Software Engineering Fundamentals

Software Engineering Overview

• Software Engineering: A systematic approach to software development, considering various factors like project complexity, team size, and functionality.
• Quality & Productivity Factors: Crucial aspects include maintainability, efficiency, reliability, and usability.
• Managerial Issues: Effective project management involves planning, risk management, resource allocation, and scheduling.

Unit I: Introduction to Software Engineering

• Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Models: Key models like Waterfall, Agile, Spiral, and RAD are used to plan and structure a project.
• Project Planning: Involves defining the problem (user needs, functional/non-functional requirements), setting goals and requirements, choosing a solution strategy (SDLC model), and planning the development process (including organizational structure, task breakdown, scheduling, & risk management).

Unit II: Software Cost Estimation & Requirements

• Software Cost Estimation: Estimating costs involves considering factors like team skill, complexity, duration, and technology.
• Cost Estimation Techniques:
  • COCOMO (Constructive Cost Model): Basic, intermediate, and advanced models used for estimations.
  • Delphi Technique: Gathering expert opinions for estimations.
  • Function Point Analysis (FPA): Technique for estimating software size based on functionality.
• Software Requirements: Defining system needs and documenting them formally in a Software Requirements Specification (SRS).
• Specification Techniques: Use cases, Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs), and Unified Modeling Language (UML) are used for documenting system requirements.

Important Software Engineering Concepts

• Software Engineering as a Layered Technology: The layered technology is a method of thinking about software engineering in terms of different layers, from the highest layer of software requirements specification all the way to the lowest level of code.
• Project Size Categories: Categorization of projects by size based on characteristics and constraints they face using factors like complexity & team size.
• Product-Function Matrix Organization: This is an organizational structure that focuses on the functional areas of a project or company.
• Prototype Life-Cycle Model: An approach for developing a working prototype of a system to refine its requirements before full development.
• Prototype Model vs. RAD Model: RAD models emphasize rapid development cycles, while prototypes focus on iterative refinement of requirements through early models before full development and implementation.
• Software Life Cycle Cost Model: A generic diagram depicting different phases in a software life cycle, showing how costs vary across various stages from beginning to end. This model helps in project planning.

Key Points in Project Planning

• Detailed Problem Definition: Precise identification of user needs, functional requirements, and non-functional needs, using examples.
• Development Process Planning: Selection of suitable SDLC models, organizational structure planning (team roles & responsibilities), task breakdown, scheduling, and risk management.
• Organizational Structure Planning: Defining reporting hierarchies for the development team in a planned manner.

Software Cost Estimation

• Significance of Software Cost Estimation: Estimating costs for a better understanding of budget required, resource planning and scheduling, and to track the progress against the defined budget.
• COCOMO Model Details: Comprehensive details about the COCOMO model for software cost estimation as per its phases.

Software Requirements

• Software Requirements Specification (SRS): A detailed and formal document outlining the functional and non-functional requirements for a software system.
• Data Flow Diagram (DFD): A graphical depiction of the flow of data within a system to understand the system components' interaction and data flow pathways.
• Structured System Analysis: Focuses on analyzing and understanding a system to clarify its specifications and create a detailed analysis.
• Formal Specification Techniques: Formal methods for specifying software system requirements using mathematical or logic-based techniques.

This lesson provides an overview of software engineering principles. It covers the software development life cycle (SDLC) models like Waterfall, Agile, Spiral, and RAD. Also, focuses on project planning, risk management, and resource allocation.