Software Engineering Lawas
Some Questions on laws related to Software Engineering
Ques1: Describe each law in your own words. Illustrate with a practical example.
Ans1: Glass’ Law: “Requirement deficiencies are the prime source of project failures” Lack of requirements is the major root cause of unsuccessful projects. The major reason of project failure is lack of requirements. Requirements are usually defined in first phase of project development and if not defined properly may cause problems in further stages and ultimately leads to failure of project. There may be several reasons for requirement deficiencies such as requirements may not be determined correctly or misinterpretation of requirements. Deficient requirements are incorrect or incomplete which results in failure of project. Example: Virtusa (Software Company) released software. However, clients recognised that it do not work as per their requirements. After inspection, the result of failure of software was detected as requirements deficiencies.
Boehm’s First Law: “Errors are most frequent during the requirements and design activities and are the most expensive the later they are removed” Activities related to requirements and design and design are most heavily loaded with errors i.e. errors are most obvious in requirement and design phases. The cost incurred in removing errors in later parts of project will be much high. If the errors are removed in early parts, the cost will be less, as the time span of error increases the cost of removing the error also increases. In other words, the cost of removing errors is directly proportional to lifetime of error. Example: Mentor Graphics Company released a software application with over 300 bugs in it. In order to remove the errors by expected deadline, the company hired more software engineers and thus the cost of project was increased which was much higher than estimated cost.
Boehm’s Second Law: “Prototyping (significantly) reduces requirement and design errors, especially
Ques1: Describe each law in your own words. Illustrate with a practical example.
Ans1: Glass’ Law: “Requirement deficiencies are the prime source of project failures” Lack of requirements is the major root cause of unsuccessful projects. The major reason of project failure is lack of requirements. Requirements are usually defined in first phase of project development and if not defined properly may cause problems in further stages and ultimately leads to failure of project. There may be several reasons for requirement deficiencies such as requirements may not be determined correctly or misinterpretation of requirements. Deficient requirements are incorrect or incomplete which results in failure of project. Example: Virtusa (Software Company) released software. However, clients recognised that it do not work as per their requirements. After inspection, the result of failure of software was detected as requirements deficiencies.
Boehm’s First Law: “Errors are most frequent during the requirements and design activities and are the most expensive the later they are removed” Activities related to requirements and design and design are most heavily loaded with errors i.e. errors are most obvious in requirement and design phases. The cost incurred in removing errors in later parts of project will be much high. If the errors are removed in early parts, the cost will be less, as the time span of error increases the cost of removing the error also increases. In other words, the cost of removing errors is directly proportional to lifetime of error. Example: Mentor Graphics Company released a software application with over 300 bugs in it. In order to remove the errors by expected deadline, the company hired more software engineers and thus the cost of project was increased which was much higher than estimated cost.
Boehm’s Second Law: “Prototyping (significantly) reduces requirement and design errors, especially