You are on page 1of 4

Master of Business Administration

IS Semester 3
MI0024 – Software Engineering

1 ) Discuss the CMM 5 Levels for Software Process.

The Software Process


A lot of focus is on process maturity. Software Engineering Institute (SEI) based on a software
engineering capabilities, have developed a model, to address the various levels of maturity levels
present in an organization. SEI used a five point grading scheme to assess the maturity level. The
five levels are as follows -
Level 1: Initial level – It is to address the initial processes where there is a tendency of one or more
processes getting chaotic. Some of the issues are identified and steps are taken to bring in clarity in
the initial processes.
Level 2: Repeat level – Based on the successes of certain processes in the past, processes are
reviewed and revised. Some of the processes which are tracked are the process on costing,
scheduling and various other related functions.
Level 3: Documentation – Organizations follow a streamed line of software development
activities. These activities are documented procedures developed over years which are used by both
the management and development team. Modules developed are integrated into existing
organization software processes.
Level 4: Managing the processes – It is necessary to measure various product features and
processes associated with the software process. Measures are taken to collect data from various
processes on various parameter of the software and each one is measured. The quantification of all
such measures is done and used in the performance evaluation of the process and the product.
Level 5: Optimization – Continual improvement is one of the major objectives of organization
today. It is achieved by means of some predefined characteristics which is expected from the
processes. The measurement methodology can be different for different processes. A quantitative
feedback is obtained for various processes and measured. The measurements are made under
constraints under which a process is expected to perform. Hence the measurements have to be
optimized measurements. This helps in taking decisions on the improvement of the process on a
continual basis.
The five levels defined by SEI are on the basis of the evaluation responses from the assessment
questionnaire based on CMM. Associated with each process level is the key process area (KPA). It
defines various functions associated with each process which reflect the qualitative aspect of the
process.
KPA is based on the following characteristics –
Goals – goals refer to the overall objectives to be achieved
· Commitments – commitments are the requirements to be adhered to meet the goals.
· Abilities – abilities refer to those aspects necessary to meet the commitments.
· Activities – it signifies task necessary to achieve a particular KPA.
· Monitoring – it refers to the ways and methodologies of monitoring a particular activity or a
process.
· Verification – it refers to the ways of verifying the methodologies of the KPA
2. Discuss the Water Fall model for Software Development.

3) Explain the Different types of Software Measurement Techniques.

2.3.3 Software Measurement


Software measurements are of two types (a) direct measurements include cost and effort pertaining
to the software leading to measurement of number of lines of codes, speed, size of memory, error
rate and (b) Indirect measurements includes functionality, quality, reliability, efficiency, complexity
and maintainability of the product.
1) Size oriented metrics:
Normalizing quality and productivity measures can be done by considering the size of the software.
To indicate the size of the software a simple record of the size or a table of information on the size
may be maintained by the organization for the last few years. The effort and cost recorded in the
table represents all activities.
2) Function oriented metrics:
It refers to the functionality delivered by the software application. Functionality cannot be measured
directly. Function-oriented metrics were first proposed by Albrecht, who suggested a measure called
the function point. Function points are derived using an empirical relationship.
3) Extended Function Point Metrics:
The function point measure was inadequate for many engineering applications but was suitable in
most of the cases for business applications.
Master of Business Administration
IS Semester 3
MI0024 – Software Engineering

1. Quality and reliability are related concepts but are fundamentally different in a
number of ways. Discuss them.
Software Reliability
The need for quality is there in the minds of everybody associated with the software project. One of
the key issues pertaining to the quality aspect is the reliability of the software product. There are
number of methods to ensure reliability of the product which depends upon the characteristics of the
product and its features and the expectations from the product and its services. One of the task
before the software engineer or the software manager is to establish the relevant reliability measures
well in advance before the implementation so that the quality is assured. A series of audits may be
conducted to keep a tab on the deviations if they tend to occur.
Statistically the software reliability may be defined as the probability of an operation of a computer
program which is free from error or has not failed during the operation time, tested under a
specified environment and for specified time. Failure refers to nonconformance to the requirements
of the software stated. One of the simple measures of reliability is the express it as the meantime
between failure (MBF) which is the sum of mean time of occurrence of failure (MTF) and mean
time towards repair (MTR). It is necessary to identify and assess the hazards in software projects
that affect the software performance. If it is possible to identify the hazards in the early stages of the
software project then a module to counteract such hazards could be developed or built in to the
software which will then be able to rectify errors leading to hazards. Suitable models could be used
to achieve this safety.

Quality
Designers specify the characteristics of the quality of a product. The grade of materials used in the
product development and product characteristics, permissible tolerances, and performance
specifications contribute to the quality of design. For higher-grade of materials the tolerances are
very small. When the tolerance is set to a very low level the expected design characteristics would
be of high quality. When greater levels of performance are specified, there is an increase in the
design quality of a product and the manufacturing processes and the product specification are set
according to the specified quality norms.
Quality of conformance is expressed as the degree to which the design specifications are followed
during the process of manufacturing. If the degree of conformance is high then the level of quality
of conformance is also deemed as high.
Quality of conformance is mainly focused on the implementation of the software.

2. Explain the Advantages of Prototype Model, & Spiral Model in Contrast to Water Fall
model.

3. Write a Note on Spiral Model.


The Spiral Model
The spiral model was proposed by Boehm. It combines the repetitive aspect of prototyping and
systematic and controlled aspect of linear sequential model. It helps in rapid development of
versions of the software through various incremental forms. Early iterations of the incremental
release might be a paper model or prototype. Iterations done later are more in complete versions
form. A spiral model is divided into six task regions:
· Customer Communication – it refers to the setting up of a communication channel between the
developer and the customer.
· Planning – Resources and other project-related information are organized in a definite manner to
achieve the intended results within the timeframe is achieved through planning.
· Risk Analysis – Risks related to technical and management are analysed.
· Engineering – engineering refers to the set of tasks necessary to build one or more application
forms.
· Construction and Release – This refers to the tasks required to construct, test, install, and provide
user support.
Customer Evaluation – Various feedback question types are prepared on the different types of
processes of the system. The feedbacks are inputs to the data on the software from the customers.
The feedbacks are evaluated which in turns determines the level of acceptance of the software by
the customer.
The system of feedback is a repetitive process aimed at continual improvement of the product and
its services. The software team moves around the spiral in a clockwise direction, beginning at the
center leading to the development of product specification and subsequent repetitions of the process
leads to development of the prototype and hence the product. Each pass through the planning region
results in improvements. Cost and schedule are adjusted depending upon the customer needs. The
new product will evolve over iterations around the spiral. The spiral model is a realistic approach to
develop large-scale systems and software. The spiral model demands attention of the risks involved
at various stages of the project and tend to minimize such risks.

You might also like