Software Engineering

Software Engineering is the Systematic Approach for analysis design implementation and maintenance of Software. It involves the use of Case tools. Computer software is the product that Software Engineers design and develop and virtually every one in the industrialized world use it and is important because it effects nearly every aspect of our lives and has became needy in commerce, culture and our every day life.

The Steps involved in building a computer software like you build any successful product, by applying a process that leads to a high quality result that meets the needs of people who will use the product.

There are different steps involved in developing the software and generally there are three phases involved in software development. These are Definition, Development and Support phase.

The first phase is of definition which every thing about the software is gathered and each and every information which is needed to develop a software is gathered. In short a proper road map is prepared and in which key requirements of the system and the software are identified.

The second phase which is the Development phase, that is a software engineer attempts to define how data are to be structured how function is to be implemented within software architecture, how procedural details are to be implemented how interfaces are to be characterized and how the design will be translated into a programming language. The method applied during the development phase might vary but the three technical tasks should always occur that are: Software Design, Code generation, and software testing.

The Third and the last phase focus on changes which occur after the development of complete software this phase is associated with error correction, adaptation, enhancement and prevention of the software.

In addition to these activities there are also some activities involved in the development of software and these activities are used throughout the Software development these activities are called Umbrella Activities. These activities include:

•  Software Project tracking and control

•  Formal technical reviews

•  Software quality assurance

•  Software Configuration management

•  Document preparation and production

•  Reusability management

•  Measurement

•  Risk management

There are many phases of software engineering and it is a very deep field of software development and all the things discussed above is a part of the introduction.



Recent article: Software Process
For many organizations like ours, the interim target of achieving ISO 9001 or CMM levels is a daunting task. Discipline is no fun -Organizations readily acknowledge that striving to address projects according to ISO 9001 or CMM guidelines requires the creation of new procedures. It is vital to the success of improvement efforts to realize that process change entails cultural change and its human nature to resist change. Numerous social and technical barriers must be overcome to effect lasting improvement.

My organization aimed for ISO 9001 certification and then CMM level 2 and Level 3 assessment approximately one and half year back and knew that it would be grilled thoroughly by the ISO auditors and CMM assessors. For Software Process Improvement first we need to know your strengths and weaknesses so that the management can scope the improvement effort. Only with this knowledge can we customize an infrastructure for process improvement. We have had success with plans tailored according to the Software Engineering Institute's CMM model. This includes formation of Software Process Engineering Group, who know their roles, responsibilities, charters, and action plans, which helps you develop a charter and vision and to establish a clear match to organizational goals and objectives. They will be much more effective if they receive the right formal and informal training. One pivotal decision was "not to reinvent the wheel", but seriously consider Industry Best Practices.