SoftwareRequirements

Software Requirements – Descriptions and specifications of a system

Objectives: To introduce the concepts of user and system requirements To describe functional / non-
functional requirements To explain two techniques for describing system requirements To explain how
software requirements may be organized in a requirements document

Topics covered – Functional and non-functional requirements

– User requirements– System requirements– The software requirements document

Requirements-engineering…
Requirements engineering is the process of establishing the services that the customer requires from a system
the constraints under which it operates and is developed Requirements. The descriptions of the system services
and constraints that are generated during the requirements engineering process

What is a requirement?

It may range from a high-level abstract statement of a service or of a system constraint to a detailed
mathematical functional specification This is inevitable as requirements may serve a dual function May be the
basis for a bid for a contract - therefore must be open to interpretation May be the basis for the contract itself -
therefore must be defined in detail Both these statements may be called requirements

Types of requirement User requirements System requirements

Statements in natural language plus diagrams of the services the system provides and its operational
constraints. Written for customers System requirements A structured document setting out detailed
descriptions of the system services. Written as a contract between client and contractor Software specification
A detailed software description which can serve as a basis for a design or implementation. Written for
developers

Functional and non-functional requirements

Statements of services the system should provide, how the system should react to particular inputs and how the
system should behave in particular situations .Non-functional requirements constraints on the services or
functions offered by the system such as timing constraints, constraints on the development process, standards,
etc. Domain requirements Requirements that come from the application domain of the system and that reflect
characteristics of that domain

Functional-Requirements
Describe functionality or system services Depend on the type of software, expected users and the type of
system where the software is used Functional user requirements may be high-level statements of what the
system should do BUT functional system requirements should describe the system services in detail

Examples of functional requirements

The user shall be able to search either all of the initial set of databases or select a subset from it. The system
shall provide appropriate viewers for the user to read documents in the document store. Every order shall be
allocated a unique identifier (ORDER_ID) which the user shall be able to copy to the account’s permanent
storage area.
Requirements-imprecision
Problems arise when requirements are not precisely stated Ambiguous requirements may be interpreted in
different ways by developers and users Consider the term ‘appropriate viewers’User intention - special
purpose viewer for each different document type Developer interpretation - Provide a text viewer that shows
the contents of the document

Requirements completeness and consistency

In principle requirements should be both complete and consistent Complete They should include descriptions
of all facilities required Consistent There should be no conflicts or contradictions in the descriptions of the
system facilities In practice, it is very difficult or impossible to produce a complete and consistent
requirements document

Non-functional-requirements
Define system properties and constraints e.g. reliability, response time and storage requirements. Constraints
are I/O device capability, system representations, etc. Process requirements may also be specified mandating a
particular CASE system, programming language or development method Non-functional requirements may be
more critical than functional requirements. If these are not met, the system is useless

Non-functional-classifications
Product requirements Requirements which specify that the delivered product must behave in a particular way
e.g. execution speed, reliability, etc .Organisational requirements Requirements which are a consequence of
organisational policies and procedures e.g. process standards used, implementation requirements, etc.External
requirements Requirements which arise from factors which are external to the system and its development
process e.g. interoperability requirements, legislative requirements, etc.

Non-functional requirement types

Non-functional requirements examples

Product requirement4.C.8 It shall be possible for all necessary communication between the APSE and the user
to be expressed in the standard Ada character set Organisational requirement The system development process
and deliverable documents shall conform to the process and deliverables defined in XYZCo-SP-STAN-
95External requirement The system shall not disclose any personal information about customers apart from
their name and reference number to the operators of the system

Goals and requirements

Non-functional requirements may be very difficult to state precisely and imprecise requirements may be
difficult to verify. GoalA general intention of the user such as ease of use Verifiable non-functional
requirement A statement using some measure that can be objectively tested Goals are helpful to developers as
they convey the intentions of the system users

Examples A system goal A verifiable non-functional requirement

The system should be easy to use by experienced controllers and should be organised in such a way that user
errors are minimised. A verifiable non-functional requirement Experienced controllers shall be able to use all
the system functions after a total of two hours training. After this training, the average number of errors made
by experienced users shall not exceed two per day.

Requirements measures

Requirements-interaction
Conflicts between different non-functional requirements are common in complex systems Spacecraft system
To minimise weight, the number of separate chips in the system should be minimized To minimise power
consumption, lower power chips should be used However, using low power chips may mean that more chips
haveto be used. Which is the most critical requirement?
 Domain requirements Derived from the application domain and describe system characteristics and features
that reflect the domain May be new functional requirements, constraints on existing requirements or define
specific computations If domain requirements are not satisfied, the system may be unworkable

Domain requirements problems

Understandability Requirements are expressed in the language of the application domain This is often not
understood by software engineers developing the system Implicitness Domain specialists understand the area
so well that they do not think of making the domain requirements explicit

User requirements Should describe functional and non-functional requirements so that they are understandable
by system users who don’t have detailed technical knowledge User requirements are defined using natural
language, tables and diagrams

Problems with natural language

Lack of clarity Precision is difficult without making the document difficult to read Requirements confusion
Functional and non-functional requirements tend to be mixed-up Requirements amalgamation Several
different requirements may be expressed together

Guidelines for writing requirements

Invent a standard format and use it for all requirements Use language in a consistent way. Use shall for
mandatory requirements, should for desirable requirements Use text highlighting to identify key parts of the
requirement Avoid the use of computer jargon !!!

System requirements– More detailed specifications of user requirements Serve as a basis for designing the
system May be used as part of the system contract System requirements may be expressed using system
models (will be discussed in Lecture 6)

Requirements-and-design
In principle, requirements should state what the system should do and the design should describe how it does
this In practice, requirements and design are inseparable A system architecture may be designed to structure
the requirements The system may inter-operate with other systems that generate design requirements The use
of a specific design may be a domain requirement

Problems with NL specification

Ambiguity The readers and writers of the requirement must interpret the same words in the same way. NL is
naturally ambiguous so this is very difficult Over-flexibility The same thing may be said in a number of
different ways in the specification Lack of modularization NL structures are inadequate to structure system
requirements

Alternatives to NL specification

Structured language specifications

A limited form of natural language may be used to express requirements This removes some of the problems
resulting from ambiguity and flexibility and imposes a degree of uniformity on a specification Often best
supported using a forms-based approach Special-purpose forms where designed to describe the input, output
and functions of a software system

Form-based-pecifications
Definition of the function or entity Description of inputs and where they come from Description of outputs and
where they go to Indication of other entities required Pre and post conditions (if appropriate)The side effects (if
any)

PDL-based-requirements-definition
Requirements may be defined operationally using a language like a programming language but with more
flexibility of expression Most appropriate in two situations Where an operation is specified as a sequence of
actions and the order is important When hardware and software interfaces have to be specified Disadvantages
are The PDL may not be sufficiently expressive to define domain concepts The specification will be taken as a
design rather than a specification

Part of an ATM specification

PDL disadvantages PDL may not be sufficiently expressive to express the system functionality in an
understandable way Notation is only understandable to people with programming language knowledge he
requirement may be taken as a design specification rather than a model to help understand the system

Interface-specification
Most systems must operate with other systems and the operating interfaces must be specified as part of the
requirements Three types of interface may have to be defined Procedural interfaces Data structures that are
exchanged Data representations Formal notations are an effective technique for interface specification

PDL interface description

The-requirements-document
The requirements document is the official statement of what is required of the system developers Should
include both a definition and a specification of requirements It is NOT a design document. As far as possible, it
should set of WHAT the system should do rather than HOW it should do it

Users of a requirements document

Requirements document requirements

Specify external system behaviour Specify implementation constraints Easy to change Serve as reference tool
for maintenance Record forethought about the life cycle of the system i.e. predict changes Characterise
responses to unexpected events

IEEE requirements standard

Introduction General description Specific requirements Appendices Index This is a generic structure that must
be instantiated for specific systems

Requirements document structure

Introduction Glossary User requirements definition System architecture System requirements specification
System models System evolution Appendices Index

Next lecture System Models

Key points Requirements set out what the system should do and define constraints on its operation and
implementation Functional requirements set out services the system should provide Non-functional
requirements constrain the system being developed or the development process User requirements are high-
level statements of what the system should do

Key points User requirements should be written in natural language, tables and diagrams System requirements
are intended to communicate the functions that the system should provide System requirements may be written
in structured natural language, a PDL or in a formal language A software requirements document is an agreed
statement of the system requirements