Software

Software Processes
IanSommerville2004
SoftwareEngineering,7thedition.Chapter4
Slide1
Objectives
To introduce software process models

To describe three generic process models and
when they may be used
To describe outline process models for
requirements engineering, software
development, testing and evolution
To explain the Rational Unified Process model
To introduce CASE technology to support
software process activities
IanSommerville2004
Slide2
Topics covered
Software process models

Process iteration
Process activities
The Rational Unified Process
Computer-aided software engineering
IanSommerville2004
Slide3
The software process
A structured set of activities required to develop a

software system
Specification;
Design;
Validation;
Evolution.
A software process model is an abstract representation

of a process. It presents a description of a process
from some particular perspective.
IanSommerville2004
Slide4
Generic software process models
The waterfall model
Evolutionary development
Specification, development and validation are

interleaved.
Component-based software engineering
Separate and distinct phases of specification and

development.
The system is assembled from existing components.
There are many variants of these models e.g. formal

development where a waterfall-like process is used but
the specification is a formal specification that is refined
through several stages to an implementable design.
IanSommerville2004
Slide5
R
e
emen
quir
defin
S
y
ste
softw
Imp
tion
and
Int
r
a
t
io
sys
O
a
t
i
m
Waterfall model
IanSommerville2004
Slide6
Waterfall model phases
Requirements analysis and definition

System and software design
Implementation and unit testing
Integration and system testing
Operation and maintenance
The main drawback of the waterfall model is
the difficulty of accommodating change after
the process is underway. One phase has to be
complete before moving onto the next phase.
IanSommerville2004
Slide7
Waterfall model problems
Inflexible partitioning of the project into distinct stages

makes it difficult to respond to changing customer
requirements.
Therefore, this model is only appropriate when the
requirements are well-understood and changes will be
fairly limited during the design process.
Few business systems have stable requirements.
The waterfall model is mostly used for large systems
engineering projects where a system is developed at
several sites.
IanSommerville2004
Slide8
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
and add new features as proposed by the
customer.
Throw-away prototyping
Objective is to understand the system

requirements. Should start with poorly understood
requirements to clarify what is really needed.
IanSommerville2004
Slide9
Con
ent
acti
vitie
In
Spe
tion
v
e
r
In
m
te
Outlin
De
v
e
lop
v
e
r
descr
Fi
V
ation
lid
v
er
IanSommerville2004
Slide10
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide11
Component-based software engineering
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 increasingly used

as component standards have emerged.
IanSommerville2004
Slide12
Reuse-oriented development
Require
Comp
Requ
S
y
st
specific
analy
mod
wit
Dev
S
ys
and
rat
va
IanSommerville2004
Slide13
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 delivery;
Spiral development.
IanSommerville2004
Slide14
Incremental delivery
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide15
Assig
Des
Define
to
requir
ar
chit
e
Develo
V
a
te
lida
Inte
r
a
t
e
V
a
te
l
incr
ement
incr
emen
incr
em
sy
F
s
S
yste
Incremental development
IanSommerville2004
Slide16
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide17
Extreme programming
An 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.
Covered in Chapter 17
IanSommerville2004
Slide18
Spiral development
Process is represented as a spiral rather than

as a sequence of activities with backtracking.
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide19
Deter
mine
v
e
s,
o
Ev
alu
te
ti
v
e
s
alterna
ti
v
e
s
and
ide
,
eso
e
r
r
constr
aints
Risk
ana
ysis
Risk
anal
ysis
Risk
Op
aanal
ysis
Pr
oto
tio
pr
ot
yp
Pr
otot
Risk
Pr
otoanal
ysis
R
E
EW
VI
type
R
e
emen
quir
Sim
ula
tion
,
,
ks
m
b
Life-c
cle
pl
Conc
Oper
a
t
ion
S/W
Pr
odu
r
e
eme
qu
De
des
de
R
e
eme
qui
De
v
e
lopm
v
a
tion
lida
plan
Co
Uni
Desi
Integ
r
a
t
ion
V&V
Inte
r
a
t
ion
te
Plan
xtand
pha
ne
tes
Acce
test
De
v
e
,eri
lo
Serv
ne
xtv
e
od
lv
Spiral model of the software process
IanSommerville2004
Slide20
Spiral model sectors
Objective setting
Risk assessment and reduction
Risks are assessed and activities put in place to reduce

the key risks.
Development and validation
Specific objectives for the phase are identified.
A development model for the system is chosen which

can be any of the generic models.
Planning
The project is reviewed and the next phase of the spiral

is planned.
IanSommerville2004
Slide21
Process activities
Software specification
Software design and implementation
Software validation
Software evolution
IanSommerville2004
Slide22
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide23
R
e
eme
qui
F
e
asib
elicit
stud
y
anal
ysis
R
e
em
qu
spe
R
e
e
q
F
e
asib
va
rt por
S
y
ste
mod
Use
req
R
e
e
q
do
The requirements engineering process
IanSommerville2004
Slide24
Software design and implementation
The process of converting the system

specification into an executable system.
Software design
Implementation
Design a software structure that realises the

specification;
Translate this structure into an executable
program;
The activities of design and implementation

are closely related and may be inter-leaved.
IanSommerville2004
Slide25
Design process activities
Architectural design
Abstract specification
Interface design
Component design
Data structure design
Algorithm design
IanSommerville2004
Slide26
R
e
ement
quir
specifi
tion
Desi
vitie
Da
ta
Ar
chitect
al
Abstr
act
Inter
face
Com
A
str
e
design
specifi
tion
desig
des
d
de
Da
ta
S
y
Softw
stem
ar
e
Inter
face
Com
A
str
e
ar
chitect
especifi
tion
spec
tion
spe
tion
s
t
sp
tio
Desi
odu
The software design process
IanSommerville2004
Slide27
Structured methods
Systematic approaches to developing a

software design.
The design is usually documented as a set of
graphical models.
Possible models
Object model;
Sequence model;
State transition model;
Structural model;
Data-flow model.
IanSommerville2004
Slide28
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide29
D
es
Loca
te
R
e
R
p
e
err
or
epa
ra
err
or
err
oro
g
The debugging process
IanSommerville2004
Slide30
Software validation
Verification and validation (V & V) 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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide31
S
y
st
A
Com
tes
te
testi
The testing process
IanSommerville2004
Slide32
Testing stages
Component or unit testing
System testing
Individual components are tested independently;

Components may be functions or objects or
coherent groupings of these entities.
Testing of the system as a whole. Testing of
emergent properties is particularly important.
Acceptance testing
Testing with customer data to check that the

system meets the customers needs.
IanSommerville2004
Slide33
R
e
ement
quir
S
y
stem
S
y
ste
De
specific
tion
specifi
tion
desi
de
S
y
stem
Sub
M
Accep
integ
r
a
t
ion
inte
r
a
t
ion
u
test
pl
test
test
a
p
Accep
S
y
ste
Sub
Service
test
integ
ra
tion
inte
ra
tio
Testing phases
IanSommerville2004
Slide34
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide35
Defin
Asse
Pro
M
requi
syst
ch
s
Exis
N
syst
s
System evolution
IanSommerville2004
Slide36
The Rational Unified Process
A modern process model derived from the

work on the UML and associated process.
Normally described from 3 perspectives
A dynamic perspective that shows phases over

time;
A static perspective that shows process activities;
A practive perspective that suggests good
practice.
IanSommerville2004
Slide37
Phase
Inceptio
Elabor
Con
T
ra
RUP phase model
IanSommerville2004
Slide38
RUP phases
Inception
Elaboration
Develop an understanding of the problem domain

and the system architecture.
Construction
Establish the business case for the system.
System design, programming and testing.
Transition
Deploy the system in its operating environment.
IanSommerville2004
Slide39
RUP good practice
Develop software iteratively

Manage requirements
Use component-based architectures
Visually model software
Verify software quality
Control changes to software
IanSommerville2004
Slide40
Static workflows
Workflow
Description
Businessmodelling
Thebusinessprocessesaremodelledusingbusinessusecases.
Requirements
Actorswhointeractwiththesystemareidentifiedandusecasesare
developedtomodelthesystemrequirements.
Analysisanddesign
Adesignmodeliscreatedanddocumentedusingarchitectural
models,componentmodels,objectmodelsandsequencemodels.
Implementation
Thecomponentsinthesystemareimplementedandstructuredinto
implementationsubsystems.Automaticcodegenerationfromdesign
modelshelpsacceleratethisprocess.
Test
Testingisaniterativeprocessthatiscarriedoutinconjunctionwith
implementation.Systemtestingfollowsthecompletionofthe
implementation.
Deployment
Aproductreleaseiscreated,distributedtousersandinstalledintheir
workplace.
Configurationand
changemanagement
Thissupportingworkflowmanagedchangestothesystem(see
Chapter29).
Projectmanagement
Thissupportingworkflowmanagesthesystemdevelopment(see
Chapter5).
Environment
Thisworkflowisconcernedwithmakingappropriatesoftwaretools
availabletothesoftwaredevelopmentteam.
IanSommerville2004
Slide41
Computer-aided software engineering
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.
IanSommerville2004
Slide42
Case technology
Case technology has led to significant

improvements in the software process.
However, these are not the order of magnitude
improvements that were once predicted
Software engineering requires creative thought this is not readily automated;

Software engineering is a team activity and, for
large projects, much time is spent in team
interactions. CASE technology does not really
support these.
IanSommerville2004
Slide43
CASE classification
Classification helps us understand the different types

of CASE tools and their support for process activities.
Functional perspective
Process perspective
Tools are classified according to their specific function.

Tools are classified according to process activities that
are supported.
Integration perspective
Tools are classified according to their organisation into

integrated units.
IanSommerville2004
Slide44
Functional tool classification

Tool type
Examples
Planning tools
PERT tools, estimation tools, spreadsheets
Editing tools
Text editors, diagram editors, word processors
Change management tools
Requirements traceability tools, change control systems
Configuration management tools
Version management systems, system building tools
Prototyping tools
Very high-level languages, user interface generators
Method-support tools
Design editors, data dictionaries, code generators
Language-processing tools
Compilers, interpreters
Program analysis tools
Cross reference generators, static analysers, dynamic analysers
Testing tools
Test data generators, file comparators
Debugging tools
Interactive debugging systems
Documentation tools
Page layout programs, image editors
Re-engineering tools
Cross-reference systems, program re-structuring systems
IanSommerville2004
Slide45
Re-eng
ineering
T
e
sting
to
Debugg
ing
tool
Prog
ram
ana
Languag
tools
Method
t
tools
Prototyp
Configur
manage
Change
Docume
Editing
t
Planning
Specifi
Desig
Impl
V
e
rifi
and
alid
Activity-based tool classification
IanSommerville2004
Slide46
CASE integration
Tools
Workbenches
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.
Environments
Support all or a substantial part of an entire

software process. Normally include several
integrated workbenches.
IanSommerville2004
Slide47
C
A
SE
tech
g
y
W
o
kben
r
En
vir
onm
T
o
ols
File
Inte
r
a
t
Pr
oc
ed
ed
Editors
Compi
comp
a
t
ors
en
vir
onm
en
vir
on
Anal
ysis
a
Pr
o
g
r
a
T
e
mm
st
desig
Multi-m
Single
Gen
al-p
Lan
ge
w
o
kbench
rw
o
kben
rw
o
kbe
rw
o
kb
r
Tools, workbenches, environments
IanSommerville2004
Slide48
Key points
Software processes are the activities involved in

producing and evolving a software system.
Software process models are abstract representations
of these processes.
General activities are specification, design and
implementation, validation and evolution.
Generic process models describe the organisation of
software processes. Examples include the waterfall
model, evolutionary development and component-based
software engineering.
Iterative process models describe the software process
as a cycle of activities.
IanSommerville2004
Slide49
Key points
Requirements engineering is the process of

developing a software specification.
Design and implementation processes transform the
specification to an executable program.
Validation involves checking that the system meets to
its specification and user needs.
Evolution is concerned with modifying the system after
it is in use.
The Rational Unified Process is a generic process
model that separates activities from phases.
CASE technology supports software process activities.
IanSommerville2004
Slide50

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Software Processes

To introduce software process models

Software process models

The software process

A structured set of activities required to develop a

A software process model is an abstract representation

Generic software process models

The waterfall model

Specification, development and validation are

Component-based software engineering

Separate and distinct phases of specification and

The system is assembled from existing components.

There are many variants of these models e.g. formal

Waterfall model phases

Requirements analysis and definition

Waterfall model problems

Inflexible partitioning of the project into distinct stages

Objective is to work with customers and to evolve

Objective is to understand the system

Lack of process visibility;

For small or medium-size interactive systems;

Component-based software engineering

Based on systematic reuse where systems are

This approach is becoming increasingly used

System requirements ALWAYS evolve in the

Rather than deliver the system as a single delivery, the

Incremental development advantages

Customer value can be delivered with each

An approach to development based on the

Process is represented as a spiral rather than

Spiral model of the software process

Spiral model sectors

Risk assessment and reduction

Risks are assessed and activities put in place to reduce

Development and validation

Specific objectives for the phase are identified.

A development model for the system is chosen which

The project is reviewed and the next phase of the spiral

The process of establishing what services are

The requirements engineering process

Software design and implementation

The process of converting the system

Design a software structure that realises the

The activities of design and implementation

Design process activities

Systematic approaches to developing a

Programming and debugging

Translating a design into a program and

Verification and validation (V & V) is intended

Component or unit testing

Individual components are tested independently;

Testing with customer data to check that the

Software is inherently flexible and can change.

The Rational Unified Process

A modern process model derived from the

A dynamic perspective that shows phases over

Develop an understanding of the problem domain

Establish the business case for the system.

System design, programming and testing.

Deploy the system in its operating environment.

RUP good practice

Develop software iteratively

Computer-aided software engineering