Lesson 2

Software Engineering Best Practices:

Action in Accord with All the Laws of
Nature

1
 Topics: Principles of Software Engineering
 The inherent challenge of software engineering
 The importance of analysis and design
 Best practices

2
 Software Development Historical Analysis
 No Silver Bullet – Brooks (1986)
 Essential nature of SW engineering vs. the non-essential
 Non-essential -- E.g., syntax of programming languages
 Major advances already made for non-essential aspects
 High level languages, IDEs, Application platforms,
Software and GUI tools, builds, source control, etc.

3
 Essential Difficulties
 Complexity
 Combinatorial complexity of states and processes
 Sheer size
 Interactive, distributed, networked
 Conformity
 Expect software to conform to needs of hardware and
business domains, even if a more "logical" approach would
involve changing these external interfaces

4
 Essential Difficulties (cont)
 Changeability
 Expect to modify incredibly complex systems
 Many pressures to modify software: reality changes,
functionality extensions, easier than hardware, lasts longer
 Invisibility
 Software is abstract compared to to buildings, bridges, …
 Difficult for visual diagrams to capture

5
 Software Development Historical Analysis
• 1994 – W.W. Gibbs, "Software's Chronic Crisis", Scientific American, Sept., 1994
• 25% of large scale SW projects cancelled
• Average delivery is late by 50% (worse for
large scale projects)
• 75% of large scale SW projects – do not
function as intended or are not even used

6
 The Need for a Software Engineering “Process”
1999 - (Jacobson, The Unified Software Development Process, 1999, pp.3-4)

"The software problem boils down to the difficulty developers face in pulling
together the many strands of a large software undertaking. The software
development community needs a controlled way of working. It needs a
process that integrates the many facets of software development. It needs
a common approach, a process that :
Provides guidance to the order of a team's activities.
Directs the tasks of individual developers and the team as a
whole.
Specifies what artifacts should be developed.
Offers criteria for monitoring and measuring a project's products
and activities.
"The presence of a well-defined and well-managed process is a key
discriminator between hyperproductive projects and unsuccessful ones."

7
 Topics: Principles of Software Engineering
 The inherent challenge of software engineering
 The importance of analysis and design
 Best practices

8
 Importance of Maintainability

 2/3 of life-cycle cost is in system maintenance

(for successful projects)
 Only about 5% total costs for coding

2% 5%
6%

5% Requirements
Analysis
7% Design
Coding
8% Testing
Integration
67%
Maintenance

9
 Importance of a Good Start
 Fixing faults is much cheaper earlier in life-cycle than later
 60-70% faults in large projects specification/design faults.
 Good A&D facilitate integration and maintenance
 Greatest potential area for improvement and payback
Cost to Detect & Correct a Fault

400
350
Relative Cost

300
250
200
150
100
50
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10
Increasing Costs to Detect and Correct Faults

11
 Summary Points
 Efficient development of quality software in a timely manner
is inherently difficult
 Two-thirds of all the faults in large scale projects have been
observed to be specification or design faults. Two-thirds of
the life-cycle costs of a software system are incurred during
the maintenance phase.

12
 Topics: Principles of Software Engineering
 The inherent challenge of software engineering
 The importance of analysis and design
 Best practices

13
 Greatest Potential (Brooks)
 Rapid prototyping
 Incremental development
 Develop great designers

14
 Value of OO Techniques
 Widely accepted in the field as supporting good software
engineering principles and practices
 Analysis and design closely integrated with implementation
 Directly addresses 60-70% faults in specs and design
 Objects support greater integrity of software components
 Encapsulate implementation details
 Leads to reusability, extensibility, and maintainability
 Addresses other area of maximum potential payback
(maintenance)

15
Unified Process Delivers Best Practices

Develop Iteratively

Use
Manage Model Verify
Component Visually
Requirements Architectures Quality

Control Changes

16
 Visually Model Software
 Addresses one of Brooks’ “essential” difficulties (inherent
abstractness of software)
 Helps to visualize, specify, construct and document
structure and behavior of a system
 Using a standard modeling language (like UML) helps to
maintain consistency among system’s artifacts and
facilitates communication among team members

K12-13

17
 What Is the UML?
 The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a language for
 Specifying

 Visualizing

 Constructing

 Documenting

the artifacts of a software-intensive system

18
 Inputs to UML

Booch
Rumbaugh Jacobson
Fusion
Meyer
Operation descriptions,
Before and after
Message numbering
conditions

Embley
Harel
Singleton classes,
State charts
High-level view

Gamma, et.al
Wirfs-Brock
Frameworks, patterns,
Responsibilities
notes Shlaer - Mellor Odell

Object Lifecycles Classification

19
 The UML Provides Standardized Diagrams

Models

Use Case Activity Class Object State Sequence Collaboration

Diagrams Diagrams Diagrams Diagrams Diagrams Diagrams Diagrams

Deployment Component
Diagrams Diagrams

20
 Best Practices Address Root Causes
 Visually model software
 Develop software iteratively
 Use component-based architectures
 Manage requirements
 Verify software quality
 Control changes to software

K5-6

21
 What Is a Software Development Process?

A software development process is the set of activities

needed to transform a user’s requirements into a software
system. The process defines Who is doing What, When, as
well as How to reach a certain goal.

User Software Development Software

Requirements Process System

J4
22
 RUP Key Features
 Use case driven
 Iterative and incremental
 Models, workflows, phases, and iterations
 Architecture centric

23
 Rational Unified Process Is Use-Case Driven

Transfer Money An actor is someone or

something outside the
system that interacts
with the system
A Use-Case is a sequence
Customer Check Balance of actions a system
performs that yields an
observable result of
value to a particular
Withdraw Money actor
Use-Cases for an Automated Teller Machine

24
 Use-Cases Include a Flow of Events
Flow of events for the Withdraw Money Use-Case
1. The Use-Case begins when the client inserts an ATM card.
The system reads and validates information on the card.
2. The system prompts for the PIN. Client enters PIN. The
system validates the PIN.
3. The system asks which operation the client wishes to
perform. Client selects “Cash withdrawal.” System requests
amount.
4. Client enters amount. System requests the account type.
5. Client selects account type (checking, savings, credit). The
system communicates with the ATM network . . .

25
 Benefits of a Use-Case Driven Process
 Use-Cases are concise, simple, and understandable by a
wide range of stakeholders
End users, developers and acquirers understand functional
requirements of the system
 Use-Cases drive numerous activities in the process:
Creation and validation of the design model
Definition of test cases and procedures of the test model
Planning of iterations
Creation of user documentation
 Use-Cases help synchronize the content of different models

26
 RUP Key Features
 Use case driven
 Iterative and incremental
 phases, iterations, and workflows
 Architecture-centric

27
 Develop Software Iteratively
 An initial design will likely be flawed with respect to its key
requirements
 Late-phase discovery of design defects results in costly
over-runs and/or project cancellation

28
 Traditional Waterfall Development

Requirements
Analysis

Design

Code & Unit

Testing

Subsystem
Testing

System Testing

T I M E

29
Waterfall Development Delays Reduction of Risk

Requirements
R Analysis
I
Design
S
K Code & Unit
Testing

Subsystem
Testing

System Testing

T I M E

K6-7
30
Apply the Waterfall Iteratively to System Increments

Iteration 1 Iteration 2 Iteration 3

R R R
D D D
C C C
T T T

T I M E

 Earliest iterations address greatest risks

 Each iteration produces an executable release, an additional
increment of the system
 Each iteration includes integration and test

31
Iterative Development Accelerates Risk Reduction

K Iterative Waterfall

Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration

T I M E

32
 Lifecycle Phases

Inception Elaboration Construction Transition

time

The Rational Unified Process has four phases:

 Inception - Define the vision and scope of project
 Elaboration - Plan project, specify features, baseline
architecture
 Construction - Build product
 Transition - Transition product to users
K60
33
 Phase Milestones

Inception Elaboration Construction Transition

time
Life-cycle Life-cycle Initial Operational Product
Objective Architecture Capability release
Milestone Milestone Milestone

K60
34
 Iterations and Phases
 Each phase consists of one or several iterations.

Inception Elaboration Construction Transition

time
Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8

Internal Minor First External Final

Release Milestone Release Release
(e.g., “beta”)

K62, J9
35
Overall Architecture of the Rational Unified Process

K45, J11
36
 Benefits of Iterative Development
 Serious misunderstandings become evident early in the life
cycle
 Enables and encourages user feedback
 Development focuses on critical issues
 Objective assessment thru testing
 Inconsistencies detected early
 Workload of teams is spread out
 Leverage lessons learned earlier
 Stakeholders are kept up to date on project’s status

K8

37
 RUP Key Features
 Use case driven
 Iterative and incremental
 Models, workflows, phases, and iterations
 Architecture-centric

38
 Software Architecture Encompasses
 Organization of a software system
 Selection of the structural elements and their interfaces by
which a system is composed
 Their behavior, as specified in collaborations among those
elements
 The composition of these structural and behavioral elements
into progressively larger subsystems

K9-10
39
 Example: Component-Based Architecture
Lead Tracking Licensing
User Interface User Interface

User Interface
Mechanisms

Customer Product License

Key:
- Purchased Oracle Vantive
- Built
- New
K11
40
 Benefits of using Component Architectures

 Components facilitate resilient architectures

 Modularity enables a clear separation of concerns among
elements of a system that are subject to change.
 Reuse is facilitated by leveraging standardized frameworks
and commercially available components

K10-11

41
 Review Questions

 What are 3 “essential” difficulties in software

development?
 What phase of the lifecycle has the highest costs?
 What phase introduces the most significant errors?

K13-14
42