An Introduction to Software

Engineering

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 1

 Objectives

To introduce software engineering and to explain
its importance

To set out the answers to key questions about
software engineering

To introduce ethical and professional issues and
to explain why they are a concern to software
engineers

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 2

 Topics covered


FAQs about software engineering

Professional and ethical responsibility

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 3

 Software engineering

The economies of ALL developed nations are
dependent on software.

More and more systems are software controlled

Software engineering is concerned with theories,
methods and tools for professional software
development.

paying out on software represents a
significant fraction of GNP in all developed
countries.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 4

 Software costs

Software costs often dominate computer system
costs. The costs of software on a PC are often
greater than the hardware cost.

Software costs more to maintain than it does to
develop. For systems with a long life,
maintenance costs may be several times
development costs.

Software engineering is concerned with cost-
effective software development.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 5

 FAQs about software engineering

What is software?

What is software engineering?

What is the difference between software
engineering and computer science?

What is the difference between software
engineering and system engineering?

What is a software process?

What is a software process model?

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 6

 FAQs about software engineering

What are the costs of software engineering?

What are software engineering methods?

What is CASE (Computer-Aided Software
Engineering)

What are the attributes of good software?

What are the key challenges facing software
engineering?

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 7

 What is software?

Computer programs and associated documentation such
as requirements, design models and user manuals.

Software products may be developed for a particular
customer or may be developed for a general market.

Software products may be
• Generic - developed to be sold to a range of different
customers e.g. PC software such as Excel or Word.
• Bespoke (custom) - developed for a single customer according
to their specification.

New software can be created by developing new
programs, configuring generic software systems or
reusing existing software.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 8

 What is software engineering?

Software engineering is an engineering discipline
that is concerned with all aspects of software
production.

Software engineers should adopt a systematic
and organised approach to their work and use
appropriate tools and techniques depending on
the problem to be solved, the development
constraints and the resources available.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 9

 What is the difference between software
engineering and computer science?


Computer science is concerned with theory and
fundamentals; software engineering is concerned
with the practicalities of developing and
delivering useful software.

Computer science theories are still insufficient to
act as a complete infrastructure for software
engineering (unlike e.g. physics and electrical
engineering).

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 10

 What is the difference between software
engineering and system engineering?


System engineering is concerned with all
aspects of computer-based systems
development including hardware, software and
process engineering. Software engineering is
part of this process concerned with developing
the software infrastructure, control, applications
and databases in the system.

System engineers are involved in system
specification, architectural design, integration
and deployment.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 11

 What is a software process?

A set of activities whose goal is the development
or evolution of software.

Generic activities in all software processes are:
• Specification - what the system should do and its
development constraints
• Development - production of the software system
• Validation - checking that the software is what the
customer wants
• Evolution - changing the software in response to
changing demands.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 12

 What is a software process model?

A simplified representation of a software process,
presented from a specific perspective.

Examples of process perspectives are
• Workflow perspective - sequence of activities;
• Data-flow perspective - information flow;
• Role/action perspective - who does what.

Generic process models
• Waterfall;
• Iterative development;
• Component-based software engineering.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 13

 What are the costs of software engineering?


Roughly 60% of costs are development costs,
40% are testing costs. For custom software,
evolution costs often exceed development costs.

Costs vary depending on the type of system
being developed and the requirements of system
attributes such as performance and system
reliability.

Distribution of costs depends on the
development model that is used.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 14

 Activity cost distribution
Waterfall model
0 25 50 75 100

Specification Design Development Integration and testing

It erative development

0 25 50 75 100

Specification Iterative development System testing

Component-based software eng

ineering

0 25 50 75 100

Specification Development Integration and testing

Development and evolution costs for long-lifetime syst

ems
0 10 200 30 400

System development System evolution

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 15

 What are software engineering methods?


Structured approaches to software development which
include system models, notations, rules, design advice
and process guidance.

Model descriptions
• Descriptions of graphical models which should be produced;

Rules
• Constraints applied to system models;

Recommendations
• Advice on good design practice;

Process guidance
• What activities to follow.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 16

 What is CASE (Computer-Aided Software
Engineering)


Software systems that are intended to provide automated
support for software process activities.

CASE systems are often used for method support.

Upper-CASE
• Tools to support the early process activities of requirements
and design;

Lower-CASE
• Tools to support later activities such as programming,
debugging and testing.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 17

 What are the attributes of good software?


The software should deliver the required functionality and
performance to the user and should be maintainable,
dependable and acceptable.

Maintainability
• Software must evolve to meet changing needs;

Dependability
• Software must be trustworthy;

Efficiency
• Software should not make wasteful use of system resources;

Acceptability
• Software must accepted by the users for which it was designed. This
means it must be understandable, usable and compatible with other
systems.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 18

 What are the key challenges facing software
engineering?


Heterogeneity, delivery and trust.

Heterogeneity
• Developing techniques for building software that can cope with
heterogeneous platforms and execution environments;

Delivery
• Developing techniques that lead to faster delivery of software;

Trust
• Developing techniques that demonstrate that software can be
trusted by its users.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 19

 FAQs

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 20

 FAQs

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 22

Professional and ethical responsibility

Software engineering involves wider
responsibilities than simply the application of
technical skills.

Software engineers must behave in an honest
and ethically responsible way if they are to be
respected as professionals.

Ethical behaviour is more than simply upholding
the law.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 23

 Issues of professional responsibility

Confidentiality
• Engineers should normally respect the confidentiality
of their employers or clients regardless of whether or
not a formal confidentiality agreement has been
signed.

Competence
• Engineers should not misrepresent their level of
competence. They should not accept work which is
out with their competence.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 24

 Issues of professional responsibility

Intellectual property rights
• Engineers should be aware of local laws governing the use of
intellectual property such as patents, copyright, etc. They
should be careful to ensure that the intellectual property of
employers and clients is protected.

Computer misuse
• Software engineers should not use their technical skills to
misuse other people’s computers. Computer misuse ranges
from relatively trivial (game playing on an employer’s machine,
say) to extremely serious (dissemination of viruses).

‫ * براءة اإلختراع‬Patents •

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 25

 ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics

The professional societies in the US have
cooperated to produce a code of ethical practice.

Members of these organisations sign up to the
code of practice when they join.

The Code contains eight Principles related to the
behaviour of and decisions made by professional
software engineers, including practitioners,
educators, managers, supervisors and policy
makers, as well as trainees and students of the
profession.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 26

 Code of ethics - principles

PUBLIC
• Software engineers shall act consistently with the public
interest.

CLIENT AND EMPLOYER
• Software engineers shall act in a manner that is in the best
interests of their client and employer consistent with the public
interest.

PRODUCT
• Software engineers shall ensure that their products and related
modifications meet the highest professional standards possible.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 27

 Code of ethics - principles

JUDGMENT
• Software engineers shall maintain integrity and independence
in their professional judgment.

MANAGEMENT
• Software engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to
and promote an ethical approach to the management of
software development and maintenance.

PROFESSION
• Software engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation
of the profession consistent with the public interest.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 28

 Code of ethics - principles

COLLEAGUES
• Software engineers shall be fair to and supportive of
their colleagues.

SELF
• Software engineers shall participate in lifelong
learning regarding the practice of their profession
and shall promote an ethical approach to the practice
of the profession.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 29

 Ethical Dilemmas

Disagreement in principle with the policies of
senior management.

Your employer acts in an unethical way and
releases a safety-critical system without finishing
the testing of the system.

Participation in the development of military
weapons systems or nuclear systems.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 30

 Key points

Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is
concerned with all aspects of software production.

Software products consist of developed programs and
associated documentation. Essential product attributes
are maintainability, dependability, efficiency and usability.

The software process consists of activities that are
involved in developing software products. Basic activities
are software specification, development, validation and
evolution.

Methods are organised ways of producing software. They
include suggestions for the process to be followed, the
notations to be used, rules governing the system
descriptions which are produced and design guidelines.
©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 31
 Key points

CASE tools are software systems which are designed to
support routine activities in the software process such as
editing design diagrams, checking diagram consistency
and keeping track of program tests which have been run.

Software engineers have responsibilities to the
engineering profession and society. They should not
simply be concerned with technical issues.

Professional societies publish codes of conduct which set
out the standards of behaviour expected of their
members.

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 32

©Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,. Chapter 1 Slide 33