Week 1 Flashcards
What is software?
Computer programs and associated documentation. Software products may be developed for a particular customer or may be developed for a general market.
What are the attributes of good software?
Delivers the required functionality and performance to the user.
Should be maintainable, dependable, scalable, and usable.
What is software engineering?
Engineering discipline that is concerned with all aspects of software production.
What are the fundamental software engineering activities?
Software specification (defining the requirements)
Software development (process of designing and coding)
Software validation (ensuring the software meets requirements)
Software evolution (ongoing maintenance and enhancement)
What is the difference between software engineering and computer science?
Computer science focuses on theory and fundamentals;
Software engineering is concerned with the practicalities of developing and delivering useful software.
What are the key challenges facing software engineering?
Coping with increasing diversity, demands for reduced delivery times, and developing trustworthy software.
What are the costs of software engineering?
Roughly 60% of software costs are development costs; 40% are testing costs. For custom software, evolution costs often exceed development costs.
What are the best software engineering techniques and methods?
While all software projects have to be professionally managed and developed, different techniques are appropriate for different types of systems. For example, games should always be developed using a series of prototypes whereas safety critical control systems require a complete and analysable specification to be developed. You can’t, therefore, say that one method is better than another.
What differences has the Web made to software engineering?
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.
Software costs?
Software costs dominate computer system costs.
Software costs more to maintain than it does to develop.
Software engineering is concerned with cost-effective software development.
Heterogeneity?
The state of being composed of different components.
Increasingly, systems are required to operate as distributed systems across networks that include different types of computer and mobile devices.
Why is business and social change an issue that affects software?
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.
Why is security and trust an issue that affects software?
As software is intertwined with all aspects of our lives, it is essential that we can trust that software.
Why is scale an issue that affects software?
Software has to be developed across a very wide range of scales, from very small embedded systems in portable devices through to internet-scale, cloud-based systems that serve a global community.
Generic vs customised products?
Generic: stand-alone systems that are marketed and sold to any customer who wishes to buy them.
Customised: software that is commissioned by a specific customer to meet their on needs.
