1) Fundamentals and Terms of Requirements Engineering

Question 1

Please define the role of goals in the software process.

Answer 1

A goal is defined as the intentional description of a characteristic feature of the system in development. The requirements engineer should set goals for the system in order to give it direction and purpose.

A rough determination of the goal already takes place in the planning phase. Goals are requirements on an abstract level, subject to the same quality criteria as requirements.

Question 2

Please explain how goals are used in agile projects.

Answer 2

Agile projects have sprint goals; at the beginning of each sprint, the goal is defined between the project owner and team. The goal should be completed in one sprint. The aim is to deliver working software to the customer after each iteration.

Question 3

Complete the sentence:

Requirements engineering is defined as a…

Answer 3

collaborative, iterative, incremental process.

Question 4

Please list the main objectives of Requirements Engineering.

Answer 4

• all relevant requirements are known and understood to the required level of detail.
• all relevant requirements are documented according to the documentation requirements, or specified according to the specification requirements.
• the involved stakeholders agree on the known requirements.

Question 5

Who are usually involved in software projects and what are they called?

Answer 5

Stakeholders
These are people who’s are of work is influenced by the system being created or people involved in the creation process.

Question 6

Explain why requirements engineering cannot be completed at the beginning of a software project.

Answer 6

RE is not a single activity that can be completed at the beginning of a software project, it occurs in multiple cycles (iterations). By performing RE activities multiple times, requirements are elicited and redefined. Since software engineering is a knowledge driven process, RE usually takes place throughout the project.

Question 7

Please list the activities requirements serve the basis for:

Answer 7

• communication
• tender and contract design
• test and acceptance
• troubleshooting and further development
• software architecture
• employee and customer satisfaction
• system intergration and maintenance
• optimization of customer benefit
• determination of rationalization potentials

Question 8

Course question!

Please describe the term “goal” in Requirements engineering.

Answer 8

The goal is a characteristic feature of a system that will be developed, or the associated development project desired by stakeholders.

Question 9

Course Question!

For which activities in business are requirements the bases? Name four.

Answer 9

• Tender and contract design
• System architecture
• Troubleshooting and further development
• Increasing employee and customer satsifaction

Question 10

Name the different management practised in RE.

Answer 10

• Problem Management
• Incident Management
• Change Management
• Innovation Management
• Portfolio Management

Question 11

Briedly explain the role of problem management in RE.

Answer 11

Problem management is a process that is responsible for the sustainable resolution and prevention of problems which is achieved by addressing these issues in normal operations.

Alongside solving problems, problem management recommends changes by submitting a request for change (RFC) to change management.

Question 12

Briedly explain the role of incident management in RE.

Answer 12

Incident management aims to quickly restore the normal operation of an IT service when an incident occurs, resulting in minimal impact on the productivity of the company.

The focus is on contact with the users of a system, so incident management is an excellent source of information for a system analysis, especially if statements about weaknesses are needed.

Question 13

Briedly explain the role of change management in RE.

Answer 13

Change management aims to manage RFCs efficiently and avoid negative effects on service quality due to changes. Activities include documenting, and authorizing RFCs based on impact analysis, as well as planning and coordinating the implementation of changes.

Question 14

Briedly explain the role of portfolio management in RE.

Answer 14

Portfolio management is the art and science of selecting and overseeing a group of activities and projects that meets the long-term objectives of the company. Requirements may lead to activities or projects that cannot be satisfied in the short term, for example, due to missing resources.

Within a portfolio, these requirements can be planned for the future without being forgotten.

IT portfolio management is a planning discipline that deals with the compilation of service offerings. Portfolio management sets the firts requirements for the system.

Question 15

What is the ultimate goal of requirement documentation?

Answer 15

The goal of documentation is to ensure that the curremt state of knowledge is secured for all stakeholders and everyone involved can obtain an overview at any time.

Question 16

Why is it important for a requirements engineer to regularely check the requirements?

Answer 16

It is important to regularly check whether the requirements are still up to date and whether adjustments are needed. This enables traceability of changes, such as the status of requirements, the reason for change, its maturity level, and whether the requirement still needs to be refined.

Question 17

Please define the three maturity levels of requirements.

Answer 17

1. The information does not need to be complete, or coordinated. Examples are sufficient.
2. The information does not need to be complete, but must be reliable and resilient.
3. The information should meet all the quality criteria for good requirements. It must be correct and complete.

Question 18

Course Question!

Please define the traceability of requirements.

Answer 18

The traceability of requirements is the documentation of the history of requirements, its current status, the reason why it was changes, its maturity level, and whether the requirement still needs to be refined.

Question 19

Please define the relationship between the problem, requirement, and system (solution).

Answer 19

Requirements describe necessary functions and properties a system needs to solve aproblem, and the problem describes what will be changed or achieved in the real world.

The problem is usually independent of requirements and solution. The requirement form the relatioship between the problem and solution by describing concrete properties of the solution in order to solve the problem.

Question 20

What are requirements?

Answer 20

Requirements describe the necessary functions and properties a system needs to solve a problem, and the problem describes what will be changed or achieved in the real world.

Question 21

Please name and describe the three main types of requirements.

Answer 21

• Functional requirements that concern the result of a behavior to be provided by a function or component.
• Quality requirements including a more detailed description of quality, such as response times, minimum availability, times for restart, maximum data loss in case of failure, validation, or software varification.
• Constraints or requirements that limit the solution space beyond what is necessary to meet the given functional and quality requirements.

Question 22

Please define the non-functional requirements.

Answer 22

• Technology requirements provide the desired function of specific technologies, hardware, and software may be understood as a constraint.
• User interface requirements include the design according to internal or generally accepted design features and the use of end devices with different operating systems.
• Legal-contractual requirements include delivery time, guarentee, and warranty periods, and conceptual penalties.
• Maintenance requirements include requirements such as handling incidents, the designation of response times, and repair times.

Question 23

The international Institute of Business Analysis has a different view on requirements. Please name and define the requirements.

Answer 23

• Business requirements are statements of goals, objectives, and outcomes that describe why a change has been initiated.
• Solution requirements describe the capabilities and qualities of a solution that meets the stakeholder requirements. They provide the appropriate level of detail to allow for the development and implementation of solutions.
• Transition requirements describe the capabilities that the solution must have and the conditions the solution must meet to facilitate transition from the current state to the future state, but only if the change is complete.

Question 24

What are the different sources of requirements?

Answer 24

Requests expressed by stakeholders.
They may include:
* boundary conditions, such as laws and regulatory requirements from authorities
* internal company specification and guidelines, such as a style guide or the specification pf a technical framework (programming language or target platform)

Question 25

What does the term legal bindingness means?

Answer 25

Legal bindingness describes the degree of importance that the stakeholders attaches to the information in the requirement specification.

This term is often used in contracts, as the legal classification determines which parts of the contract are legally enforceable.

Question 26

Where can legal bindingness be used and what is the advantage of it in terms of requirements?

Answer 26

The term is often used in contracts, as the legal classification determines which parts of the contract are legally enforceable. Another advantage is that the requirement engineer can better decide which requirements are indispensable and which can be later realized.

Question 27

Please state which keywords are used to express the bindingness of requirements.

Answer 27

• Shall for obligations and essential requirements
• Should for non-binding wishes showing an intention
• Will for legally binding intention
• May not for negative requirements