https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB2iQSvrcG0

What is software engineering?

• A standardized, structured and thorough approach to writing code.
• Treating the whole development process in a standardized manner.

Why bother?

• Ensure you are building the right product.
• Design code to a certain standard.
  • Conventions and coding styles become important when working in a team.
• Ensure the code meets a level of rigor.
  • Must be correct
  • Efficient
  • Secure

Stage 1: Requirements Gathering and Analysis

Understanding what the customer wants

Gathering

Customer provided list

• Have customer provide a list of requirements
• List could be long, but not useful for development

Conversational

You take the notes and results will be more productive.

• Surveys
• Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Observations
  • If an existing package exists, watch how your client uses it.
  • Watch for pain points

Use Case Analysis

• Have client describe a real usage scenario
  • Point of view of the user, no jargon or technical info.
  • Written as a list, emphasizing End Results and Steps taken.
• Extensions: “What if” error detection and how to handle
• Preconditions: Requirements to run the software
• Postconditions: What measures success?

Use Case Analysis Example:

• Use Case: Record a sale onto the system
• Role: Sales Staff
• Main Success Scenario:
  1. User initiates an “Add Sale” operation
  2. Software request the name and quantity of the item sold.
  3. User inputs name and qty and confirms the action
  4. Software stores the new entry into the system
• Extensions:
  • User inputs qty less than 1
  • Software indicates the qty is invalid
  • Use case returns to step 2
• Preconditions
  • User is logged in as Sales staff
• Postconditions
  • Entry is stored in the system.

User Stories

A simpler, though less detailed, formulation of the requirements.

User stories should contain the 3 pieces of information

• Who they are
• What they want to do
• Why they want to do it

User Story Example

• As a Sales Staff, I want to be able to add new sales to the system, such to have a record of all transactions.

Analysis

Functional requirements

What we need the system to do

• Ex: Strore and retrieve information about sales

Non-Functional requirements

A characteristic or property of the system.  Describes something about the process.

• Performance
  • Ex: Records must be retrieved within 3 seconds

Prototyping

• Build a (usually non-functional) system that represents the visual layout and linkage of features.
  • Might be some type of code
  • Power Point slides
• Give the client a good idea of how the software will look, feel and perform prior to design
• There may be a lot of back and forth in this stage.
  • Only once this has been completed can you move forward into serious development.

Stage 2: Planning

• Decide how you want to do things over the coming weeks and months.
• This provides a road map that defines how the different parts are going to interact with each other
• How to approach developing them

Modularization

• Breaking large programs/projects into smaller parts

10:40 – Stopping note taking here