SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

CONCEPTS
TEE 1231
INTRODUCTION TO SE

• Software engineering is an engineering branch

associated with development of software
product using well-defined scientific principles,
methods and procedures. The outcome of
software engineering is an efficient and reliable
software product.
• Software project management has wider scope
than software engineering process as it involves
communication, pre and post delivery support
etc.
COURSE OBJECTIVES

• At the end of the course should the student

should be equipped with the understanding of
software engineering concepts. That is
• software product,
• software design and development process,
• software project management
• and related design complexities etc.
SE OVERVIEW

• What is Software?
• What is Engineering?
What is Software?

• Software is more than just a program code.

• A program is an executable code, which
serves some computational purpose.
What is Software?

• Software is considered a collection of

• executable programming code,
• associated libraries and documentations.
• when made for a specific requirement is
called software product.
What is Software?

• Software when made up of a specific

requirement is called a software product.
What is Engineering?

• Engineering is all about

• developing products,

• using well-defined, scientific principles

and methods.
• We apply mathematical laws …differential eqns,
laplace, fourier to design filters, tuned circuits.
Physics EM waves to design antenaes.
• Chemistry biology etc to design sensors eg
blood pressure pulse rate stress levels.
WHAT IS SOFTWARE ENGINEERING?

• Software engineering is an engineering

branch associated with development of
software product using well-defined scientific
principles, methods and procedures.
• The outcome of software engineering is an
efficient and reliable software product.
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CONCEPT
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CONCEPT

• The above diagram provides an illustration of

the stages that a software production process
goes through.
• Imagine any engineering product does go from
an idea on the drawing board that has to satisfy
certain requirements. The product goes through
analysis design and actual production.
• Initially the software product is a concept thus
needs deeper analysis from abstraction to
concrete realisation.
SOME SE DEFINITIONS- IEEE

• 1 The application of a systematic,

disciplined, quantifiable approach to the
development, operation and maintenance of
software; that is, the application of
engineering to software.

• 2 The study of approaches as in the above

statement.
SOME SE DEFINITIONS- Fritz Bauer
(German computer scientist)
• Software engineering is the Establishment and
use of sound engineering principles to obtain
economically software that is reliable and works
on real machines efficiently.
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION

.
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION

• The process of developing a software product

using software engineering principles and
methods is referred to as software evolution.
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION

• This includes the initial development of

software and its maintenance and updates, till
desired software product is developed, which
satisfies the expected requirements
Software Evolution stages

• requirement gathering process.

• software prototype creation by developers
• users feedback at the early stage
of software product development.
• The users suggest changes, on which several
consecutive
updates and maintenance keep on changing
too.
• This process changes to the original software,
till
the desired software is accomplished.
Even after the user has desired software in
hand, the advancing technology and the
changing
requirements force the software product to
change accordingly
Special Note

• Re-creating software from scratch

and to go one-on-one with requirement is not
feasible. The only feasible and economical
solution
is to update the existing software so that it
matches the latest requirements.
Software Evolution Laws

• Lehman has given laws for software evolution.

He divided the software into three different
categories:
• S-type that is static−type
• P-type practical −type
• E-type embedded −type
Lehman’s
Static Software Evolution Law

• Lehman has given laws for software evolution. He

divided the software into three different
• categories:
• S-type is a software, which works strictly
according to defined specifications and solutions.
• The solution and the method to achieve it, both are
immediately understood before coding.
• The s-type software is least subjected to changes
hence this is the simplest of all.
• For example, calculator program for
mathematical computation.
Lehman’s Practical Software
Evolution Law

• P-type is a software with a collection of

procedures.
• This is defined by
• exactly what procedures can do. In this
software, the specifications can be described
but the
• solution is not obvious instantly. For example,
gaming software.
Lehman’s Embedded type Software
Evolution
• E-type or embedded−type software works
closely as the requirement of real-world
• environment.
• This software has a high degree of evolution as
there are various changes in
• laws, taxes etc. in the real world situations. For
example, Online trading software.
The Eight laws for E-Type software
evolution
• In order that the software evolution follow the
real world. The following laws must be in place..
The Eight laws for E-Type software
evolution

1 Continuing change – An E-type software system

must evolve in a manner that it continues to adapt to
the real world changes, else it becomes progressively
less useful. Redundant!

2 Increasing complexity - As an E-type software

system evolves, its complexity should continue to
increase unless work is done to maintain or reduce it.
( i.e. Some modification is done rendering it less
complex)
The Eight laws for E-Type software
evolution
3 Conservation of familiarity - The familiarity
with the software or the knowledge about how
and why was it developed in that particular
manner etc. must be retained at any cost, to
implement the changes in the system.
4 Continuing growth- In order for an E-type
system to resolve some business problem, its
size of implementing the changes grows
according to the lifestyle changes of the
business.
5 Reducing quality - The quality of an E-type
system will appear to be declining unless it is
rigorously maintained and adapted to operational
environment change.
6 Feedback systems- E-type evolution processes
constitute multi-level, multi-loop, multi-agent
feedback systems and must be treated as such to
achieve significant improvement over any
reasonable base.
The Eight laws for E-Type software
evolution
7 Self-regulation - E-type system evolution
processes are self-regulating with the distribution
• of product and process measures close to
normal.
8 Conservation of Organizational
stability(invariant work rate) - the average
effective global activity rate in an evolving E-type
system is invariant over the product's lifetime.
(That is its activity is constant throughout its life.)
Software Paradigms
Software Paradigms

• Software paradigms refer to the methods and

steps, which are taken while designing the
software.
• There are many methods proposed which are
at work today, there is the need to see where in
the
• software engineering these paradigms stand.
These can be combined into various categories,
• though each of them is contained in one
another:
• Programming paradigm is a subset of Software
design paradigm which is further a subset of
• Software development paradigm.
Software Development Paradigm

• This Paradigm is known as software

engineering paradigms where all the
engineering concepts pertaining to the
development of software are applied.
• It includes various researches and
requirement gathering which helps the software
product to build. It consists of –
• Requirement gathering
• Software design
• Programming
Software Design Paradigm

• This paradigm is a part of Software

Development and includes –
• Design
• Maintenance
• Programming
Programming Paradigm

• This paradigm is related closely to programming

aspect of software development. This includes
–
• Coding
• Testing
• Integration
NEED FOR SOFTWARE
ENGINEERING
Need of Software Engineering

• The need of software engineering arises

because of higher rate of change in user
requirements
• and environment on which the software is
working. The main factors that have resulted in
the need of producing software products using
structured methods are as follows
• Large software - It is easier to build a wall than
a house or building, likewise, as the size
• of software becomes large engineering has to
step in to give SW a scientific process.
• Scalability- If the software process were not based
on scientific and engineering concepts, it
• would be easier to re-create new software than to
scale an existing one. Larger systems evolve from
small-scale ones…database from a few tables to
100s plus
• Cost- As hardware industry has shown its skills and
huge manufacturing has lower down the
• price of computer and electronic hardware. But the
cost of software remains high if proper processes
are not adapted.
• Dynamic Nature- The always growing and
adapting nature of software hugely depends
• upon the environment in which user works. If the
nature of software is always changing, new
• enhancements need to be done in the existing one.
This is where software engineering plays
• a good role.
• Quality Management- Better process of software
development provides better and quality
• software product.
Characteristics of good software
• First and foremost, a software product must
meet all the requirements of the customer or
end-user.
• the cost of developing and maintaining the
software should be low.
• The development of software should be
completed in the specified time-frame.
• These are the obvious things which are
expected from any project (and software
development is a project in itself).
• The three characteristics of good application
software are :-
1) Operational Characteristics
2) Transitional Characteristics
3) Revision Characteristics

• These set of factors can be easily explained by

Software Quality Triangle.
The Software Quality Triangle.
Software Operational Characteristics
a) Correctness: The software should meet all the
specifications stated by the customer. ( ie answers
the question ..Is it what the customer ordered?)

b) Usability/Learnability: The amount of efforts

or time required to learn how to use the software
should be less. This makes the software
user-friendly even for IT-illiterate people. ( Naïve
users…is there enough documentation..to
start-run..operate the software…?)
SW Operational Characteristics

•
c) Integrity : Just like medicines have
side-effects, in the same way a software may
have a side-effect i.e. it may affect the working
of another application. But a quality software
should not have side effects.
d) Reliability : The software product should
not have any defects. Not only this, it shouldn't
fail while execution. (No hidden aspects…lives
up to expectations no surprises during
operation…bugs that may cause it to
hang..crash etc)
SW Operational Characteristics
• e) Efficiency : This characteristic relates to the way software uses the available
resources. The software should make effective use of the storage space and
execute commands as per desired timing requirements. (Does not slow down or
use up system resources eg memory. Is multithreaded can run sub- processes or
threads to assist OS.. )
-
f) Security : With the increase in security threats nowadays, this factor is gaining
importance. The software shouldn't have ill effects on data / hardware. Proper
measures should be taken to keep data secure from external threats. (Product does
not take over OS processes…is separated from host system…operates outside of the
hardware,,eg uses virtual machine…software that emulates hardware without affecting
it.)
•
g) Safety : The software should not be hazardous to the environment/life.
(Some Software systems are used in patient monitoring, emergency relief, Accident
fire services. They should be able to perform safely without harming the users..eg not
provide false alarms ..eg fire where there is none or wrong patient health readings eg
in a neonatal incubator..humidifiers..temperature etc. wrong location or warning of an
earthquake…etc )
SW Transition Characteristics

• a) Interoperability : Interoperability is the ability of software to

exchange information with other applications and make use of
information transparently.
•
b) Reusability : If we are able to use the software code with some
modifications for different purpose then we call software to be
reusable. (Object Oriented programming OOP uses classes which
can be “inherited” . These present a core program that a user can
modify eg the MSOffice Document is a class which a user can use
without having to rewrite it…..a user can add-on contents. Most
classes at lower levels can be implemented in code..eg Java)
•
c)Portability : software portability is demonstrated by its ability of to
perform same functions across all environments and platforms.
Same software being used on different machines/hardware. Same
software useable with different OSes.
SW Revision Characteristics

a) Maintainability : Any kind of user should be

able to carry out maintenance of the software with
ease.
b) Flexibility : Changes in the software should be
easy to make.
c) Extensibility : It should be easy to increase or
extend the functions performed by the SW.
SW Revision Characteristics

•
d) Scalability : It should be very easy to
upgrade it for more work-load (or for an
increased number of users).
e) Testability : Testing the software should be
easy and comprehensive.(Easy especially if its
modularised…)
SW Revision Characteristics

•
f) Modularity : Any software is said to made of
units and modules which are independent of
each other. (These modules are then integrated
to make the final software. If the software is
divided into separate independent parts that
can be modified, tested separately, it has high
modularity. High modularity implies loose
coupling. Programming uses
functions…methods..subroutines to ensure
modularity)
SUMMARY ON GOOD SW
CHARACTERISTICS
• Importance of any of these factors varies from
application to application. In systems where
human life is at stake – critical systems eg life
support, fire, emergency, relief accident-
integrity and reliability factors must be given
prime importance.
• In any business related application where
cost saving is primary usability and
maintainability are key factors to be
considered.
SUMMARY ON GOOD SW
CHARACTERISTICS
• Always remember in Software Engineering,
quality of software is everything,
• Thus the developer/ Engineer must try to deliver
a product which has all these characteristics
and qualities at ALL COST!!
Conclusion on SE intro

In short, Software engineering is a branch of

computer science, which uses well-defined
engineering concepts required to produce
• efficient,
• durable,
• scalable,
• in-budget and on-time software products.