Software Engineering - Requirements Engineering

Flashcards for reviewing software engineering requirements.

Software Requirement

Specifies the business functions that the user will be able to perform using the system-to-be in different situations or contexts.

User requirements

High-level goals or business goals, rather than software requirements needed by the developer.

Requirements gathering

Helps the customer define what is required: what is to be accomplished, how the system will fit into the needs of the business, and how the system will be used on a day-to-day basis.

Requirements analysis

Refining and modifying the gathered requirements.

Requirements specification

Documenting the system requirements in a semiformal or formal manner to ensure clarity, consistency, and completeness.

User Stories

Used in agile methods and stated in terms of user’s goals and capabilities instead of system features; written by the customer or user, not by the developer.

Business Policies

Explicit identification of these is important for involving stakeholders in decision making and anticipating future changes.

Tools for Requirements Engineering (e.g., user stories, use cases)

Used for determining what the user needs and writing a description of what system will do.

Specification

Describe what the software-to-be will do at the interface.

Acceptance Tests

Assess the project success criteria and determine if requirements are met as expected; conducted by the customer throughout the project.

Size Points

Assigned to each user story in agile methods.

Velocity (Productivity)

Estimated from experience to help estimate work duration in agile methods.

To-Do List

A list of user stories prioritized by the customer in agile development.

Requirement Engineering Activities

Activities involved in a software project, including elicitation, documentation, specification, prototyping, analysis, review, agreement, and acceptance.

Requirement Analysis Tasks

The analysis of requirements consists of categorizing/clustering and prioritizing requirements.

VORD

Viewpoint-oriented requirements definition

Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Used for prioritizing requirements, involving pairwise comparisons.

Requirement Traceability

Important to track back after development and verify all requirements have been developed, tested, packaged, and delivered.