights

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

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Key points

 Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is concerned

with all aspects of software production.
 Essential software product attributes are maintainability,
dependability and security, efficiency and acceptability.
 There are many different types of system and each requires
appropriate software engineering tools and techniques for their
development.
 The fundamental ideas of software engineering are applicable to all
types of software system.
 Software engineers have responsibilities to the engineering
profession and society. They should not simply be concerned with
technical issues.

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