Software Process Models

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Goal of Software Engineering
 Balance the concerns given the scenario at
hand - a balancing act
 Different concerns:
 Cost
 Quality
 Time
 Schedule
 Staff, Resources, etc.

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Agenda of Discussion
 Evaluate different prescriptive process models
 Waterfall
 Incremental
 Prototyping
 Spiral

 Goal: Pick an appropriate process model to

solve the problem of OSAF Funds Management
System

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Water Fall Model
 Linear Sequential
Model

 Development is
carried out in a
sequential fashion

 Requires that each phase be fully

completed before proceeding to
next

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

Waterfall – a more generic version

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Assessment
 Benefits  Draw-backs
 Simple to understand,  Real projects rarely
implement and execute follow sequentially
 Require minimal  Requirements are
resources to implement difficult to explicitly
 Results in good quality state initially
system, if everything  Very risky:
goes fine  Customer feedback only
at the end
 Disastrous (in terms of
cost) in case of
requirements errors
 Too many wait-states
in-case of specialized
resources e.g. Q/A
Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore
 Scenario 1
 Requirements are well-understood
 Timely delivery is key priority
 Business depends upon quick delivery (of at
least some of the core functionality)

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Incremental Model


Development divided into a series of iterations

Each iteration results in a new increment

With each increment more functionality is added

Gradually, software progresses towards its completion

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Assessment
 Benefits  Draw-backs
 Quick delivery of core  Requires a de-
functionality composable project
 Users can experiment  Requires a good
with delivered modular design
increments  Integration may be
 Requires fewer people difficult
per increment  Quality may affect in
 Reduced timeline (and long-run
maybe costs) in case of
pipelining / concurrent
development

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

Dos & Donts of Incremental Model
 Never attempt incremental model unless the
requirements are well-known
 A scope of development activity must be established
and agreed

Try to have a wholistic picture of requirements early
on – details may be omitted but overall scope should
be established
 When using incremental approach, insist on having a
good quality design and spend good time and effort
on achieving it OTHERWISE it will lead to DISASTER

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Scenario 2
 Requirements are not clear
 Customer not sure of what they require
 Very little domain expertise available
 Project requires a proof-of-concept

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Prototyping Model

Construct a quick & dirty prototype

 Possible approaches:



Get feedback

Evolve  Throw-away
 Evolutionary
Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore
 Assessment of Prototyping
 Benefits  Draw-backs
 Requirements get  Quality may seriously
better established be affected
 Customers quickly see  Maintainability is very
what to expect – difficult
changes are known  Customer pressure to
early on deliver end-product
quickly

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Dos & Donts
 Better use throw-away prototyping
 It will be better in the long-run even though may seem
costly initially because of the throw-away element
 Avoid evolutionary approach as much as
possible
 Try to communicate to the customer the nature
of development model, apprise them of its pros
& cons and try to get an agreement on the
process activities

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Scenario 3
 Requirements are not clear
 Quality is essential – cannot be compromised

Case for Spiral

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Incremental Model
(An alternative representation)

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Spiral Model

 Development is
divided into series of
activities e.g.
requirements,
prototyping, design,
etc.


Each activity has
common phases that
ensure quality with
respect to that activity

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Assessment
 Benefits  Draw-backs
 Realistic approach  Uncertain timeline
towards development  Problematic in a fixed-
 Better risk budget scenario
management  Costs may be on the
 Detailed & systematic – higher end
reduces risk of failure
 Flexible

Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore

 Concern v/s Model
Concern Model Pre-conditions
Cost, Waterfall Requirements well-
Human Resources, defined
Maintainability

Cost, Incremental Requirements well-

Time to market understood, Modular and
good quality design

Clarity, Prototyping Customer commitment,

Proof-of-concept Possibility of throw-away
prototyping

Quality Spiral Willingness to pay the

cost
Farooq Ahmed, FAST-NU, Lahore