CEN4033-chapter01

Software Engineering

Software Engineering

The discipline that uses computer and software technologies as problem-solving tools.

System Approach

Involves identifying activities and objects, defining system boundaries, and considering nested systems and system interrelationships.

Analysis

Decomposing a large problem into smaller, understandable pieces; abstraction is key.

Synthesis

Building (composing) software from smaller building blocks; composition is challenging.

Method

A formal procedure or "recipe" for accomplishing a goal, typically independent of tools used.

Tool

An instrument or automated system for accomplishing tasks more efficiently.

Procedure

A combination of tools and techniques to produce a product.

Paradigm

Philosophy or approach for building a product, such as object-oriented vs. structured approaches.

Computer Science

focusing on computer hardware, compilers, operating systems, and programming languages

A Fault

a bug that occurs when a human makes a mistake, called an error, i performing some software activities.

A failure

a bug that is a departure from the systems required behavior

Transcendental view

quality is something we can recognize but not define.

User View

quality is fitness for purpose.

Manufacturing view

quality is conformance to specification

Product view

quality tied to inherent product characteristics.

value-based view

depends on the amount the customers willing to pay for it

Three ways of considering quality?

The quality of the product, The quality of the process, and The quality of the product in the context of the business environment

Quality Models

Used to relate the user's external view of software quality to the developer's internal view.

McCall's Quality Model

A model used to assess the quality of software products.

Customer

the company, organization, or person who pays for the software system.

Developer

the company, organization, or person who is building the software system.

User

the person or people who will actually use the system.

Stakeholders

Participants involved in a software development project, including customers, developers, and users.

Participants

(stakeholders) in a software development project

System Approach

Refers to the method of analyzing and designing a computer system as a whole entity, considering its interrelated components and boundaries.

Activity

an event initiated by a trigger

System boundaries

determine the origin of input and destinations of the output

Interrelated Systems

Systems that are dependent on each other, with complex interdependencies, and the possibility of one system existing within another.

Engineering Approach

The systematic process of building a system, involving requirement analysis, system design, program design, testing, delivery, and maintenance.

Members of the Development Team

Individuals involved in software development, including requirement analysts, designers, programmers, testers, trainers, maintenance team, librarians, and configuration management team.

Requirement Analysts

work with the customers to identify and document the requirements

Designers

generate a system-level description of what the system us supposed to do

Programmers

write lines of code to implement the design

Testers

catch faults

Trainers

show users how to use the system

Maintenance Team

fix faults that show up later

Librarians

prepare and store documents such as software requirements

Configuration Management Team

maintain correspondence among various artifacts

Wasserman’s Seven Key Factors

Critically of time-to-market, Shifts in the economics of computing, Availability of powerful desktop computing, Extensive local- and wide-area networking, Availability and adoption of object-oriented technology, Graphical user interfaces, Unpredictability of the waterfall model of software development.

How Has Software Engineering Changed

Evolution of software engineering from single processors to multi-systems, influenced by factors like time-to-market, computing economics, object-oriented technology, and software process improvements.

Abstraction

Describing a problem at a general level to hide unnecessary details and focus on essential aspects.

Analysis and Design Methods and Notations

Techniques used to document, communicate, and unify different views of a system during the software development process.

User Interface Prototyping

Building a small version of a system to identify key requirements, demonstrate feasibility, and develop a user-friendly interface.

Software Architecture

Describing a system in terms of architectural units and their relationships, using decomposition techniques like modular, data-oriented, and object-oriented decomposition.

Software Process

Various approaches to software development based on the type of application, emphasizing control for enterprise-wide applications and rapid development for departmental applications.

Software Reuse

Utilizing artifacts from previous developments to improve productivity and reduce costs, while considering concerns like maintenance, development time, and generality vs specificity.

Measurement

Describing quality goals quantitatively to assess and improve the quality of software products.

Tools and Integrated Environments

Integration of platforms, presentations, processes, data, and control in software development tools to enhance collaboration and