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BCS THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR IT

BCS HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS


BCS Level 6 Professional Graduate Diploma in IT
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING 2
Friday 2nd October 2015 - Morning
Answer any THREE questions out of FIVE. All questions carry equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
Answer any Section A questions you attempt in Answer Book A
Answer any Section B questions you attempt in Answer Book B
The marks given in brackets are indicative of the weight given to each part of the question.

Calculators are NOT allowed in this examination.


Section A
Answer Section A questions in Answer Book A

A1.
a) Explain what is meant by software re-factoring. Discuss the steps involved in
re-factoring a large software system and discuss why re-factoring little and often
may be a more effective strategy for a software development team to adopt.
(10 Marks)
b) A company wishes to convert a desktop application interacting with a local
database to a web-based database application where the database will be on a
remote server and users will access the application via a web browser. Discuss
the high level architecture of both systems and indicate what steps you would
undertake to achieve the necessary conversion.
(10 Marks)
c) During the course of the project, the company decides that it wishes the new
web-based applications interface to be made accessible to international users.
How can this be achieved and what advantages would the company achieve by
having an application that is accessible to international users?
(5 Marks)

A2.
a) Explain why it is necessary to maintain a software system over its lifetime. In
your answer, you should outline the various types of maintenance that
software systems require and give examples of each type.
(12 Marks)
b) Discuss at least three factors which contribute to difficulties during software
maintenance and give examples of each.
(9 Marks)
c) It has been stated that it is equally important to maintain all the associated
documentation of a system as well as its software over time. Discuss the
reasons for this statement.
(4 Marks)

Section B
Answer Section B questions in Answer Book B

B1.
a) Present an outline of a software improvement framework with which you are
familiar (for example CMMI), and discuss how such frameworks handle
evaluation and improvement management.
(15 Marks)
b) Discuss the extent to which the software industry of today is moving towards
and achieving the very highest level of excellence, by using such frameworks.
(10 Marks)

B2.
a) For each of the following reuse techniques, provide a clear definition and
appropriate examples of usage:
i.
Application system reuse
ii.
Component-based development
iii.
Design patterns
(15 Marks)
b) Explain why, despite the real and potential benefits of reuse, some
companies still experience major difficulties with it.
(10 Marks)

B3.
a) A company is looking to develop a new proprietary software application that
can compete amongst current social media platforms. As Chief Analyst, give
an outline of the different stages of requirements engineering, and discuss the
tools and techniques that you would adopt to derive a complete and
consistent requirements specification from the company.
(15 Marks)
b) Discuss why many systems continue to fall below user expectations, despite
the established practice of software requirements engineering.
(10 Marks)

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