Software Development Process

Unit 1
12 marks
 Definition of Software

Software is:
1. Instructions (computer programs) that when
executed provide desired features, function, and
performance;
2. Data structures that enable the programs to
adequately manipulate information, and
3. Descriptive information (documents) in both
hard copy and virtual forms that describes the
operation and use of the programs.
 Characteristics of software
Software is developed or engineered; it is not
manufactured in the classical sense.

• The two activities (software development and

hardware manufacturing) are fundamentally
different.
• In both activities, high quality is achieved through
good design, but the manufacturing phase for
hardware can introduce quality problems.
• Software doesn’t “wear out.” But it does
deteriorate!

• During its life, software will undergo change. As

changes are made, it is likely that errors will be
introduced, causing the failure rate curve to spike
as shown in the “actual curve” .
• Before the curve can return to the original
steady-state failure rate, another change is
requested, causing the curve to spike again.
• Slowly, the minimum failure rate level begins to
rise—the software is deteriorating due to change.
Although the industry is moving toward component-
based construction, most software continues to
be custom built.
 Categories of software /changing nature of
software
System software
 It is collection of programs written to service other programs.
Some system software (e.g., compilers,editors, and file management
utilities) processes complex, but determinate, information
structures.
 Other systems applications (e.g., operating system components,
drivers, networking software process largely indeterminate data.

Application software
 Stand-alone programs that solve a specific business need.
 Applications in this area process business or technical data in a
way that facilitates business operations or management/technical
decision making
Engineering/scientific software
 Applications range from astronomy to volcanology, from
automotive stress analysis to space shuttle orbital dynamics, and
from molecular biology to automated manufacturing
 E.g.: CAD software.

Embedded software
 Resides within a product or system and is used to implement and
control features and functions for the end user and for the system
itself.
 Embedded software can perform limited functions (e.g., key pad
control for a microwave oven) or provide significant function and
control capability (e.g., digital functions in an automobile such as
fuel control, dashboard displays, and braking systems).
 E.g. Control buttons of washing machine.
Product-line software
 Designed to provide a specific capability for use by many different
customers.
 Product-line software can focus on a limited marketplace (e.g.,
inventory control products) or address mass consumer markets (e.g.,
word processing, spreadsheets, computer graphics, multimedia,
entertainment, database management, and personal and business
financial applications).

Web applications
 Called “WebApps,” this network-centric software category spans a
wide array of applications.
 In their simplest form, WebApps can be little more than a set of
linked hypertext files that present information using text and limited
graphics.
Artificial intelligence software
 Makes use of non-numerical algorithms to solve
complex problems that are not amenable to
computation or straightforward analysis.

 Applications within this area include robotics,

expert systems, pattern recognition (image and
voice), artificial neural networks, theorem proving,
and game playing
 Software Engineering:
A layered technology approach:
 Software engineering is a layered technology. Referring
to, any engineering approach (including software
engineering) must rest on an organizational commitment
to quality. The bedrock that supports software
engineering is a quality focus.

 The foundation for software engineering is the process

layer. The software engineering process is the glue that
holds the technology layers together and enables rational
and timely development of computer software. Process
defines a framework that must be established for
effective delivery of software engineering technology.
 The software process forms the basis for
management control of software projects and
establishes the context in which technical
methods are applied, work products (models,
documents, data, reports, forms, etc.) are
produced, milestones are established, quality is
ensured, and change is properly managed.
Software engineering methods provide the
technical how-to’s for building software.
 Software engineering tools provide automated
or semi-automated support for the process and
the methods. When tools are integrated so that
information created by one tool can be used by
another, a system for the support of software
development, called computer-aided software
engineering, is established.
 The software process framework
/framework activities:
 A process framework establishes the foundation for a
complete software process by identifying a small number
of framework activities that are applicable to all software
projects, regardless of their size or complexity.
 In fig each framework activity is populated by a set of
software engineering actions. A collection of related tasks
that produces a major software engineering work product.
Each action in process framework is populated with
individual work tasks that accomplish some part of the
work implied by the action
1. Communication:
Communication framework activity involves heavy
communication and collaboration with the customer,
encompasses requirements gathering, data gathering
and other related activities.

2. Planning:
Planning activity establishes a plan for software
engineering work that follows. Planning describes the
technical tasks to be conducted, the resources that will
be required, schedule, and the risks that
are likely in the work products to be produced.
3. Modeling:
• Modeling activity encompasses the creation of
models that allow the developer and the
customer to better understand software
requirements specifications and the design that
will achieve those requirements.

• There are two types of modeling

i.e. analysis modeling and design modeling.
4. Construction:
Construction activity combines code generation
and the testing.

5. Deployment:
The software is delivered to the customers who
evaluates the delivered product and provides
feedback based on the evaluation.
 Umbrella Activities:
• Generic views of SE is complemented by a set of
unbrella activities.

• They are Software Project tracking and control:

 It allows the software team to access progress
against the project plan and takes necessary action
to maintain schedule.
 Umbrella activities occur throughout the software
process and focus primarily on project
management, tracking and control.
• Risk Management:
Assess risks that are likely to affect performance
and quality of project.

• Software quality assurance:

Define and conduct activities to ensure software
quality
• Formal Technical Review: Assess Software Engg.
Work products to uncover and remove errors
before they are shifted to next level of activity.

• Measurement: Defines and collects process,

project and product measures to assist the team
in delivering the software that meets customer
needs can be used in conjunction with all
framework and umbrella activities
• Software configuration Management (SCM):
Manages and effects the changes throughout the
software process.

• Reusability management: Defines criteria for work

product reuse (including software components)
and establishes the mechanism to achieve
reusable components.

• Work product preparation and production:

Includes activities for creating work product such
as models, documents, large
 Prescriptive Process Models:
Irrespective of which level of CMM the organization
has, the software engineer has five choices for
selection of software process models.
They are –

1. Waterfall Model
2. Incremental Model
3. RAD Model
4. Prototype Model
5. Spiral Model
The Waterfall Model:
 Communication:
It involves heavy communication with the customer (or stakeholder) and encompasses
requirement gathering and related activities.

 Planning:
In this activity, effort required, cost/budget, risk analysis ,time duration are estimated (project
plan is made)

 Modeling:
This activity creates analysis and design models that both developers and customer to better
understand the requirements. Data structure, software architecture and other details are made.

 Construction:
This activity performs code generation and testing to ensure whether requirements are fulfilled.
Code generation is done first and then testing is done after that.

 Deployment:
Once the product is fully developed, it is delivered to the customer. Customer evaluates the
product and provides feedback.
• one stage should be completed before the other begins.
• All phases are clearly defined.
• Being oldest, this is one of the time tested Methods
• Real projects rarely follow sequential model.
• It is often difficult for the customer to state all
requirements explicitly.
• The working model is available only in the latter part of
the development.
• This model presents a high level view and
suggests to the developer the sequence of
events they should expect to encounter. This
model is used to prescribe software
development activities in variety of contexts.

• One of the biggest limitation is it does not

reflect the way code is really developed.
Advantages:
 It is the simplest software process model.
 Easy to understand
 Phases are completed one at a time
 Works well for smaller projects
 Disadvantages:
 Real projects rarely follow the sequential flow that the model
proposes. Although the linear model can accommodate
iteration, it does so indirectly. As a result, changes can cause
confusion as the project team proceeds.

 It is often difficult for the customer to state all requirements

explicitly. The waterfall model requires this and has difficulty
accommodating the natural uncertainty that exists at the
beginning of many projects.

 The customer must have patience. A working version of the

program(s) will not be available until late in the project time
span. A major blunder, if undetected until the working program
is reviewed, can be disastrous.
The Incremental Model:
 Situation in which incremental model is applicable:
• The incremental model combines elements of linear and parallel
process flows.

• There are many situations in which initial software requirements

are reasonably well defined, but the overall scope of the
development effort prevents a purely linear process.

• When an incremental model is used, the first increment is often a

core product.

• That is, basic requirements are addressed but many

supplementary features (some known, others unknown) remain
undelivered.
• Few of the steps are defined

• It is iterative in nature.

• New model for development

• It provides on the rigid nature(fixed) of sequential approach

• This method is of great help when organization is low on staffing.

• This model could be time consuming.

Advantages:
 Useful when staffing is unavailable
 Less costly to change the scope of the project
 Customer can respond to each build.

Disadvantages:
 Cost is higher than waterfall model.
 Needs good planning and design
The RAD Model:
• Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a modern software process model
that emphasizes a short development cycle.

• “high-speed” adaptation (Rapid Application Development )

• If requirements are well understood and project scope is considered, the

RAD process enables a development team to create a “Fully Functional
System” within a very short period of time (e.g. 60 to 90 days).

• This model should be used if domain experts are available with relevant
business knowledge.
•
 Advantages:

1. Changing requirements can be accommodated and progress can be

measured.

2. Powerful RAD tools can reduce development time.

3. Productivity with small team in short development time and quick reviews,
risk control increases reusability of components, better quality.

4. Due to risks in new approach only modularized systems are recommended

through RAD.

5. Suitable for scalable component based systems.

 Disadvantages:

1. Success of RAD model depends on strong technical team expertise

and skills.

2. Highly skilled developers needed with modeling skills.

3. User involvement throughout life cycle. If developers &customers are

not committed to the rapid fire activities necessary to complete the
System in a much-abbreviated time frame, RAD projects will fail.

4. May not be appropriate for very large scale systems where the
technical risks are high.
 drawback of RAD model.
1. RAD needs enough human resources to create the required
number of RAD teams.

2. If developers and customers are not committed to the rapid

model, the RAD project fails.

3. Rapid-fire activities need to be completed in very short or

small time frame. Time is the major constraint in RAD.

4. RAD has to be modularized in a proper way otherwise creates

a lots of confusions and problems.

5. In case of high performance requirement, RAD cannot be ideal

model.
The Prototype Model:
 Situation in which prototyping model is applicable:

• Often, a customer defines a set of general objectives for software, but

does not identify detailed requirements for functions and features.

• Prototyping iteration is planned quickly, and modeling (in the form of

a “quick design”) occurs.

• The prototyping paradigm assists you and other stakeholders to better

understand what is to be built when requirements are indefinite.

• The prototyping paradigm begins with communication. You meet with

other stakeholders to define the overall objectives for the software,
identify whatever requirements are known, and outline areas where
further definition is mandatory.
Advantages:
 Users are actively involved in the development.
 Users get better understanding of the system being developed.
 Errors can be detected much earlier.
 Quick user feedback is available.

Disadvantages:
 Overall software quality or maintainability may not get
considered when the prototype is being developed.
 An inefficient algorithm may be implemented.
 Inappropriate OS or programming language maybe used simply
because it is available.
The Spiral Model
• Using the spiral model, software is developed in a
series of evolutionary releases. During early
iterations, the release might be a model or
prototype.
• During later iterations, increasingly more complete
versions of the engineered system are produced.
• A spiral model is divided into a set of framework
activities defined by the software engineering team.
• Risk is considered as each revolution is made.
• Each pass through the planning region results in
adjustments to the project plan.
• Cost and schedule are adjusted based on feedback
derived from the customer after delivery.
Advantages:
 The spiral model is a realistic approach to the development
of large-scale systems and software.
 High amount of risk analysis hence, avoidance of risk is
enhanced.

Disadvantages:
 It may be difficult to convince customers (particularly in
contract situations) that the evolutionary approach is
controllable.
 It demands considerable risk assessment expertise and relies
on this expertise for success.
 If a major risk is not uncovered and managed, problems will
undoubtedly occur.
 Agile Software Development
Agile :
“Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early
and continuous delivery of valuable software“

• It is an recent approach for Project Management

• Cycle-time reduction is most important

• Model focuses on modularity, iterative, time bound, parsimony,

adaptive, incremental convergent, collaborative approach

• Agile process model uses the concept of Extreme Programming

Features of the Agile Software Development Approach

• Modularity allows a process to be broken into

components called activities.
• Iterative Agile software processes focus on short
cycles. Within each cycle, a certain set of activities is
completed.
• Time-Bound set time limits (between one and six
weeks is normal) on each iteration and schedule
• Parsimony require a minimal number of activities
necessary to reduce risks and achieve their goals.
• Adaptive The agile process adapts the process to
attack these new found risks.
• Incremental partitions the nontrivial system into
increments which may be developed in parallel, at
different times, and at different rates.
• Convergent actively attacking all of the risks worth
attacking.
• People-Oriented Developers that are empowered
raise their productivity, quality, and performance.
• Collaborative When a project is developed in
pieces, understanding how the pieces fit together is
vital to creating the finished product.
Agile process
 Agile Methodologies
• eXtreme Programming (XP)
• Scrum
• Crystal family of methodologies
• Feature-Driven Development (FDD)
• Adaptive Software Development (ASD)
• Dynamic System Development Model (DSDM)
• Agile Unified Process (AUP)
 eXtreme Programming (XP)
XP's Four Values
1. Communication. Most projects fail because of poor communication.
So implement practices that force communication in a positive way.

2. Simplicity. Develop the simplest product that meets the customer’s

needs

3. Feedback. Developers must obtain and value feedback from the

customer, from the system, and from each other.
1. The same as standard Agile values: value customer collaboration over
contract negotiation.

4. Courage. Be prepared to make hard decisions that support the other

principles and practices.

5. Respect . The agile team inculcates respect among it members,

between other stakeholders and team members, and indirectly, for
the software itself.
 The XP Process
• Extreme Programming uses an object-oriented
approach as its preferred development paradigm
and encompasses a set of rules and practices that
occur within the context of four framework
activities:
• Planning
• Design
• Coding
• Testing
 Industrial XP
• Joshua Kerievsky [Ker05] describes Industrial Extreme Programming (IXP) in
the following manner:

“IXP is an organic evolution of XP. It is imbued with XP’s minimalist,

customer-centric, test-driven spirit.

IXP differs most from the original XP in its greater inclusion of management,
its expanded role for customers, and its upgraded technical practices.”

IXP incorporates six new practices that are designed to help ensure that an XP
project works successfully for significant projects within a large organization.
 Readiness assessment.

Prior to the initiation of an IXP project, the organization should

conduct a readiness assessment.

The assessment ascertains whether

(1) an appropriate development environment exists to support IXP,
(2) the team will be populated by the proper set of stakeholders,
(3) the organization has a distinct quality program and supports
continuous improvement,
(4) the organizational culture will support the new values of an agile
team,
(5) the broader project community will be populated appropriately.
 Project community.
• When XP is to be applied for a significant project in a
large organization, the concept of the “team” should
morph into that of a community.

• A community may have a technologist and customers

who are central to the success of a project as well as
many other stakeholders (e.g., legal staff, quality
auditors, manufacturing or sales types) who “are often
at the periphery of an IXP project yet they may play
important roles on the project”
 Project chartering.
• The IXP team assesses the project itself to
determine whether an appropriate business
justification for the project exists and whether the
project will further the overall goals and
objectives of the organization.

• Chartering also examines the context of the

project to determine how it complements,
extends, or replaces existing systems or processes.
 Test-driven management.
• An IXP project requires measurable criteria for
assessing the state of the project and the
progress that has been made to date.

• Test-driven management establishes a series

of measurable “destinations” and then defines
mechanisms for determining whether or not
these destinations have been reached.
 Retrospectives.
• An IXP team conducts a specialized technical
review after a software increment is delivered.
Called a retrospective, the review examines
“issues, events, and lessons-learned” across a
software increment and/or the entire software
release. The intent is to improve the IXP
process.
 Continuous learning.
• Because learning is a vital part of continuous
process improvement, members of the XP team
are encouraged (and possibly, incented) to learn
new methods and techniques that can lead to a
higher quality product.
Adaptive Software Development (ASD)
• Speculation
uses project initiation information—the
customer’s mission statement, project constraints
(e.g. delivery dates or user descriptions), and basic
requirements—to define the set of release cycles
(software increments) that will be required for the
project.
• Collaboration It encompasses communication and teamwork,
but it also emphasizes individualism, because individual creativity
plays an important role in collaborative thinking.

• People working together must trust one another to

(1) criticize without hatred,
(2) Assist without anger,
(3) work as hard as or harder than they do,
(4) have the skill set to contribute to the work,
(5) discuss problems or concerns in a way that leads to effective
action.
• Learning
ASD teams learn in three ways:
• focus groups ,
• technical reviews,
• project postmortems.

• Software developers often overestimate their own

understanding (of the technology, the process, and the
project) and that learning will help them to improve
their level of real understanding.
Scrum
• Scrum itself is a framework for effective team collaboration on
complex software projects.
• The team is hard working and goal oriented even though it is a
small team work.
• Scrum is a repetitive and incremental framework for project
management majorly used in very active software development.

• The scrum methodology requires openness and trust in the

team, which these five values of Scrum support

i. Openness
ii. Commitment
iii. Courage
iv. Respect
v. Focus
Advantages:
• Transparency in project development status.
• Flexibility towards the changes.
• Improved communication, minimum overhead in
development process.
• Productivity can be improved.

Disadvantages:
• Some decisions are hard to track in fixed time span.
• There are problems to deal with non-functional
requirements of the system.
 Dynamic Systems Development
Method(DSDM)
DSDM is a,

• Straight forward framework based on best

principles to start implementing a project structure.
• Simple
• Extendible
• But not calming to be the solution to all kind of
projects.
 Crystal
• Primary goal of this method is to deliver useful and working
software.

• Crystal is actually comprised of a family of agile

methodologies such as Crystal Clear, Crystal Yellow, Crystal
Orange and others, whose unique characteristics are driven
by several factors such as team size, system criticality, and
project priorities.

• This Crystal family addresses the realization that each project

may require a slightly tailored set of policies, practices, and
processes in order to meet the project 's unique
characteristics.
selection criteria for software process model
Type Of the Project Suggested Model
small Project

Requirements of the project

well understand.
Waterfall Model
Existing manual system has
to be automated.

If no need for customer

involvement in project
development cycle
Type Of the Project Suggested Model

When project
requirements are not
clear.

System will be operated

by novice user. RAD Model

The GUI of project is

very important.

Delivery of the project is

expected within a short
period of time.
Type Of the Project Suggested Model

When project requirements

are not properly known.

For the system in which

customer involvement is must.
Agile Model
The GUI of project is very
important.

Quick Delivery of the project is

expected .
Type Of the Project Suggested Model
The risk of long project is not
affordable.

Requirements are not known Spiral Model

and will be known only with
time.

Project is of large size.