SOFTWARE

ENGINEERING
CO3001
CHAPTER 2 – SOFTWARE PROCESSES Thang Bui
(bhthang@hcmut.edu.vn)

WEEK 2
TOPICS COVERED

Software process models

Process activities
Coping with change
Process improvement

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THE SOFTWARE PROCESS

A structured set of activities required to develop a

software system.
Many different software processes but all involve:
 Specification
 Design and implementation
 Validation
 Evolution.
A software process model
 an abstract representation of a process

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SOME SOFTWARE PROCESS MODELS

The waterfall model

 Plan-driven model.
 Separate and distinct phases of specification and development.
Incremental development
 Specification, development and validation are interleaved.
 May be plan-driven or agile.
Integration and configuration
 The system is assembled from existing configurable components.
 May be plan-driven or agile.
In practice, most large systems are developed using a
process that incorporates elements from all of these
models.

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THE WATERFALL MODEL

In principle, a phase has to be complete before moving onto the

next phase.
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WATERFALL MODEL USAGES

The main drawback:

 the difficulty of accommodating change after the process
is underway.
Mostly used for large systems engineering projects
 a system is developed at several sites.
 the plan-driven nature of the waterfall model helps
coordinate the work.
When the requirements are well-understood and
changes will be fairly limited during the design
process.
 Few business systems have stable requirements.

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INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT

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INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS

Reduce the cost of accommodating changing

customer requirements

Easier to get customer feedback on the

development work that has been done.

More rapid delivery and deployment of useful

software to the customer

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INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS

The process is not visible.

 Managers need regular deliverables
 Not cost-effective to produce documents for every product
version

System structure tends to degrade as new

increments are added.
 Need time and money on refactoring to improve the
software
 Regular change tends to corrupt the structure.
 Incorporating further software changes becomes
increasingly difficult and costly.

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INTEGRATION AND CONFIGURATION

Based on software reuse where systems are

integrated from existing components or application
systems (COTS -Commercial-off-the-shelf) systems).
 Stand-alone application systems (COTS)
 Package objects / component framework such as .NET or
J2EE.
 Web services
Reused elements may be configured to adapt their
behaviour and functionality to a user’s requirements
Reuse is now the standard approach for building
many types of business system
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REUSE-ORIENTED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

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ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Reduced costs and risks as less software is

developed from scratch
Faster delivery and deployment of system
But requirements compromises are inevitable so
system may not meet real needs of users
Loss of control over evolution of reused system
elements

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 PROCESS ACTIVITIES

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ACTIVITY: SOFTWARE SPECIFICATION

The process of establishing what services are

required and the constraints on the system’s
operation and development.

Use: Requirements engineering process

Requirements elicitation and analysis
Requirements specification
Requirements validation

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THE REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING PROCESS

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ACTIVITY: SOFTWARE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION ~
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
The process of converting the system
specification into an executable system.

Two (sub) activities:

Software design
 Design a software structure that realises the specification;
Implementation
 Translate this structure into an executable program;
The activities of design and implementation are
closely related and may be inter-leaved.
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A GENERAL MODEL OF THE DESIGN PROCESS

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SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

The software is implemented either by

developing a program or programs or by
configuring an application system.
Design and implementation are interleaved
activities for most types of software system.
Programming is an individual activity with no
standard process.
Debugging is the activity of finding program
faults and correcting these faults.
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ACTIVITY: SOFTWARE VALIDATION
building the thing right?

Verification and validation (V & V)

to show that a system conforms to its specification and
meets the requirements of the system customer.
Involves checking and review processes and
system testing.
System testing: executing the system with test cases
Testing: the most commonly used V & V activity.

building the right thing?

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STAGES OF TESTING

• Test individual components independently

• Testing of the system as a whole

• Testing with customer data

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TESTING PHASES IN A PLAN-DRIVEN SOFTWARE
PROCESS

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ACTIVITY: SOFTWARE EVOLUTION

Software is inherently flexible and can change.

Requirements can change
(changing business circumstances) => the software
must also evolve and change.

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 COPING WITH CHANGE

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COPING WITH CHANGE

Change is inevitable in all large software

projects.
Business changes
New technologies
Changing platforms

Change leads to rework

costs include rework (re-analysing requirements) and
implementing new functionality

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SOFTWARE PROTOTYPING

A prototype is an initial version of a system used

to demonstrate concepts and try out design
options.
A prototype can be used in:
requirements engineering process: requirements
elicitation and validation;
design processes: options and develop UI design;
testing process: run back-to-back tests.
Benefits:
• Improved system usability.
• A closer match to users’ real needs.
• Improved design quality.
• Improved maintainability.
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• Reduced development effort.
THE PROCESS OF PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT

Prototype development:
• May be based on rapid prototyping
languages or tools
• May involve leaving out functionality

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INCREMENTAL DELIVERY

The development and delivery is broken down

into increments
each increment delivering part of the required
functionality.
user requirements are prioritised and the highest
priority requirements are included in early increments.
Two approaches:
Incremental development: by developer
Incremental delivery: for end-user

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INCREMENTAL DELIVERY

Advantages: Problems:
• system functionality is available earlier. • may require a set of basic facilities
• early increments act as a prototype • the specification is developed in
• lower risk of overall project failure. conjunction with the software.
• highest priority system services receive
most testing.
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 PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Software process improvement

enhancing the quality of software,
reducing costs
or accelerating development processes.
Process improvement
understanding existing processes
and changing these processes

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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES

Process measurement
 You measure one or more attributes of the software process or
product. These measurements forms a baseline that helps you
decide if process improvements have been effective.
Process analysis
 The current process is assessed, and process weaknesses and
bottlenecks are identified. Process models (sometimes called
process maps) that describe the process may be developed.
Process change
 Process changes are proposed to address some of the
identified process weaknesses. These are introduced and the
cycle resumes to collect data about the effectiveness of the
changes.

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THE CAPABILITY MATURITY MODEL (CMM)

Process improvement strategies

defined and used

Quality management
strategies defined and used

Process management procedures

and strategies defined and used

Product management procedures

defined and used

Essentially uncontrolled
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model_Integration
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SOFTWARE PROJECT DOCUMENTATION

Activity Document
Validation & Verification SVVP - Software Validation & Verification Plan
Quality Assurance SQAP - Software Quality Assurance Plan
Configuration SCMP - Software Configuration Management Plan
Project status SPMP - Software Project Management Plan
Requirements SRS - Software Requirements Specifications
Design SDD - Software Design Document / Software Detail
Design Document
Code Source Code
Testing STD - Software Test Document
Operation User’s Manual

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SUMMARY

Software processes
Software process models
 waterfall, incremental development, reuse-oriented
development.
Fundamental activities:
 Requirements engineering: developing specification.
 Design and implementation: transforming a requirements
specification into an executable software system
 Software validation: checking that the system conforms to
its specification.
 Software evolution: change existing software systems to
meet new requirements
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SUMMARY (CONT.)

Coping with change

 prototyping
 iterative development and delivery
Process improvement
 agile approaches, geared to reducing process overheads,
 maturity-based approaches based on better process
management
 and the use of good software engineering practice.
The SEI process maturity framework (CMM)
 identifies maturity levels that essentially correspond to the
use of good software engineering practice.

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