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.

5/20/2019 1
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.

5/20/2019 2
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
underpinning(support) for software engineering (unlike e.g. physics
and electrical engineering).

5/20/2019 3
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.

5/20/2019 4
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.

5/20/2019 5
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.

5/20/2019 6
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.

5/20/2019 7
Activity cost distribution
Wat erfal l mo del
0 25 50 100
75

Specification Design Development Integration and testing

Iterative development

0 25 50 75 1 00

Specification It erat ive developm en t Syst em t est in g

Com pon ent -based so ft ware eng ineeri ng

0 25 50 75 1 00

Specification Development Integration and testing

Dev elo pment and ev oluti on cost s for lon g-lifetime syst ems
0 10 200 30 400

System development Syst em evolut ion

5/20/2019 8
Product development costs

0 25 50 75 100

Specification Dev elo pment System testin g

5/20/2019 9
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.

5/20/2019 10
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.

5/20/2019 11
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.

5/20/2019 12
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.

5/20/2019 13
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(follow) the law.

5/20/2019 14
Issues of professional responsibility

• Confidentiality
• Engineers should normally respect the confidentiality of their employers or
clients irrespective of whether or not a formal confidentiality agreement has
been signed.
• Competence
• Engineers should not misrepresent their level of competence. They should
not knowingly accept work which is outwith(beyond) their competence.

5/20/2019 15
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).

5/20/2019 16
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.

5/20/2019 17
Code of ethics - preamble

• Preamble
• The short version of the code summarizes aspirations at a high level of the
abstraction; the clauses that are included in the full version give examples
and details of how these aspirations change the way we act as software
engineering professionals. Without the aspirations, the details can become
legalistic and tedious; without the details, the aspirations can become high
sounding but empty; together, the aspirations and the details form a
cohesive code.
• Software engineers shall commit themselves to making the analysis,
specification, design, development, testing and maintenance of software a
beneficial and respected profession. In accordance with their commitment
to the health, safety and welfare of the public, software engineers shall
adhere to the following Eight Principles:

5/20/2019 18
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.

5/20/2019 19
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.

5/20/2019 20
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.

5/20/2019 21
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.

5/20/2019 22