An Introduction to 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.
• Expenditure on software represents a
significant fraction of GNP in all developed
countries.

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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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 FAQs about software engineering
• What is software?
• What is software engineering?
• What is the difference between software engineering
and computer science?
• What is the difference between software engineering
and system engineering?
• What is a software process?
• What is a software process model?

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 FAQs about software engineering
• What are the costs of software engineering?
• What are software engineering methods?
• What is CASE (Computer-Aided Software
Engineering)
• What are the attributes of good software?
• What are the key challenges facing software
engineering?

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 What is software?
• Computer programs and associated documentation
such as requirements, design models and user manuals.
• Software products may be developed for a particular
customer or may be developed for a general market.
• Software products may be
• Generic - developed to be sold to a range of different
customers e.g. PC software such as Excel or Word.
• Bespoke (custom) - developed for a single customer according
to their specification.
• New software can be created by developing new
programs, configuring generic software systems or
reusing existing software.

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 What is software engineering?
• Software engineering is an engineering discipline
that is concerned with all aspects of software
production.
• Software engineers should adopt a systematic and
organised approach to their work and use appropriate
tools and techniques depending on the problem to be
solved, the development constraints and the
resources available.

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 What is the difference between
software engineering and computer
science?
• Computer science is concerned with theory and
fundamentals; software engineering is concerned
with the practicalities of developing and delivering
useful software.
• Computer science theories are still insufficient to act
as a complete underpinning for software engineering.

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 What is the difference between
software engineering and system
engineering?

• System engineering is concerned with all aspects of

computer-based systems development including
hardware, software and process engineering.
Software engineering is part of this process
concerned with developing the software
infrastructure, control, applications and databases in
the system.
• System engineers are involved in system
specification, architectural design, integration and
deployment.

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 What is a software process?
• A set of activities whose goal is the development or
evolution of software.
• Generic activities in all software processes are:
• Specification - what the system should do and its
development constraints
• Development - production of the software system
• Validation - checking that the software is what the
customer wants
• Evolution - changing the software in response to
changing demands.

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 What is a software process model?
• A simplified representation of a software process,
presented from a specific perspective.
• Examples of process perspectives are
• Workflow perspective - sequence of activities;
• Data-flow perspective - information flow;
• Role/action perspective - who does what.
• Generic process models
• Waterfall;
• Iterative development;
• Component-based software engineering.

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 What are the costs of software
engineering?

• Roughly 60% of costs are development costs, 40%

are testing costs. For custom software, evolution
costs often exceed development costs.
• Costs vary depending on the type of system being
developed and the requirements of system attributes
such as performance and system reliability.
• Distribution of costs depends on the development
model that is used.

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 Activity cost distribution

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 What are software engineering
methods?
• Structured approaches to software development which
include system models, notations, rules, design advice
and process guidance.
• Model descriptions
• Descriptions of graphical models which should be produced;
• Rules
• Constraints applied to system models;
• Recommendations
• Advice on good design practice;
• Process guidance
• What activities to follow.

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 What is CASE (Computer-Aided
Software Engineering)
• Software systems that are intended to provide
automated support for software process activities.
• CASE systems are often used for method support.
• Upper-CASE
• Tools to support the early process activities of requirements
and design;
• Lower-CASE
• Tools to support later activities such as programming,
debugging and testing.

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 What are the attributes of good
software?
• The software should deliver the required functionality
and performance to the user and should be
maintainable, dependable and acceptable.
• Maintainability
• Software must evolve to meet changing needs;
• Dependability
• Software must be trustworthy;
• Efficiency
• Software should not make wasteful use of system resources;
• Acceptability
• Software must accepted by the users for which it was
designed. This means it must be understandable, usable and
compatible with other systems.

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 What are the key challenges facing
software engineering?
• Heterogeneity, delivery and trust.
• Heterogeneity
• Developing techniques for building software that can cope
with heterogeneous platforms and execution environments;
• Delivery
• Developing techniques that lead to faster delivery of software;
• Trust
• Developing techniques that demonstrate that software can be
trusted by its users.

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 Professional and ethical responsibility
• 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.

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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.

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 Issues of professional responsibility
• Intellectual property 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 intellectual property 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 (game playing on an employer’s
machine, say) to extremely serious (dissemination of viruses).

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 ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics
• The professional societies in the US have cooperated
to produce a code of ethical practice.
• Members of these organisations sign up to the code
of practice when they join.
• The Code contains eight Principles related to the
behaviour of and decisions made by professional
software engineers, including practitioners,
educators, managers, supervisors and policy makers,
as well as trainees and students of the profession.

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 Code of ethics - preamble
• Preamble
• The short version of the code summarizes aspirations at a high
level of the abstraction;

• The clauses that are included in the full version give examples
and details of how these aspirations change the way we act as
software engineering professionals.

• Software engineers shall commit themselves to making the

analysis, specification, design, development, testing and
maintenance of software a beneficial and respected profession.

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 Code of ethics - principles
• PUBLIC
• Software engineers shall act consistently with the public
interest.
• CLIENT AND EMPLOYER
• Software engineers shall act in a manner that is in the best
interests of their client and employer consistent with the
public interest.
• PRODUCT
• Software engineers shall ensure that their products and related
modifications meet the highest professional standards
possible.

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 Code of ethics - principles
• JUDGMENT
• Software engineers shall maintain integrity and independence
in their professional judgment.
• MANAGEMENT
• Software engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to
and promote an ethical approach to the management of
software development and maintenance.
• PROFESSION
• Software engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation
of the profession consistent with the public interest.

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 Code of ethics - principles
• COLLEAGUES
• Software engineers shall be fair to and supportive of
their colleagues.
• SELF
• Software engineers shall participate in lifelong learning
regarding the practice of their profession and shall
promote an ethical approach to the practice of the
profession.

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 Ethical dilemmas
• Disagreement in principle with the policies of senior
management.
• Your employer acts in an unethical way and releases
a safety-critical system without finishing the testing
of the system.
• Participation in the development of military weapons
systems or nuclear systems.

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 Reference
• Chapter 1
Book : Software Engineering (7th Edition )
- Sommerville

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