Chapter One:- Introduction

Topics covered
 Introduction to software engineering
 Professional software development
 What is meant by software engineering.
 Frequently asked questions about software engineering
 Need of Software Engineering
 Characteristics of Good Software
 Software process activities
 Software engineering ethics
 A brief introduction to ethical issues that affect software
engineering.
 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

Gross National Product (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.
Professional software development
 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.
 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.
 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.
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.
 Software engineering
• Software engineering is an engineering discipline that
is concerned with all aspects of software production
from the early stages of system specification through
to maintaining the system after it has gone into use.
• Engineering discipline
Using appropriate theories and methods to solve
problems bearing in mind organizational and financial
constraints.
• All aspects of software production
Not just technical process of development. Also
project management and the development of tools,
methods etc. to support software production.
 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.
 Cont.…
• Handing big projects
• To manage the cost
• To decrease time
• Reliable software
• Effectiveness
 Software process activities
• Software specification:- where customers and
engineers define the software that is to be
produced and the constraints on its operation.
• Software development:-where the software is
designed and programmed.
• Software validation:-where the software is checked
to ensure that it is what the customer requires.
• Software evolution:- where the software is
modified to reflect changing customer and market
requirements.
General issues that affect 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.
It need to be able to change their existing
software and to rapidly develop new software.
General issues that affect software
• Security and trust
As software is intertwined with all aspects of our
lives, it is essential that we can trust that software.
• Scale
Software has to be developed across a very wide
range of scales, from very small embedded
systems in portable or wearable devices through
to Internet-scale, cloud-based systems that serve a
global community.
 Software engineering diversity
• There are many different types of software
system and there is no universal set of
software techniques that is applicable to all of
these.
• The software engineering methods and tools
used depend on the type of application being
developed, the requirements of the customer
and the background of the development
team.
 Application types
• Stand-alone applications
 These are application systems that run on a local
computer, such as a PC. It include all necessary
functionality and do not need to be connected to a
network.
• Interactive transaction-based applications
 Applications that execute on a remote computer and are
accessed by users from their own PCs or terminals. These
include web applications such as e-commerce applications.
• Embedded control systems
 These are software control systems that control and
manage hardware devices. Numerically, there are probably
more embedded systems than any other type of system.
 Application types
• Batch processing systems
 These are business systems that are designed to
process data in large batches. They process large
numbers of individual inputs to create corresponding
outputs.
• Entertainment systems
 These are systems that are primarily for personal use
and which are intended to entertain the user.
• Systems for modeling and simulation
 These are systems that are developed by scientists and
engineers to model physical processes or situations,
which include many, separate, interacting objects.
 Application types
• Data collection systems
These are systems that collect data from their
environment using a set of sensors and send that
data to other systems for processing.
• Systems of systems
These are systems that are composed of a number
of other software systems.
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.
 Internet software engineering
• The Web is now a platform for running
application and organizations are increasingly
developing web-based systems rather than
local systems.
• Web services allow application functionality to
be accessed over the web.
• Cloud computing is an approach to the
provision of computer services where
applications run remotely on the ‘cloud’.
Users do not buy software buy pay according to use.
 Web-based software engineering
• Web-based systems are complex distributed
systems but the fundamental principles of
software engineering discussed previously are
as applicable to them as they are to any other
types of system.
• The fundamental ideas of software engineering
apply to web-based software in the same way
that they apply to other types of software
system.
 Web software engineering
• Software reuse
Software reuse is the dominant approach for
constructing web-based systems. When building these
systems, you think about how you can assemble them
from pre-existing software components and systems.
• Incremental and agile development
Web-based systems should be developed and
delivered incrementally. It is now generally recognized
that it is impractical to specify all the requirements for
such systems in advance.
 Web software engineering
• Service-oriented systems
Software may be implemented using service-
oriented software engineering, where the software
components are stand-alone web services.
• Rich interfaces
Interface development technologies such as AJAX
and HTML5 have emerged that support the
creation of rich interfaces within a web browser.
Software engineering ethics
 Software engineering ethics
• 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 but involves following a set of principles
that are morally correct.
 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 out with their competence.
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).
 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.
 Rationale for the code of ethics
 Computers have a central and growing role in commerce,
industry, government, medicine, education, entertainment and
society at large. Software engineers are those who contribute by
direct participation or by teaching, to the analysis, specification,
design, development, certification, maintenance and testing of
software systems.
 Because of their roles in developing software systems, software
engineers have significant opportunities to do good or cause
harm, to enable others to do good or cause harm, or to influence
others to do good or cause harm. To ensure, as much as possible,
that their efforts will be used for good, software engineers must
commit themselves to making software engineering a beneficial
and respected profession.
The ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics

Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Task Force on Software Engineering Ethics and Professional Practices

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. Without the aspirations, the details can become
legalistic and tedious; without the details, the aspirations can become high sounding but empty;
together, the aspirations and the details form a cohesive code.
Software engineers shall commit themselves to making the analysis, specification, design,
development, testing and maintenance of software a beneficial and respected profession. In
accordance with their commitment to the health, safety and welfare of the public, software
engineers shall adhere to the following Eight Principles:
 Ethical principles
1. PUBLIC - Software engineers shall act consistently with the public interest.
2. 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.
3. PRODUCT - Software engineers shall ensure that their products and related modifications meet
the highest professional standards possible.
4. JUDGMENT - Software engineers shall maintain integrity and independence in their professional
judgment.
5. MANAGEMENT - Software engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to and promote an
ethical approach to the management of software development and maintenance.
6. PROFESSION - Software engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation of the profession
consistent with the public interest.
7. COLLEAGUES - Software engineers shall be fair to and supportive of their colleagues.
8. 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.
 Key points
• Software engineering is an engineering discipline
that is concerned with all aspects of software
production.
• Essential software product attributes are
maintainability, dependability and security, efficiency
and acceptability.
• The high-level activities of specification,
development , validation and evolution are part
of all software processes.
• The fundamental notions of software engineering
are universally applicable to all types of system
development.
THANK YOU!!!