2. What do you mean by software engineering? Explain your answer with appropriate example.
Software engineering is the systematic application of engineering principles and practices to the
development, operation, and maintenance of software systems. It involves the use of various
methods, tools, and techniques to design, build, test, and manage software products. Software
engineering ensures that software is developed in a structured and disciplined manner to meet user
requirements, be reliable, maintainable, and delivered within specified constraints.
Example: Consider the development of a mobile banking application. Software engineering principles
and practices would be applied to define the requirements, design the user interface, develop the
functionality, test the application for accuracy and security, and maintain it over time. The software
engineering process would involve breaking down the development into phases, using appropriate
methodologies, tools, and techniques to ensure a high-quality, user-friendly, and secure mobile
banking application.
3. What do you mean by Process Model? Write names of various process models.
A process model in software engineering defines the sequence of activities, tasks, and milestones
involved in developing a software product. It provides a framework for managing the software
development process and guides the team throughout the project lifecycle. Some commonly used
process models are:
- Waterfall Model
- Agile Model (including Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming)
- Spiral Model
- Iterative and Incremental Model
- V-Model
- Rational Unified Process (RUP)
4. Explain various Software Characteristics.
Various software characteristics include:
- Functionality: The degree to which software meets the specified functional requirements and
performs its intended tasks. For example, a word processing software should have features like
document editing, formatting, and spell-checking.
- Reliability: The ability of software to perform its functions accurately and consistently under
specified conditions. Reliable software should produce correct results and avoid crashes or errors
during operation.
- Usability: The ease of use and understandability of software for end users. Usable software should
have an intuitive user interface, clear instructions, and be easy to navigate.
- Efficiency: The resource usage of software, such as memory, processing power, and network
bandwidth, in relation to its performance. Efficient software should utilize system resources
optimally and provide quick response times.
- Maintainability: The ease with which software can be modified, debugged, repaired, or enhanced.
Maintainable software should have clean, modular code, well-documented components, and be easy
to update or fix.
- Portability: The ability of software to run on different platforms and environments without
requiring major modifications. Portable software should be compatible with various operating
systems and hardware configurations.
- Scalability: The capability of software to handle increasing workloads and user demands by
adapting or expanding its resources. Scalable software should be able to accommodate growing user
bases or increased data volumes without significant performance degradation.
- Security: The protection of software and its data against unauthorized access, attacks, and
vulnerabilities. Secure software should have measures in place to prevent data breaches, implement
user authentication, and protect against malware or hacking attempts.
5. Explain Capability Maturity Model? How many levels of Maturity are there?
The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a framework that assesses an organization's software
engineering practices and defines a set of maturity levels. These levels represent the organization's
capability to manage and improve its software development processes. There are five levels of
maturity in the CMM:
- Level 1: Initial - Processes are ad hoc, unpredictable, and often chaotic.
- Level 2: Managed - Basic project management practices are established to track cost, schedule, and
functionality.
- Level 3: Defined - Standard processes and procedures are documented and followed across the
organization.
- Level 4: Quantitatively Managed - The organization collects and analyzes data to manage and
control its processes.
- Level 5: Optimizing - Continuous process improvement is institutionalized, and the organization
focuses on optimizing its processes.
6. What is Software Requirement Analysis? How it is helpful in Software Engineering Process.
Software Requirement Analysis is the process of gathering, documenting, and analyzing
requirements for a software system. It involves understanding and specifying the desired
functionality, performance, constraints, and other characteristics of the software. Requirement
analysis is helpful in the software engineering process in the following ways:
- It helps in understanding the needs and expectations of stakeholders, including end users and
clients.
- It provides a clear and detailed understanding of the system's functionality, which serves as the
foundation for design and development.
- It helps in identifying potential risks, dependencies, and constraints that need to be considered
during the development process.
- It enables effective communication between the development team and stakeholders, ensuring
that everyone has a shared understanding of the software requirements.
- It helps in establishing a baseline for evaluating and validating the software against the defined
requirements.
7. Short notes on the following:
a) Flow-Oriented Modeling : Flow-oriented modeling is a technique used in software engineering to
represent the flow of data, control, and processing steps in a system. It focuses on capturing the
sequence of activities or processes involved in achieving a specific goal. This modeling technique can
be visualized using tools like data flow diagrams (DFDs) or flowcharts. Flow-oriented modeling helps
in understanding the system's behavior, identifying dependencies, and analyzing the flow of data or
control within a software system.
b) Components of SRS: The Software Requirements Specification (SRS) is a document that captures
the functional and non-functional requirements of a software system. It serves as a contract between
the client and the development team, providing a clear understanding of what the software should
do. The key components of an SRS typically include:
- Introduction: Provides an overview of the document, its purpose, and the scope of the software
system.
- Functional Requirements: Describes the desired functionality of the software, specifying inputs,
outputs, and the behavior of the system.
- Non-functional Requirements: Specifies the quality attributes of the software, such as
performance, usability, reliability, and security.
- User Interface: Describes the graphical user interface (GUI) or user interaction design of the
software.
- System Features: Lists and describes the major features or modules of the software system.
- Constraints: Identifies any limitations or restrictions that need to be considered during
development.
- Assumptions and Dependencies: States any assumptions made during requirements analysis and
any external dependencies of the software.
- Glossary: Defines the key terms used in the document to ensure a common understanding.
c) Requirement Engineering Process: Requirement Engineering is a systematic approach to elicit,
analyze, document, validate, and manage requirements throughout the software development
lifecycle. The requirement engineering process typically involves the following steps:
- Requirement Elicitation: Gathering requirements from stakeholders, including end users, clients,
and domain experts. Techniques like interviews, surveys, workshops, and observations are used to
collect information.
- Requirement Analysis: Analyzing and refining the gathered requirements to ensure clarity,
consistency, and feasibility. This step involves prioritizing requirements, resolving conflicts, and
identifying dependencies.
- Requirement Documentation: Documenting the requirements in a clear and unambiguous manner.
This includes creating requirement specifications, use cases, user stories, or other suitable artifacts.
- Requirement Validation: Ensuring that the documented requirements accurately represent the
stakeholders' needs and are consistent with their expectations. Techniques like reviews, inspections,
and prototyping can be used to validate requirements.
- Requirement Management: Managing changes to requirements throughout the development
process. This includes tracking changes, maintaining traceability, and ensuring that requirements
remain up-to-date.
8. Definitions of the following concepts:
- Risk Identification: Risk identification is the process of identifying and documenting potential risks
that could have an impact on the success of a project. It involves systematically identifying sources of
risks, analyzing their potential consequences, and documenting them for further analysis and
mitigation.
- Risk Projection: Risk projection involves estimating the potential impact and likelihood of identified
risks. It helps in understanding the level of risk associated with each identified risk and prioritizing
them based on their significance.
- RMMM Plan: RMMM stands for Risk Mitigation, Monitoring, and Management Plan. It is a
proactive strategy to address identified risks throughout the software development process. The
RMMM plan outlines the specific actions, responsibilities, and timelines for mitigating risks,
monitoring their occurrence, and managing their impact on the project.
9. Describe the need of software quality evaluation.
The need for software quality evaluation arises due to the following reasons:
- To ensure that the software meets the specified requirements and functions as intended.
- To identify and fix defects or issues before the software is deployed to end users.
- To improve customer satisfaction by delivering high-quality software products.
- To minimize the risk of software failures, which can lead to financial loss, reputation damage, or
safety hazards.
- To comply with industry standards, regulations, and quality assurance frameworks.
- To enhance the maintainability and longevity of the software by identifying and resolving quality-
related issues.
10. What is Software Reviews? Explain with the help of example.
Software reviews refer to systematic assessments of software artifacts, such as requirements,
designs, code, or test plans, to identify defects, validate compliance with requirements, and improve
overall quality. Reviews involve gathering a group of stakeholders, including developers, testers, and
subject matter experts, to examine the software artifacts and provide feedback. Examples of
software reviews include:
- Requirements Review: A review of the software requirements documentation to ensure clarity,
completeness, and consistency.
- Design Review: A review of the software design artifacts, such as architectural diagrams or
interface specifications, to evaluate their effectiveness and adherence to design principles.
- Code Review: A review of the software code to identify coding errors, adherence to coding
standards, and potential performance or security issues.
- Test Plan Review: A review of the test plan to assess its coverage, effectiveness, and alignment with
the requirements.
11. Write in brief about design at the Architectural Level and Component Level.
Design at the architectural level involves defining the overall structure and organization of a software
system. It focuses on identifying the major components or modules of the system, their interactions,
and the high-level design decisions that guide the system's development. Architectural design helps
in creating a blueprint for the software system, ensuring that it meets the desired functionality,
performance, and quality attributes.
Design at the component level, on the other hand, involves specifying the internal structure,
interfaces, and interactions within individual components or modules of the software system. It
focuses on the detailed design of each component, including algorithms, data structures, and
implementation considerations. Component-level design helps in ensuring that each component is
self-contained, well-structured, and satisfies its intended functionality.
12. Why software design is essential in software engineering process. What do
you mean by User interface Design?
Software design is essential in the software engineering process for the following reasons:
- It helps in transforming requirements into a detailed blueprint for the software system, ensuring
that the final product meets the desired functionality and quality.
- It enables efficient and effective development by breaking down the system into manageable
components or modules, facilitating parallel development and collaboration among team members.
- It guides the implementation phase by providing clear specifications and guidelines for coding,
resulting in a more structured and maintainable codebase.
- It helps in identifying potential design flaws or issues early in the process, allowing for necessary
adjustments and improvements before significant resources are invested in development.
- User Interface Design specifically focuses on designing the visual and interactive elements of the
software that users interact with. It involves creating intuitive and user-friendly interfaces that
enhance the user experience and enable efficient task completion. User interface design considers
factors like usability, accessibility, visual aesthetics, and user feedback to create interfaces that are
visually appealing, easy to navigate, and responsive to user actions.
13. What do you mean by software testing? How testing plays an vital role?
Software testing refers to the process of evaluating a software system or its components to identify
defects, errors, or deviations from expected behavior. Testing is crucial in software engineering for
the following reasons:
- It helps in identifying and fixing defects or issues in the software, ensuring its correctness, reliability,
and quality.
- It verifies that the software meets the specified requirements and performs its intended functions
accurately.
- It enhances user confidence by providing assurance that the software works as expected and is fit
for its intended purpose.
- It helps in uncovering vulnerabilities or security weaknesses that could be exploited by malicious
users or hackers.
- It contributes to the overall software development process by providing feedback, driving
improvements, and validating the effectiveness of development activities.
14. Short notes on the following:
a) Black Box Testing: Black box testing is a testing technique where the tester focuses solely on the
external behavior and functionality of the software without considering its internal implementation
details. The tester treats the software as a black box, providing inputs and observing outputs to
validate if the software behaves as expected. The internal workings of the software are not known to
the tester. Black box testing is used to test the software from a user's perspective, ensuring that it
meets the specified requirements and performs the intended functions.
b) White Box Testing: White box testing is a testing technique where the tester has access to the
internal structure, code, and implementation details of the software being tested. The tester uses
this knowledge to design test cases and evaluate the software's internal logic, data flows, and control
structures. White box testing focuses on achieving high code coverage and identifying potential
defects or vulnerabilities in the software's implementation.
c) Validation Testing: Validation testing is a testing process that ensures that the software satisfies
the user's needs and intended use. It involves evaluating the software against the specified
requirements and validating if it meets the user's expectations. Validation testing is typically
performed near the end of the development process to ensure that the software functions as
intended and provides value to the user.
15. Differences between verification and validation.
- Verification: Verification focuses on evaluating a system or component to determine whether it
meets the specified requirements. It involves checking that the software has been designed and
implemented correctly and adheres to the defined specifications. Verification activities include
reviews, inspections, walkthroughs, and static analysis to ensure that the software is built correctly.
- Validation: Validation, on the other hand, focuses on evaluating a system or component during or
at the end of the development process to determine whether it satisfies the user's intended use. It
involves assessing whether the software meets the user's needs, expectations, and requirements.
Validation activities include testing, demonstrations, and user feedback to ensure that the software is
fit for its intended purpose.
16. Explain Basis Path Testing with the help of examples.
Basis Path Testing is a white box testing technique that focuses on testing the control flow of a
program by ensuring that all possible independent paths within the program are executed at least
once. It helps in identifying defects or errors related to the control structures, decision points, and
loops in the software.
Basis Path Testing follows the Cyclomatic Complexity metric, which measures the number of linearly
independent paths through a program. Each linearly independent path represents a basis set of test
cases that exercise a unique combination of decision outcomes. By testing all the basis sets, it is
possible to achieve thorough coverage of the program's control flow.
Example: Let's consider a simple program with multiple decision points and loops. By applying Basis
Path Testing, we identify the independent paths through the program and create test cases to
execute each path. This ensures that the control flow of the program is tested comprehensively,
increasing the likelihood of detecting defects or issues related to control structures and decision
logic.
Detail Answers
17. State and Explain Spiral Model with the help of neat and clean diagram?
The Spiral Model is a software development process model that combines elements of both waterfall
and iterative development approaches. It emphasizes risk management and allows for iterative
development and refinement of the software based on feedback and evolving requirements. The
Spiral Model consists of four main phases:
1. Planning: In this phase, the project objectives, requirements, and constraints are defined. The risks
associated with the project are identified and analyzed. The project plan is created, including the
determination of resources, schedules, and deliverables.
2. Risk Analysis: This phase involves a thorough assessment of identified risks and the development
of strategies to mitigate them. Various solutions and alternatives are evaluated, and the most
suitable approach is selected. A prototype or proof of concept may be developed to demonstrate the
feasibility of the selected approach.
3. Engineering: This phase focuses on the development of the software based on the requirements
and risk analysis. Iterative cycles of development are performed, where each cycle includes
requirements analysis, design, coding, and testing. The software is gradually refined and improved
based on feedback obtained during each cycle.
4. Evaluation: In this phase, the software is evaluated to assess its quality, performance, and
compliance with the requirements. User feedback is collected, and any necessary changes or
enhancements are identified. This phase also includes planning for the next iteration or release of
the software.
The Spiral Model allows for flexibility and adaptability throughout the software development
process. It accommodates changing requirements and addresses risks early on. The model's iterative
nature ensures continuous feedback and improvement, resulting in a high-quality software product.
18. What are the various metrics for Process and Projects? Explain your answer specific to
software development process.
What are the various metrics for Process and Projects? Explain your answer specific to software
development process.
Metrics for process and project in software development refer to quantitative measures used to
assess the performance, progress, and quality of the software development process and the resulting
software product. Some common metrics used in software development include:
- Defect Density: This metric measures the number of defects or issues identified per unit of code or
functionality. It indicates the quality of the software and helps in identifying areas that require
improvement.
- Effort Variance: Effort variance measures the deviation between the actual effort expended and the
estimated effort for completing a project or task. It helps in assessing project performance and
identifying areas where effort estimation needs improvement.
- Schedule Variance: Schedule variance measures the deviation between the actual progress and the
planned schedule for completing a project or task. It provides insights into project timeline
adherence and helps in identifying schedule-related issues.
- Code Coverage: Code coverage measures the proportion of code or software functionality that is
exercised by test cases. It helps in assessing the effectiveness of the testing process and identifying
areas of code that lack test coverage.
- Productivity: Productivity metrics measure the output or work completed per unit of effort or time.
It helps in evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the development process.
- Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction metrics gauge the level of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction of end users or clients with the software product. It provides feedback on the
software's usability, functionality, and overall quality.
19.
a) Techniques that come under White Box testing:
- Statement Coverage: This technique aims to ensure that every statement in the source code is
executed at least once during testing. Test cases are designed to cover all possible control flow paths.
- Branch Coverage: Branch coverage focuses on testing every possible branch or decision point in the
code. It aims to ensure that both true and false outcomes of decisions are tested.
- Path Coverage: Path coverage aims to test all possible paths through the code, including both linear
and conditional paths. It ensures that every possible combination of decision outcomes is tested.
- Condition Coverage: Condition coverage focuses on testing all possible combinations of conditions
within a decision point. It aims to ensure that all possible condition outcomes are evaluated.
b) Write about Strategic approach to Software Testing.
The strategic approach to software testing involves planning and implementing a comprehensive
and systematic testing process throughout the software development life cycle. It includes the
following key elements:
- Test Strategy: The test strategy outlines the overall approach, goals, and objectives of testing for a
specific project. It defines the scope of testing, the testing techniques and tools to be used, and the
roles and responsibilities of the testing team.
- Test Planning: Test planning involves creating a detailed plan that outlines the specific activities,
tasks, and resources required for testing. It includes defining test objectives, test schedules, test
environments, and test deliverables. The test plan serves as a roadmap for the testing process.
- Test Design: Test design focuses on creating test cases and test scenarios based on the
requirements and specifications of the software. It involves identifying test conditions, defining test
data, and determining expected results. Test design ensures comprehensive coverage of the
software's functionality and verifies that it meets the specified requirements.
- Test Execution: Test execution involves running the test cases and scenarios, observing and
recording the actual results, and comparing them against the expected results. It includes identifying
and reporting defects or issues, and retesting fixed defects. Test execution aims to validate the
correctness and quality of the software.
- Test Reporting: Test reporting involves documenting and communicating the results of the testing
process. It includes generating test reports, defect reports, and progress reports. Test reporting
provides stakeholders with visibility into the testing activities, the quality of the software, and the
readiness for release.
