Software Engineering

Lecture 1
Introduction to Software Engineering

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Software Definition
 Software is:
◦ A product
◦ A vehicle for delivering another product
 Software is collection of:
◦ Program
◦ Documentation
◦ Data
◦ Procedure

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Software Characteristics
 Software is engineered, not manufactured
 Software does not wear out
 Most software continues to be custom
built

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Failure Curves for software

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Software Myths
 Myth: If we get behind schedule, add more
programmers.
 Reality: Adding people to a late software project makes
it later.

 Myth: Software Engineering will make us create many

and unnecessary documentation.
 Reality: Software engineering is not about creating
documents. It is about creating quality. Better quality
leads to reduced rework. Reduced rework results in
faster delivery times.

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Software Crisis
 During 1960-1970, most software
development faced the following
problems:
◦ Overdue schedule
◦ Exceeding initial budget
◦ Inadequate software quality
◦ High software maintenance cost

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Software Engineering
 Software engineering is first coined in
1968 at a software conference organized
by NATO at Garmisch, Germany as a
solution to the software crisis.
 Software engineering is the establishment
and use of sound engineering principles in
order to obtain economically software
that is reliable and works efficiently on
real machines.

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Engineering Principles
 The engineering principles used in
software engineering comprises:
◦ Analysis
◦ Design
◦ Implementation
◦ Testing

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Software Engineering Layers

Software Engineering

tools
methods
process model
a “quality” focus

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Software Engineering Layers (cont.)
 Tools: Software Tools (Word Processors,
Diagramming Tools, Project Tools,
Compilers, etc.)
 Methods: Modeling methods (DFD, ERD,
Gantt Chart,etc.)
 Process: Waterfall, Spiral, Incremental, etc.

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Software Engineering Phases
 Definition Phase (What)
◦ Systems Engineering, Project Planning,
Requirements Analysis
 Development Phase (How)
◦ Software Design, Code Generation, Software
Testing
 Support Phase (Change)
◦ Correction, Adaptation, Enhancement,
Prevention

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Umbrella Activities
 Umbrella activities are activities that are
applied throughout the software process:
◦ Project tracking and control
◦ Software Quality Assurance
◦ Software Configuration Management
◦ Document Preparation and Management

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Capability Maturity Model
 CMM is used to determine an organization’s current
state of process maturity
 Five levels of CMM:
◦ Level 1: Initial (Ad Hoc)
◦ Level 2: Repeatable (Basic project management)
◦ Level 3: Defined (Process standardization)
◦ Level 4: Managed (Quantitative Management)
◦ Level 5: Optimized (Continuous process improvement)

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CMM Level 1: Initial
 The software process is characterized as
ad hoc and occasionally even chaotic.
Few processes are defined, and success
depends on individual effort.

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CMM Level 2: Repeatable
 Basic Project Management processes are
established to track cost, schedule, and
functionality.

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CMM Level 3: Defined
 The process is “tailored from the
organization’s set of standard processes
according to the organization’s tailoring
guidelines, and contributes work products,
measures, and other process-
improvement information to the
organizational process assets”.

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CMM Level 4: Managed
 Detailed measures of the software
process and product quality are collected.

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CMM Level 5: Optimized
 The process area is adapted and
optimized using quantitative means to
meet changing customer needs and to
continually improve the efficacy of the
process area under consideration.

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Personal Software Process
 The Personal Software Process (PSP) emphasizes
personal measurement of both the work product that is
produced and the resultant quality of work product
(Humphrey 1997).
 The PSP process model defined five framework
activities:
◦ Planning
◦ High-Level Design
◦ High-Level Design Review
◦ Development
◦ Postmortem

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Personal Software Process (cont.)
 PSP stresses the need for each software
engineer to identify errors early and, as
important, to understand the types of errors
that he/she is likely to make.
 This is accomplished through a rigorous
assessment activity performed on all work
products produced by the software engineer.
 PSP can improve the productivity and
software quality. However, PSP has not been
widely adopted throughout the industry due
to human nature and organizational inertia.
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 Team Software Process (TSP)
 TSP is an extension of PSP.
 The goal of TSP is to build a “self-directed” project team
that organizes itself to produce high-quality software:
◦ Build self-directed teams that plan and track their work,
establish goals, and own their processes and plans.
◦ Show managers how to coach and motivate their teams.
◦ Accelerate software process improvement.
◦ Provide improvement guidance to high-maturity organizations.
◦ Facilitate university teaching of industrial-grade team skills.

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 Summary
 Software Engineering is a discipline that
integrates process, methods, and tools for the
development of computer software.
 The Capability Maturity Model Integration
(CMMI) is a comprehensive process meta-
model that describes the specific goals,
practices, and capabilities that should be
present in a mature software process.
 Personal and Team Software process emphasize
measurement, planning, and self-direction as key
ingredients for a successful software process.
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References
 Pressman, Chapter 1, 2

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