Pears of Wisdom - Software Engineering Overview

Software Engineering Overview

NO project can succeed without a plan. Engineering is the design, construction, and use of engines, in this case, software engines. Below are the high level steps that associated with a software engineering project. Requirements High-Level Design Low-Level Design Development Post Dev-Iterative Testing Deployment Maintenance Wrap-up

Step 0: Don't Start Yet

There are certain things that ALL software projects require regardless of content. Even a simple software project may have tons of documentation.  You need document management. Do something to reduce the signal to noise ratio in e-mail like prefixing them with something: [PROJECT BLAH] You need source control. Make sure to comment and document your code appropriately. Don't forget to plan for actual application documentation.

Step 1: Figure Out Requirements

Depends on who the customer is.  Make sure you have the right customer, e.g., don't (only) ask a hospital administrator for requirements for software used by nurses.   Determine the correct customer's wants and needs. Turn wants and needs in requirements documentation. Use requirements documentation to manage change.

Step 2: High-Level Design

Includes: Platform Design Data Design  Security Design User Interface Design etc., etc. Should cover all aspects of the requirements documentation. Should be abstract and include assumptions about the system but not necessarily final decisions about the system. 

Step 3: Low-Level Design

Describes how the pieces of the high-level design should work Defines who should do each piece May lead to changes in requirements and high-level design

Step 4: Development

Refines low-level design until it can be implemented Remember to write tests and implement in-dev testing