Unit 1 - Introduction to Software

Engineering
Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, 7/e (Key Test)
By Roger S. Pressman(

Software Engineering 9/e

By Ian Sommerville

Software Engineering: Modern Approaches, 2/ed

By Eric J Braude & Micheal E Bernstein

Beginning Software Engineering

By Rod Stephens
 What is
Software?
The product that software professionals build and then
support over the long term.
Software encompasses: (1) instructions (computer
programs) that when executed provide desired features,
function, and performance; (2) data structures that enable
the programs to adequately store and manipulate
information and (3) documentation that describes the
operation and use of the programs.

2
 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 editing, 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.

3
 Why Software is Important?
• The economies of ALL developed nations are
dependent on software.
• More and more systems are software controlled
( transportation, medical, telecommunications, military,
industrial, entertainment,)
• Software engineering is concerned with theories,
methods and tools for professional software
development.
• Expenditure on software represents a
significant fraction of GNP in all developed countries.
 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.
 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
• Generic products
– The specification of what the software should
do is owned by the software developer and
decisions on software change are made by
the developer.
• Customized products
– The specification of what the software should
do is owned by the customer for the software
and they make decisions on software
changes that are required.
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 Product specification
• Generic products
– The specification of what the software should
do is owned by the software developer and
decisions on software change are made by
the developer.
• Customized products
– The specification of what the software should
do is owned by the customer for the software
and they make decisions on software
changes that are required.
Chapter 1 Introduction 8
Frequently asked questions about software engineering

Question Answer
What is software? Computer programs and associated documentation.
Software products may be developed for a particular
customer or may be developed for a general market.
What are the attributes of good software? Good software should deliver the required functionality
and performance to the user and should be
maintainable, dependable and usable.
What is software engineering? Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is
concerned with all aspects of software production.
What are the fundamental software Software specification, software development, software
engineering activities? validation and software evolution.
What is the difference between software Computer science focuses on theory and fundamentals;
engineering and computer science? software engineering is concerned with the practicalities
of developing and delivering useful software.
What is the difference between software System engineering is concerned with all aspects of
engineering and system engineering? computer-based systems development including
hardware, software and process engineering. Software
engineering is part of this more general process.

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 Frequently asked questions about
software engineering
Question Answer
What are the key challenges facing Coping with increasing diversity, demands for reduced
software engineering? delivery times and developing trustworthy software.
What are the costs of software Roughly 60% of software costs are development costs,
engineering? 40% are testing costs. For custom software, evolution
costs often exceed development costs.
What are the best software engineering While all software projects have to be professionally
techniques and methods? managed and developed, different techniques are
appropriate for different types of system. For example,
games should always be developed using a series of
prototypes whereas safety critical control systems require
a complete and analyzable specification to be developed.
You can’t, therefore, say that one method is better than
another.
What differences has the web made to The web has led to the availability of software services
software engineering? and the possibility of developing highly distributed
service-based systems. Web-based systems
development has led to important advances in
programming languages and software reuse.

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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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 General issues that affect most
software
• Heterogeneity
– Increasingly, systems are required to operate as
distributed systems across networks that include different
types of computer and mobile devices.
• Business and social change
– Business and society are changing incredibly quickly as
emerging economies develop and new technologies
become available. They need to be able to change their
existing software and to rapidly develop new software.
• Security and trust
– As software is intertwined with all aspects of our lives, it is
essential that we can trust that software.
Chapter 1 Introduction 12
 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.
Chapter 1 Introduction 13
 Features of Software?
• Its characteristics that make it different from other things human
being build.
Features of such logical system:
• Software is developed or engineered, it is not manufactured in
the classical sense which has quality problem.
• Software doesn't "wear out.” but it deteriorates (due to change).
Hardware has bathtub curve of failure rate ( high failure rate in the
beginning, then drop to steady state, then cumulative effects of dust, vibration, abuse
occurs).
• Although the industry is moving toward component-based
construction (e.g. standard screws and off-the-shelf integrated
circuits), most software continues to be custom-built. Modern
reusable components encapsulate data and processing into
software parts to be reused by different programs. E.g. graphical
user interface, window, pull-down menus in library etc.

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 Wear vs.
Deterioration
increased failure
rate due to side effects
Failure
rate

change
actual curve

idealized curve

Time
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 Software
• 1. System software: such as compilers, editors, file management utilities
• Applications
2. Application software: stand-alone programs for specific needs.
• 3. Engineering/scientific software: Characterized by “number
crunching”algorithms. such as automotive stress analysis, molecular biology,
orbital dynamics etc
• 4. Embedded software resides within a product or system. (key pad control of a
microwave oven, digital function of dashboard display in a car)
• 5. Product-line software focus on a limited marketplace to address mass
consumer market. (word processing, graphics, database management)
• 6. WebApps (Web applications) network centric software. As web 2.0 emerges,
more sophisticated computing environments is supported integrated with remote
database and business applications.
• 7. AI software uses non-numerical algorithm to solve complex problem.
Robotics, expert system, pattern recognition game playing

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 Software—New Categories
• Open world computing—pervasive, ubiquitous, distributed computing
due to wireless networking. How to allow mobile devices, personal
computer, enterprise system to communicate across vast network.
• Netsourcing—the Web as a computing engine. How to architect simple
and sophisticated applications to target end-users worldwide.
• Open source—”free” source code open to the computing community (a
blessing, but also a potential curse!)
• Also … (see Chapter 31)
– Data mining
– Grid computing
– Cognitive machines
– Software for nanotechnologies

These slides are designed to accompany 17

Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s
Approach, 7/e (McGraw-Hill 2009). Slides
Software Engineering Definition
The seminal definition:
[Software engineering is] the establishment and use of
sound engineering principles in order to obtain
economically software that is reliable and works
efficiently on real machines.
The IEEE definition:
Software Engineering: (1) The application of a systematic, disciplined,
quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance
of software; that is, the application of engineering to software. (2) The
study of approaches as in (1).
 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. For most
types of system, the majority of costs are the costs
of changing the software after it has gone into use.
Importance of Software Engineering(2)
• Much o f the modern world runs on software. As
a result, software engineers are entrusted with
significant responsibility.
• Although it is a biomedical engineer, for
example, who designs health monitoring
systems, it is a software engineer who creates
its actual control functions.
• A marketing professional develops ways to
reach customers online but it is a software
engineer who makes the system a reality.
 WHY SOFTWARE ENGINEERING IS
CRITICAL: SOFTWARE DISASTERS
• Even with the best of intentions, a large
number of software projects today are
unsuccessful, with a large percentage never
completed.
• Worse , quite a few software projects stil l
end in disaster, causing a loss of money,
time, and tragically, even lives.
• Investigate some of this recent software
failures
 WHY SOFTWARE FAILS OR
SUCCEEDS
• Over budget
• Exceeds schedule and/or misses market
window
• Doesn't meet stated customer
requirements
• Lower quality than expected
• Performance doesn't meet expectations
• Too difficult to use
 WHY SOFTWARE FAILS
• Unrealistic or unarticulated • Unmanaged risks
project goals • Inability to handle the
• Poor project management project's complexity
• Inaccurate estimates of • Poor software design
needed resources methodology
• Badly defined system • Wrong or inefficient set of
requirements development tools
• Poor reporting of the • Poor testing methodology
project's status
• Inadequate test coverage
• Poor communication
among customers ,
• Inappropriate (or lack of)
developers, and users software process2
 THE ISSUE OF SCALE
• A software application consists o f tens,
hundreds, even thousands of classes
• Indeed, to deal with numerous and
complex classes, software engineers have
at their disposal a wide variety of tools and
techniques.
 Goal of Software Engineering
• Creation of software systems that meet
the needs of customers and are reliable,
efficient, and maintainable.
• In addition, the system should be
produced in an economical fashion
,meeting project schedules and budgets.
• This is no easy task, especially for large,
complex applications.
 FAQ about software engineering

Question Answer

What is software? Computer programs, data structures and associated

documentation. Software products may be developed for
a particular customer or may be developed for a general
market.
What are the attributes of good software? Good software should deliver the required functionality
and performance to the user and should be
maintainable, dependable and usable.
What is software engineering? Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is
concerned with all aspects of software production.
What is the difference between software Computer science focuses on theory and fundamentals;
engineering and computer science? software engineering is concerned with the practicalities
of developing and delivering useful software.
What is the difference between software System engineering is concerned with all aspects of
engineering and system engineering? computer-based systems development including
hardware, software and process engineering. Software
engineering is part of this more general process.

26
 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 Engineering
A Layered Technology
tools

methods

process model

a “quality” focus
 Any engineering approach must rest on organizational commitment to quality which fosters a
continuous process improvement culture.
 Process layer as the foundation defines a framework with activities for effective delivery of
software engineering technology. Establish the context where products (model, data, report, and
forms) are produced, milestone are established, quality is ensured and change is managed.
 Method provides technical how-to’s for building software. It encompasses many tasks including
communication, requirement analysis, design modeling, program construction, testing and
support.
 Tools provide automated or semi-automated support for the process and methods. 28
 Software Process
• A process is a collection of activities, actions and
tasks that are performed when some work product is
to be created. It is not a rigid prescription for how
to build computer software. Rather, it is an adaptable
approach that enables the people doing the work to
pick and choose the appropriate set of work
actions and tasks.
• Purpose of process is to deliver software in a timely
manner and with sufficient quality to satisfy those
who have sponsored its creation and those who will
use it.
• Communication: communicate with customer to understand objectives
and gather requirements
• Planning: creates a “map” defines the work by describing the tasks, risks
and resources, work products and work schedule.
• Modeling: Create a “sketch”, what it looks like architecturally, how the
constituent parts fit together and other characteristics.
• Construction: code generation and the testing.
• Deployment: Delivered to the customer who evaluates the products and
provides feedback based on the evaluation.

• These five framework activities can be used to all software development

regardless of the application domain, size of the project, complexity of
the efforts etc, though the details will be different in each case.

• For many software projects, these framework activities are applied

iteratively as a project progresses. Each iteration produces a software
increment that provides a subset of overall software features and
functionality.

Five Activities of a Generic

Process framework
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 Umbrella Activities
Complement the five process framework activities and help team manage and
control progress, quality, change, and risk.
• Software project tracking and control: assess progress against the plan and
take actions to maintain the schedule.
• Risk management: assesses risks that may affect the outcome and quality.
• Software quality assurance: defines and conduct activities to ensure quality.
• Technical reviews: assesses work products to uncover and remove errors
before going to the next activity.
• Measurement: define and collects process, project, and product measures
to ensure stakeholder’s needs are met.
• Software configuration management: manage the effects of change
throughout the software process.
• Reusability management: defines criteria for work product reuse and
establishes mechanism to achieve reusable components.
• Work product preparation and production: create work products such as
models, documents, logs, forms and lists.

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 Adapting a Process Model
–the overall flow of activities, actions, and tasks and the interdependencies
among them
–the degree to which actions and tasks are defined within each framework
activity
–the degree to which work products are identified and required
–the manner which quality assurance activities are applied
–the manner in which project tracking and control activities are applied
–the overall degree of detail and rigor with which the process is described
–the degree to which the customer and other stakeholders are involved with
the project
–the level of autonomy given to the software team
–the degree to which team organization and roles are prescribed
Prescriptive and Agile Process Models
–The prescriptive process models stress detailed definition,
identification, and application of process activates and tasks. Intent
is to improve system quality, make projects more manageable, make
delivery dates and costs more predictable, and guide teams of
software engineers as they perform the work required to build a
system.
–Unfortunately, there have been times when these objectives were
not achieved. If prescriptive models are applied dogmatically and
without adaptation, they can increase the level of bureaucracy.

–Agile process models emphasize project “agility” and follow a set

of principles that lead to a more informal approach to software
process. It emphasizes maneuverability and adaptability. It is
particularly useful when Web applications are engineered.
 The Essence of Practice
• How does the practice of software engineering fit
in the process activities mentioned above?
Namely, communication, planning, modeling,
construction and deployment.
• George Polya outlines the essence of problem
solving, suggests:
1. Understand the problem (communication and analysis).
2. Plan a solution (modeling and software design).
3. Carry out the plan (code generation).
4. Examine the result for accuracy (testing and quality
assurance).
 Understand the Problem
• Who has a stake in the solution to the problem?
That is, who are the stakeholders?
• What are the unknowns? What data, functions,
and features are required to properly solve
the problem?
• Can the problem be compartmentalized? Is it
possible to represent smaller problems that
may be easier to understand?
• Can the problem be represented graphically? Can
an analysis model be created?
 Plan the Solution
• Have you seen similar problems before? Are there patterns
that are recognizable in a potential solution? Is there
existing software that implements the data, functions,
and features that are required?
• Has a similar problem been solved? If so, are elements of
the solution reusable?
• Can subproblems be defined? If so, are solutions readily
apparent for the subproblems?
• Can you represent a solution in a manner that leads to
effective implementation? Can a design model be
created?
 Carry Out the Plan
• Does the solutions conform to the plan? Is
source code traceable to the design model?
• Is each component part of the solution
provably correct? Has the design and code
been reviewed, or better, have correctness
proofs been applied to algorithm?
 Examine the Result
• Is it possible to test each component part of the
solution? Has a reasonable testing strategy
been implemented?
• Does the solution produce results that conform
to the data, functions, and features that are
required? Has the software been validated
against all stakeholder requirements?
 Hooker’s General Principles for
Software Engineering Practice:
important underlying law
Help you establish mind-set for solid software engineering
practice (David Hooker 96).
•1: The Reason It All Exists: provide values to users
•2: KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid! As simple as possible)
•3: Maintain the Vision (otherwise, incompatible design)
•4: What You Produce, Others Will Consume (code with concern for
those that must maintain and extend the system)
•5: Be Open to the Future (never design yourself into a corner as
specification and hardware changes)
•6: Plan Ahead for Reuse
•7: Think! Place clear complete thought before action produces better
results.
 4 Ps
• The entire effort must be organized
• People
– Project stakeholders .
• Product
– The software product plus associated documents.
• Project
– The activities carried out to produce the product .
• Process
• Framework within which the team carries out the activities
necessary to build the product .
 People
• They include business management,
project management, the development
team , customers , and end users
 Product
• Project documentation
– Documents produced during software definition and
development.
• Code
– Source and object.
• Test documents
– Plans, cases, and results .
• Customer documents
– Documents explaining how to use and operate product .
• Productivity measurements
– Analyse project productivity.
 Project
• • Planning
– • Plan, mon i tor, and control the software project.
• • Requirements analysis
– • Define what to build.
• • Design
– • Describe how to build the software .
• • Implementation
– • Program the software.
• • Testing
– • Validate that software meets the requirements .
• • Maintenance
– • Resolve problems; adapt software to meet new requirements.
 Process
• A software process is a framework for
carrying out the activities of a project in an
organized and disciplined manner. It
imposes structure and helps guide the
many people and activities in a coherent
manner. A software project progresses
through different phases, each interrelated
and bounded by time.
 Software Myths
Erroneous beliefs about software and the process that
is used to build it.
•Affect managers, customers (and other non-technical
stakeholders) and practitioners
•Are believable because they often have elements of
truth,
but …
•Invariably lead to bad decisions,
therefore …
•Insist on reality as you navigate your way through
software engineering
45
 Software Myths Examples
•Myth 1: Once we write the program and get it to work, our job is done.
•Reality: the sooner you begin writing code, the longer it will take you to get done. 60% to
80% of all efforts are spent after software is delivered to the customer for the first time.

•Myth 2: Until I get the program running, I have no way of assessing its quality.
•Reality: technical review are a quality filter that can be used to find certain classes of
software defects from the inception of a project.

•Myth 3: software engineering will make us create voluminous and unnecessary

documentation and will invariably slow us down.
•Reality: it is not about creating documents. It is about creating a quality product. Better
quality leads to a reduced rework. Reduced work results in faster delivery times.

•Many people recognize the fallacy of the myths. Regrettably, habitual attitudes and
methods foster poor management and technical practices, even when reality dictates a
better approach.
 How It all Starts
– Every software project is precipitated by some
business need—
• the need to correct a defect in an existing
application;
• the need to the need to adapt a ‘legacy system’ to a
changing business environment;
• the need to extend the functions and features of an
existing application, or
• the need to create a new product, service, or
system.
 Goals of Software Engineering
• is the creation of software systems that
meet the needs of customers and are
reliable, efficient, and maintainable.
• In addition, the system should be
produced in an economical fashion
,meeting project schedules and budgets.