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SOFT515

This document is an examination paper for the module SOFT515: Software Management at Plymouth University, scheduled for May 14, 2013. Candidates are instructed to answer any two of the three questions provided, which cover topics such as software development processes, Agile and Formal Methods, and Software Process Improvement. Each question is divided into parts with specific marks allocated, and the paper emphasizes the importance of process quality in software development.

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31 views3 pages

SOFT515

This document is an examination paper for the module SOFT515: Software Management at Plymouth University, scheduled for May 14, 2013. Candidates are instructed to answer any two of the three questions provided, which cover topics such as software development processes, Agile and Formal Methods, and Software Process Improvement. Each question is divided into parts with specific marks allocated, and the paper emphasizes the importance of process quality in software development.

Uploaded by

denandasiri12
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Plymouth University

MODULE CODE: SOFT515


TITLE OF PAPER: SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT

TIME ALLOWED TWO HOURS

DATE TUESDAY 14 MAY 2013

TIME 17:00 – 19:00

FACULTY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS

ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/ 2013

STAGE FINAL

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

Candidates should answer ANY TWO questions from the THREE available.

All questions carry equal marks, marks for parts of questions are shown where
appropriate.

Candidates are not permitted to look at the examination paper until instructed to do
so.

Release to library? Yes Summer Exam

SOFT515 – 2012/2013 Page 1 of 3


Q1. (a) Explain the first four steps of the development process used by
Praxis Ltd. during the Tokeneer project according to the summary
report. Include a description of the tools applied at each of the
steps.

(20 marks)

(b) Draw a schema and describe the difference between


state-schemas, initialisation schemas and operation schemas used
in Z-notation.

(10 Marks)

(c) Critically evaluate the quote below, providing arguments for and
against the value of formal program verification.

“…even perfect programs verification can only establish that a


program meets its specification. The hardest part of the
software task is arriving at a complete and consistent
specification, and much of the essence of building a program is
in fact the debugging of the specification.

Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., 1987

(30 marks)

(Over/….)

SOFT515 – 2012/2013 Page 2 of 3


Q2. Halcyon Systems Ltd. is a fictional small company consisting of four
students that all went to the same university. The company has completed
a couple of small projects successfully and has now been awarded a larger
project estimated to require 6-8 developers over a period of three years.
The project will produce a new application that will replace one of their
customer’s existing systems and the introduction of the new system will be
gradual across the customer’s many locations. The new system is
estimated to require roughly 100,000 source lines of code.

(a) Considering the information about the company and the project
given above, critically evaluate the suitability of different software
process models.
(20 marks)

(b) Critically compare how Agile Methods and Formal Methods


approach the problem of ensuring that a project’s requirement
specifications are correct. Include an evaluation of the short and
long term cost of the two approaches.
(20 marks)

(c) Describe the different outputs produced by agile methods and formal
methods for each of the five main phases of the software
development process.
(10 marks)

Q3. "Process improvement is based on the assumption that the quality of the
product development process is critical to product quality"

(Sommerville, 2007)

(a) Explain ANY FIVE process attributes that can be the focus of
improvement within Software Process Improvement (SPI)
(10 marks)

(b) Elaborate the FOUR quality factors that allow a quality software
product to be determined.
(12 marks)

Critically evaluate how process improvement initiatives (such as Capability


Maturity Model) have enabled software development organisations to
deliver quality software products.

(28 marks)

END OF PAPER

SOFT515 – 2012/2013 Page 3 of 3

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