Introduction to Software Engineering

Good software should deliver the required functionality and performance to the user and should be maintainable, dependable and usable.

Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is concerned with all aspects of software production.

Software specification, software development, software validation, and software evolution.

<p>Computer science focuses on theory and fundamentals; software engineering is concerned with the practicalities of developing and delivering useful software.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>System engineering is concerned with all aspects of computer-based systems development, including hardware, software, and process engineering. Software engineering is part of this more general process.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Coping with increasing diversity in software requirements</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Roughly 60% of software costs are development costs, 40% are testing costs. For custom software, evolution costs often exceed development costs.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Different techniques are appropriate for different types of software systems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The web has led to the availability of software services and the possibility of developing highly distributed service-based systems. Web-based systems development has led to important advances in programming languages and software reuse.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Computer programs and associated documentation. Software products may be developed for a particular customer or may be developed for a general market.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Generic products are marketed and sold to any customer, while customized products meet the needs of a specific client.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>For generic products, the software developer owns the specification, whereas for customized products, the customer owns the specification.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Dependability</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Using appropriate theories and methods to solve problems bearing in mind organisational and financial constraints.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>More and more, individuals and society rely on advanced software systems. We need to be able to produce reliable and trustworthy systems economically and quickly.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>It is usually cheaper, in the long run, to use software engineering methods and techniques for software systems rather than just write the programs as if it was a personal programming project. For most types of system, the majority of costs are the costs of changing the software after it has gone into use.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Software specification, software development, software validation, and software evolution.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Heterogeneity</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Increasingly, systems are required to operate as distributed systems across networks that include different types of computer and mobile devices.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Business and society are changing incredibly quickly as emerging economies develop and new technologies become available. They need to be able to change their existing software and to rapidly develop new software.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>As software is intertwined with all aspects of our lives, it is essential that we can trust that software.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Software has to be developed across a very wide range of scales, from very small embedded systems in portable or wearable devices through to Internet-scale, cloud-based systems that serve a global community.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The software engineering methods and tools used depend on the type of application being developed, the requirements of the customer and the background of the development team.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>These are application systems that run on a local computer, such as a PC. They include all necessary functionality and do not need to be connected to a network.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Applications that execute on a remote computer and are accessed by users from their own PCs or terminals. These include web applications such as e-commerce applications.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>These are software control systems that control and manage hardware devices. Numerically, there are probably more embedded systems than any other type of system.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>These are business systems that are designed to process data in large batches. They process large numbers of individual inputs to create corresponding outputs.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>These are systems that are primarily for personal use and which are intended to entertain the user.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>These are systems that are developed by scientists and engineers to model physical processes or situations, which include many, separate, interacting objects.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>These are systems that collect data from their environment using a set of sensors and send that data to other systems for processing.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>These are systems that are composed of a number of other software systems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Dependability and performance are crucial factors for all types of software.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The Web is now a platform for running application and organizations are increasingly developing web-based systems rather than local systems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Web services (discussed in Chapter 19) allow application functionality to be accessed over the web.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Cloud computing is an approach to the provision of computer services where applications run remotely on the 'cloud.' Users do not buy software but pay according to use.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Software reuse is the dominant approach for constructing web-based systems. When building these systems, you think about how you can assemble them from pre-existing software components and systems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Web-based systems should be developed and delivered incrementally. It is now generally recognized that it is impractical to specify all the requirements for such systems in advance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Software may be implemented using service-oriented software engineering, where the software components are stand-alone web services.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Interface development technologies such as AJAX and HTML5 have emerged that support the creation of rich interfaces within a web browser.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Software engineering involves wider responsibilities than simply the application of technical skills.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Software engineers must behave in an honest and ethically responsible way if they are to be respected as professionals.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Confidentiality, Competence, Intellectual property rights, Computer misuse.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Engineers should normally respect the confidentiality of their employers or clients irrespective of whether or not a formal confidentiality agreement has been signed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Engineers should not misrepresent their level of competence. They should not knowingly accept work which is outwith their competence.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>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.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>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).</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The professional societies in the US have cooperated to produce a code of ethical practice.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Members of these organisations sign up to the code of practice when they join.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The Code contains eight Principles related to the behavior 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.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Computers have a central and growing role in commerce, industry, government, medicine, education, entertainment and society at large. Software engineers are those who contribute by direct participation or by teaching, to the analysis, specification, design, development, certification, maintenance and testing of software systems. Because of their roles in developing software systems, software engineers have significant opportunities to do good or cause harm, to enable others to do good or cause harm, or to influence others to do good or cause harm. To ensure, as much as possible, that their efforts will be used for good, software engineers must commit themselves to making software engineering a beneficial and respected profession.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>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.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An embedded system in an insulin pump used by diabetics to maintain blood glucose control.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Mentcare. A system used to maintain records of people receiving care for mental health problems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A data collection system that collects data about weather conditions in remote areas.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A system to support learning in schools.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Collects data from a blood sugar sensor and calculates the amount of insulin required to be injected. Calculation based on the rate of change of blood sugar levels. Sends signals to a micro-pump to deliver the correct dose of insulin.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Safety-critical system as low blood sugars can lead to brain malfunctioning, coma and death; high-blood sugar levels have long-term consequences such as eye and kidney damage.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Needle assembly, Insulin reservoir, Pump, Clock, Sensor, Controller, Alarm, Display 1, Display 2, Power supply.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Blood sensor, Analyse sensor reading, Blood sugar, Compute insulin, Insulin log, Insulin pump, Control insulin pump, Pump data, Compute pump commands, Log dose.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The system shall be available to deliver insulin when required. The system shall perform reliably and deliver the correct amount of insulin to counteract the current level of blood sugar. The system must therefore be designed and implemented to ensure that the system always meets these requirements.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A patient information system to support mental health care is a medical information system that maintains information about patients suffering from mental health problems and the treatments that they have received.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Most mental health patients do not require dedicated hospital treatment but need to attend specialist clinics regularly where they can meet a doctor who has detailed knowledge of their problems. To make it easier for patients to attend, these clinics are not just run in hospitals. They may also be held in local medical practices or community centres.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>To generate management information that allows health service managers to assess performance against local and government targets. To provide medical staff with timely information to support the treatment of patients.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Mentcare client, Mentcare client, Mentcare client, Network, Mentcare server, Patient database.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Individual care management, Patient monitoring, Administrative reporting.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Clinicians can create records for patients, edit the information in the system, view patient history, etc. The system supports data summaries so that doctors can quickly learn about the key problems and treatments that have been prescribed.</p> Signup and view all the answers