Mar Augusthinose College, Ramapuram Department of Computer Science

Introduction to Software Engineering

Software Engineering is the systematic approach to the development, operation and maintenance of
software.
The ultimate objective of software engineering is to produce quality software that is maintainable,
delivered on time, within budget, and also satisfies its requirements.

Definition
Fritz Bauer defined software engineering as "The establishment and use of sound engineering
principles in order to obtain economically developed software that is reliable and works efficiently
on real machines”.
Stephen Schach defined the same as "A discipline whose aim is the production of quality software
software that is delivered on time, within budget, and that satisfies its requirements”.
Program Vs Software
Software is more than programs. It consists of programs, documentation of any facet of the program
and the procedures used to setup and operate the software system. The components of the software
system are shown below.

Software= Program + Documentation + Operating Procedures

Fig. 1.1: Components of Software

Program is a combination of source code and object code. Documentation consists of different types
of manuals are shown below.

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Operating procedures consist of instructions to setup and use the software system and instructions
on how to react to system failure. List of operating procedure manuals/documents is given below.

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Software process
The software process is the way in which we produce software. This differs from organization to
organization. Many organizations are looking at software process improvement as a way to improve
the quality, productivity and maintenance efforts. But it is difficult to improve software process
because of
• Not enough time
• Lack of knowledge
• Wrong motivations
• Insufficient commitment
Not enough time - Unrealistic schedules leave insufficient time to do the essential project work.
Customers and senior managers are demanding more software, of higher quality in minimum
possible time. So there is always a shortage of time. One consequence is that software organizations
may deliver release 1.0 on time, but then they have to ship release 1.01 almost immediately
thereafter to fix the recently discovered bugs.
Lack of knowledge - Most of the developers are unaware of best known ways of software
development. They may know many languages but do not spent time to improve their knowledge
about industry best practices.
Wrong motivations – Software developers should be motivated by the prospect of meeting their
commitments, improving customer satisfaction, and delivering excellent products that meet
customer expectations. But most organizations launch process improvement initiatives for the
wrong reasons. May be a contractor demanded that the development organization should achieve
CMM level X by date Y. Or perhaps a senior manager learned just enough about the CMM and
directed his organization to climb on the CMM bandwagon.
Insufficient commitment - Many times, process improvement fails due to lack of commitment.
Management sets no expectations from the development community around process improvement,
they devote insufficient resources, write no improvement plan, develop no roadmap, and pilot no
new processes.

Fig. 1.4: The process improvement learning curve

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The investment we make in process improvement will not have an impact on current productivity;
because the time we spend developing better ways to work tomorrow is not available for today's
assignment. Improvements will take place over time and organizations should not expect and
promise miracles and should always remember the learning curve (See Figure 1.4).

Software Characteristics
Software is a logical entity rather than a physical system. So characteristics of software is different
from hardware. Some of the important characteristics are:
• Software does not wear out
• Software is not manufactured
• Reusability of Components
• Software is flexible
Software does not wear out: There is a well-known “bath tub curve” in reliability studies for
hardware products. The curve is given in Fig. 1.5. The shape of the curve is like “bath tub”; and is
known as bath tub curve.

Fig. 1.5: Bath tub curve

There are three phases for the life of a hardware product. Initial phase is burn-in phase, where
failure intensity is high. It is expected to test the product in the industry before delivery. Due to
testing and fixing faults, failure intensity will come down initially and may stabilise after certain
time. The second phase is the useful life phase where failure intensity is approximately constant and
is called useful life of a product. After few years, again failure intensity will increase due to wearing
out of components. This phase is called wear out phase. We do not have this phase for the software
as it does not wear out. The curve for software is given in Fig. 1.6.

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Fig. 1.6: Software curve

Important point is software becomes reliable overtime instead of wearing out. It becomes obsolete,
if the environment for which it was developed, changes. Hence software may be retired due to
environmental changes, new requirements, new expectations, etc.
(ii) Software is not manufactured: The life of a software is from concept exploration to the
retirement of the software product. It is one time development effort and continuous maintenance
effort in order to keep it operational. However, making 1000 copies is not an issue and it does not
involve any cost. In case of hardware product, every product costs us due to raw material and other
processing expenses. We do not have assembly line in software development. Hence it is not
manufactured in the classical sense.
(iii) Reusability of components: If we have to manufacture a TV, we may purchase picture tube
from one vendor, cabinet from another, design card from third and other electronic components
from fourth vendor. We will assemble every part and test the product thoroughly to produce a good
quality TV. We may be required to manufacture only a few components or no component at all. We
purchase every unit and component from the market and produce the finished product. We may
have standard quality guidelines and effective processes to produce a good quality product.
In software, every project is a new project. We start from the scratch and design every unit of the
software product. Huge effort is required to develop a software which further increases the cost of
the software product. However, effort has been made to design standard components that may be
used in new projects. Software reusability has introduced another area and is known as component
based software engineering. Eg. pull-down menus, graphics windows used in GUI.
(iv) Software is Flexible: Software can be developed to do almost anything. Sometimes, this
characteristic helps us to accommodate changes but most of the times, this makes software
development difficult to plan, monitor and control.

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Deliverables and Milestones

Different deliverables are generated during software development. The examples are source code,
user manuals, operating procedure manuals etc.
The milestones are the events that are used to ascertain the status of the project. Finalisation of
specification is a milestone. Completion of design documentation is another milestone. The
milestones are essential for project planning and management.

Product and Process

What is delivered to the customer, is called a product. It may include source code, specification
document, manuals, documentation etc. Basically, it is nothing but a set of deliverables only.
Process: Process is the way in which we produce software. It is the collection of activities that leads
to (a part of) a product. An efficient process is required to produce good quality products.

Software Process and Product Metrics

Software metrics are used to quantitatively characterise different aspects of software process or
software products. Process Metrics quantify the attributes of software development process and
environment. Examples of process metrics include productivity, quality, failure rate, efficiency etc.
Product Metrics measures the characteristics of software product. Examples of product metrics are
size, reliability, complexity, functionality etc.

Software life cycle models

Life cycle of the software starts from concept exploration and ends at the retirement of the software.
IEEE definition of software life cycle is: "The period of time that starts when a software product is
conceived and ends when the product is no longer available for use. The software life cycle
typically includes a requirement phase, design phase, implementation phase, test phase, Installation
and check out phase, operation and maintenance phase, and sometimes retirement phase".
A software life cycle model is a particular abstraction that represents a software life cycle. A
software life cycle model is often called a software development life cycle (SDLC).
Some of the well known models are:
• Waterfall model
• Increment process models
Iterative Enhancement Model
RAD Model
• Evolutionary process models
Prototyping model
Spiral model

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Waterfall Model
This is the simplest model and this model is named "waterfall model” because its diagrammatic
representation resembles a cascade of waterfalls. This model has five phases: requirement analysis
and specification, design, implementation and unit testing, integration and system testing and
operation and maintenance. The phases always occur in this order and do not overlap. The
developer must complete each phase before the next phase begins.
Requirement analysis and specification phase: - The goal of this phase is to understand the exact
requirements of the customer and to document them properly. This activity is usually executed
together with the customer, as the goal is to document all functions, performance and interfacing
requirements for the software. The requirements describe the ‘what' of a system not the ‘how’. This
phase produces a large document, written in a natural language, contains description of what the
system will do without describing how it will be done. The resultant document is known as software
requirement specification (SRS).
SRS acts as a - contract between the developer and customer, reference document for designers,
reference document for validation.
Design phase: - The goal of this phase is to transform the requirements specification into a
structure that is suitable for implementation in some programming language. Here, overall software
architecture is defined, and high level and detailed design work is performed. This work is
documented and known as software design description (SDD).
Implementation and unit testing phase:- During this phase design is implemented using the
information in SDD. During unit testing, small modules are tested in isolation from the rest of the
product. The problems associated with unit testing are solved by writing some overhead code.
Integration and system testing phase:- Integration testing mainly tests interface between modules
and system testing tests the entire system. Effective testing will contribute to the delivery of higher
quality software, more satisfied users, lower maintenance costs and more accurate and reliable
results. It is a very expensive activity and consumes one-third to one half of the cost of a
development project.
Operation and maintenance phase:- Release of software inaugurates the operation and
maintenance phase. The time spent and effort required to keep the software operational after release
is very important. Maintenance is a broad activity that includes error correction, enhancement of
capabilities and optimization.
Merits - This model is simple and and easy to understand and reinforces the notion of "define
before design" and "design before code”.
Demerits
1. The model expects complete & accurate requirements early in the process, which is
unrealistic.
2. This model is not suitable for accommodating any change.
3. A working version of the system is not seen until late in the project's life.

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4. It does not scale up well to large projects.

5. Real projects are rarely sequential.

INCREMENT PROCESS MODELS

Increment process models are effective in the situations where requirements are defined precisely
and there is no confusion about the functionality of the final product. After every cycle, a useable
product is given to the customer. For example, in the university automation software library
automation module may be delivered in the first phase and examination automation module in the
second phase and as so on. Every new cycle will have an additional functionality. Increment process
models are popular particularly when we have to quickly deliver a limited functionality system.
Iterative Enhancement Model
This model has the same phases as the waterfall model, but with fewer restrictions. Generally the
phases occur in the same order as in the waterfall model, but these may be conducted in several
cycles. A useable product is released at the end of the each cycle, with each release providing
additional functionality.
During the first requirements analysis phase, customers and developers specify as many
requirements as possible and prepare a SRS document. Developers and customers then prioritize
these requirements. Developers implement the specified requirements in one or more cycles of
design, implementation and test based on the defined priorities. The model is given in Fig. 2.3.

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The complete product is divided into releases, and the developer delivers the product release by
release. At each release, customer has an operational quality product that does a portion of what is
required. With this model, first release may be available within few weeks or months, whereas the
customer generally waits months or years to receive a product using the waterfall and prototyping
model.

The Rapid Application Development (RAD) Model

This model is an incremental process model and was developed by IBM. Unique features of this
model are:
• Continuous user involvement from requirement to delivery of the product.
• Maximum use of tools.
The process is started with building a rapid prototype and is given to user for evaluation. The user
feedback is obtained and prototype is refined. The process continues, till the requirements are
finalized. There are four phases in this model and these are shown in fig below.

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Requirements Planning phase: Requirements are collected using any elicitation technique.
User Description: Joint team of developers and users are constituted to prepare, understand and
review the requirements. The team may use automated tools to capture information from the other
users.
Construction phase: This phase combines the detailed design, coding and testing phase of
waterfall model. Here, we release the product to customer. It is expected to use code generators,
screen generators, and other types of productivity tools.
Cut over phase: This phase incorporates acceptance testing by the users, installation of the system
and user training.
Merits:
• Quick initial views about the product are possible due to delivery of rapid prototype.
• The development time is reduced due to the use of powerful tools.
• Use of CASE tools increases productivity.
• Involvement of users may increase the acceptability of the product.
Demerits:
• Not an appropriate model in the absence of user participation.
• Reusable components are required to reduce development time.
• Highly specialized & skilled developers are required and such developers are not easily
available.

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Evolutionary process models

Evolutionary process model resembles iterative enhancement model. The same phases as defined
for the waterfall model occur here in a cyclical fashion. This model differs from iterative
enhancement model in the sense that this does not require a useable product at the end of each
cycle. In evolutionary development, requirements are implemented by category rather than by
priority.

For eg, in a simple database application, one cycle might implement the graphical user interface:
another file manipulation; another queries; and another updates. All four cycles must complete
before there is working product available. GUI allow users to interact with the system; file
manipulation allows data to be saved and retrieved; queries allow users to get data out of the
system: and updates allow users to put data into the system. In contrast, an iterative enhancement
model would start by developing a very simplistic, but usable database.

This model is useful for projects using new technology that is not well understood. This is also used
for complex projects where all functionality must be delivered at one time, but the requirements are
unstable or not well understood at the beginning.

Prototyping Model
In this model, a working prototype is developed first instead of developing actual software. It is
developed as per current available requirements in minimum time. It has limited functional
capabilities, low reliability and quality. Developers use this prototype to refine requirements and
prepare final SRS. Because the working prototype has been evaluated by the customer, it is
reasonable to expect that SRS will be correct. Moreover, the experience gathered helps in
developing the actual system. The development of a prototype might involve extra cost, but overall
cost might turnout to be lower than that of an equivalent system developed using the waterfall
model.
The prototype may be a usable program but is not suitable as the final software product. The code
for the prototype is thrown away after determining customer's real needs and actual system is
developed using waterfall approach. Thus it is used as an input to waterfall model and produce
maintainable and good quality software.

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Spiral Model
Traditional process models do not deal with uncertainty which is inherent to software projects.
Important software projects have failed because project risks were neglected & nobody was
prepared when something unforeseen happened. Barry Boehm recognized this and tried to
incorporate the “project risk” factor into a life cycle model. The result is the spiral model, which
was presented in 1986.

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The radial dimension of the model represents the cumulative costs. Each path around the spiral is
indicative of increased costs. The angular dimension represents the progress made in completing
each cycle. Each loop of the spiral from X-axis clockwise through 360° represents one phase. One
phase is split roughly into four sectors of major activities:
Planning: Determination of objectives, alternatives and constraints
Risk analysis: Analyze alternatives and attempts to identify and resolve the risks involved
Development: Product development and testing product
Assessment: Customer evaluation
During the first phase, planning is performed, risks are analyzed, prototypes are built, and
customers evaluate the prototype. During the second phase, a more refined prototype is built,
requirements are documented and validated, and customers are involved in assessing the new

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prototype. By the time the third phase begins, risks are known, and a somewhat more traditional
development approach is taken.
An important feature of the spiral model is that each phase is completed with a review by the people
concerned with the project (designers and programmers). This review consists of a review of all the
products developed up to that point and includes the plans for the next cycle.
Merits:
• The main advantage of this model is the wide range of options to accommodate the good
features of other life cycle models.
• It becomes equivalent to another life cycle model in appropriate situations.
• It also incorporates quality goals into software development.
• The risk analysis and validation steps eliminate errors in the early phases of development.
• Changing requirements can be accommodated.
• Allows extensive use of prototypes.
• Requirements can be captured more accurately.
• Users see the system early.
• Development can be divided into smaller parts and the risky parts can be developed earlier
which helps in better risk management.
Demerits:
The spiral model has some difficulties that need to be resolved before it can be a universally applied
life cycle model. These difficulties include,
• Lack of explicit process guidance in determining objectives, constraints, alternatives;
• Requires highly specific expertise in risk analysis.
• provides more flexibility than required for many applications.
• Not suitable for small or low risk projects and could be expensive for small projects.

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SELECTION OF A LIFE CYCLE MODEL

The selection of a suitable model is based on the following characteristics/categories:
• Requirements
• Development team
• Users
• Project type and associated risk.
Characteristics of Requirements
Requirements are very important for the selection of an appropriate model. There are number of
situations and problems during requirements capturing and analysis. The details are given in Table
2.1.

Table 2.1
Status of Development Team
The status of the development team in terms of availability, effectiveness, knowledge, intelligence,
team work etc., is very important for the success of the project. If we know the above mentioned
parameters and characteristics of the team, then we may choose an appropriate life cycle model for
the project. Some of the details are given in Table 2.2.

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Table 2.2
Involvement of Users
Involvement of users increases the understandability of the project. Hence user participation, if
available, plays a very significant role in the selection of an appropriate life cycle model. Some
issues are discussed in Table 2.3.

Table 2.3

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Type of Project and Associated Risk

Very few models incorporate risk assessment. Project type is also important for the selection of a
model. Some issues are discussed in Table 2.4.

Table 2.4
An appropriate model may be selected based on options given in four Tables .Firstly, we have to
answer the questions presented for each category by circling a yes or no in each table. Rank the
importance of each category in terms of the project for which we want to select a model. The total
number of circled responses for each column in the tables decide an appropriate model. We may
also use the category ranking to resolve the conflicts between models if the total in either case is
close or the same.

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