Chapter 3 - Software Processes Coherent sets of activities for specifying, designing, implementing and testing software systems

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Objectives

To introduce software process models To describe a number of different process models and when they may be used To describe outline process models for requirements engineering, software development, testing and evolution To introduce CASE technology to support software process activities
Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3 Slide 2

Ian Sommerville 2000

Topics covered

Software process models Process iteration Software specification Software design and implementation Software validation Software evolution Automated process support

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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The software process

A structured set of activities required to develop a software system

Specification Design and Implementation Validation Evolution

A software process model is an abstract representation of a process. It presents a description of a process from some particular perspective

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 4

Generic software process models

The waterfall model

Separate and distinct phases of specification and development

Prototyping Evolutionary development

Specification and development are interleaved A mathematical system model is formally transformed to an implementation The system is assembled from existing components
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Formal systems development

Reuse-based development

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Waterfall model
Requirements definition System and software design Implementation and unit testing Integr ation and system testing Operation and maintenance

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Waterfall model phases

Requirements analysis and definition System and software design Implementation and unit testing Integration and system testing Operation and maintenance The drawback of the waterfall model is the difficulty of accommodating change after the process is underway
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Waterfall model problems

real projects rarely follow it difficult to establish all requirements explicitly, no room for uncertainty customer must have patience, not fast enough for delivery of modern internet based software major mistake can be disastrous unnecessary delays, blocking states
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Ian Sommerville 2000

Waterfall model problems

difficult to trace requirements from analysis model to code inflexible partitioning of the project into distinct stages this makes it difficult to respond to changing customer requirements therefore, this model is only appropriate when the requirements are well-understood
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Ian Sommerville 2000

Prototyping

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Prototyping

gather requirements developer & customer define overall objectives, identify areas needing more investigation risky requiremnets quick design focusing on what will be visible to user input & output formats use existing program fragments, program generators to throw together working version prototype evaluated and requirements refined
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Ian Sommerville 2000

Prototyping

process iterated until customer & developer satisfied

then throw away prototype and rebuild system to high quality alternatively can have evolutionary prototyping start with well understood requirements

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Prototyping Drawbacks

customer may want to hang onto first version, may want a few fixes rather than rebuild. First version will have compromises developer may make implementation compromises to get prototype working quickly. Later on developer may become comfortable with compromises and forget why they are inappropriate

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 13

Evolutionary development

Exploratory development
Objective is to work with customers and to evolve a final system from an initial outline specification. Should start with well-understood (?) requirements

Throw-away prototyping
Objective is to understand the system requirements. Should start with poorly understood requirements

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Evolutionary development
Concurr ent activities Specification Initial version

Outline description

Development

Intermediate versions

Validation

Final version

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Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Evolutionary development

Problems
Lack of process visibility Systems are often poorly structured Special skills (e.g. in languages for rapid prototyping) may be required

Applicability
For small or medium-size interactive systems For parts of large systems (e.g. the user interface) For short-lifetime systems

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 16

Formal systems development

Based on the transformation of a mathematical specification through different representations to an executable program Transformations are correctness-preserving so it is straightforward to show that the program conforms to its specification Embodied in the Cleanroom approach to software development
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Formal systems development

Requirements definition

Formal specification

Formal transformation

Integration and system testing

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Formal transformations
Formal transformations T1 T2 T3 T4

Formal specification

R1

R2

R3

Executable program

P1

P2

P3

P4

Proofs of transformation correctness

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 19

Formal systems development

Problems
Need for specialised skills and training to apply the technique Difficult to formally specify some aspects of the system such as the user interface

Applicability
Critical systems especially those where a safety or security case must be made before the system is put into operation

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 20

Reuse-oriented development

Based on systematic reuse where systems are integrated from existing components or COTS (Commercial-off-the-shelf) systems Process stages
Component analysis Requirements modification System design with reuse Development and integration

This approach is becoming more important but still limited experience with it
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Ian Sommerville 2000

Reuse-oriented development

Requirements specification

Component analysis

Requirements modification

System design with reuse

Development and integration

System validation

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 22

Process iteration

System requirements ALWAYS evolve in the course of a project so process iteration where earlier stages are reworked is always part of the process for large systems Iteration can be applied to any of the generic process models Two (related) approaches
Incremental development Spiral development

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 23

Incremental development

Rather than deliver the system as a single delivery, the development and delivery is broken down into increments with each increment delivering part of the required functionality User requirements are prioritised and the highest priority requirements are included in early increments Once the development of an increment is started, the requirements are frozen though requirements for later increments can continue to evolve

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 24

Incremental development

Define outline requirements

Assign requirements to increments

Design system architecture

Develop system increment

Valida te increment

Integrate increment

Valida te system Final system

System incomplete

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Incremental development advantages

Customer value can be delivered with each increment so system functionality is available earlier Early increments act as a prototype to help elicit requirements for later increments Lower risk of overall project failure The highest priority system services tend to receive the most testing
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Extreme programming

New approach to development based on the development and delivery of very small increments of functionality Relies on constant code improvement, user involvement in the development team and pairwise programming

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Spiral development

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Spiral development

customer communication tasks required to establish effective communication between developer and customer planning tasks required to define resources, timelines and other project related information risk analysis tasks required to assess both technical and management risks engineering tasks required to build one or more representations of the application construction and release tasks required to construct, test, install and provide user support (e.g. documentation & training) customer evaluation tasks required to get customer feedback on evaluation of the software representations created during the engineering stage and implemented during the installation stage
Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3 Slide 29

Spiral development

Process is represented as a spiral rather than as a sequence of activities with backtracking Couples iteratve nature of prototyping with controlled and systematic sterwise approach of the linear sequential model Allows for the fact that some software evolves On each iteration, plans, costs, risks and schedules updated and project manager get more accurate estimate of number of required iterations

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 30

Spiral development

Each loop in the spiral represents a phase in the process. No fixed phases such as specification or design loops in the spiral are chosen depending on what is required Risks are explicitly assessed and resolved throughout the process Difficult to convine customers that process will end Demands considerable risk assessment expertise

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Spiral model of the software process

Determine objectives alternatives and constraints Risk analysis Risk analysis Risk analysis Prototype 3 Prototype 2 Operational protoype Evaluate alternatives identify, resolve risks

REVIEW Requirements plan Life-cycle plan

Risk analysis Prototype 1 Concept of Operation

Simulations, models, benchmarks S/W requirements Product design

Development plan Integration and test plan

Plan next phase

Code Unit test Design V&V Integr ation test Acceptance test Develop, verify Service next-level product
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Requirement validation

Detailed design

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Spiral model sectors

Objective setting
Specific objectives for the phase are identified Risks are assessed and activities put in place to reduce the key risks A development model for the system is chosen which can be any of the generic models

Risk assessment and reduction

Development and validation

Planning
The project is reviewed and the next phase of the spiral is planned
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Software specification

The process of establishing what services are required and the constraints on the systems operation and development Requirements engineering process
Feasibility study Requirements elicitation and analysis Requirements specification Requirements validation

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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The requirements engineering process

Feasibility study Requirements elicitation and analysis

Requir ements specification Requirements validation

Feasibility report System models User and system requirements

Requirements document

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 35

Software design and implementation

The process of converting the system specification into an executable system 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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Ian Sommerville 2000

Design process activities

Architectural design Abstract specification Interface design Component design Data structure design Algorithm design

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Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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The software design process

Requir ements specif ication Design acti ities v Architectur al design Abstr act specif ication Interface design Component design Data structur e design Algorithm design

System architectur e

Software specif ication

Interface specif tion ica

Component specif ication Design pr oducts

Data structur e specif ication

Algorithm specif tion ica

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 38

Design methods

Systematic approaches to developing a software design The design is usually documented as a set of graphical models Possible models
Data-flow model Entity-relation-attribute model Structural model Object models
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Programming and debugging

Translating a design into a program and removing errors from that program Programming is a personal activity - there is no generic programming process Programmers carry out some program testing to discover faults in the program and remove these faults in the debugging process

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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The debugging process

Locate error

Design error repair

Repair error

Re-test program

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Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Software validation

Verification and validation is intended 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 involves executing the system with test cases that are derived from the specification of the real data to be processed by the system
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The testing process

Unit testing Module testing Sub-system testing System testing Acceptance testing

Component testing
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Integration testing

User testing
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Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Testing stages

Unit testing - individual components are tested Module testing - related collections of dependent components are tested Sub-system testing - modules are integrated into sub-systems and tested. The focus here should be on interface testing System testing - testing of the system as a whole. Testing of emergent properties Acceptance testing - testing with customer data to check that it is acceptable
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Testing phases

Requir ements specification

System specification

System design

Detailed design

Acceptance test plan

System integration test plan

Sub-system integration test plan

Module and unit code and tess

Service

Acceptance test

System integration test

Sub-system integration test

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 45

Software evolution

Software is inherently flexible and can change. As requirements change through changing business circumstances, the software that supports the business must also evolve and change Although there has been a demarcation between development and evolution (maintenance) this is increasingly irrelevant as fewer and fewer systems are completely new

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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System evolution

Define system requirements

Assess existing systems

Propose system changes

Modify systems

Existing systems

New system

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Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Automated process support (CASE)

Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) is software to support software development and evolution processes Activity automation
Graphical editors for system model development Data dictionary to manage design entities Graphical UI builder for user interface construction Debuggers to support program fault finding Automated translators to generate new versions of a program
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Ian Sommerville 2000

Case technology

Case technology has led to significant improvements in the software process though not the order of magnitude improvements that were once predicted
Software engineering requires creative thought this is not readily automatable Software engineering is a team activity and, for large projects, much time is spent in team interactions. CASE technology does not really support these

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Slide 49

CASE classification

Classification helps us understand the different types of CASE tools and their support for process activities Functional perspective
Tools are classified according to their specific function Tools are classified according to process activities that are supported

Process perspective

Integration perspective
Tools are classified according to their organisation into integrated units
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Functional tool classification

Tool type Planning tools Editing tools Change management tools Configuration management tools Prototyping tools Method-support tools Language-processing tools Program analysis tools Testing tools Debugging tools Documentation tools Re-engineering tools
Ian Sommerville 2000

Examples PERT tools, estimation tools, spreadsheets Text editors, diagram editors, word processors Requirements traceability tools, change control systems Version management systems, system building tools Very high-level languages, user interface generators Design editors, data dictionaries, code generators Compilers, interpreters Cross reference generators, static analysers, dynamic analysers Test data generators, file comparators Interactive debugging systems Page layout programs, image editors Cross-reference systems, program restructuring systems
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Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

Reengineering tools Testing tools Debugging tools Program analysis tools Language-processing tools Method support tools Prototyping tools Configuration management tools Change management tools Documentation tools Editing tools Planning tools

Specification

Design

Implementation

Activity-based classification

Verification and Validation

CASE integration

Tools
Support individual process tasks such as design consistency checking, text editing, etc. Support a process phase such as specification or design, Normally include a number of integrated tools Support all or a substantial part of an entire software process. Normally include several integrated workbenches

Workbenches

Environments

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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Tools, workbenches, environments

CASE technology

Tools

Workbenches

Environments

Editors

Compilers

File comparators

Integrated environments

Process-centred environments

Analysis and design

Programming

Testing

Multi-method workbenches

Single-method workbenches

General-purpose workbenches

Language-specific workbenches

Ian Sommerville 2000

Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 3

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