Software Development Process. Basic concepts

Question 1

what is software development process?

Answer 1

set of related activities that leads to production of software system

Question 2

does universal software process exist? why?

Answer 2

no, because there are many types of software systems, development teams and requirements could be very complex

Question 3

why do we need software development process?

Answer 3

to make software development more efficient (less time and money) and standardized

Question 4

what are the fundamental activities in software development process?

Answer 4

• software specification
• software development
• software validation
• software evolution

Question 5

is software development activities simple?

Answer 5

no, complex, could include many sub activities (code review, unit testing)

Question 6

could software development process include other activities (except fundamental)?

Answer 6

yes, configuration management, project planning, etc

Question 7

what is software specification activity?

Answer 7

activity of defining software functionality and constraints

Question 8

what is software development activity?

Answer 8

activity of software production in order to meet specification

Question 9

what is software validation activity?

Answer 9

activity of software validation to ensure that it does what customer wants

Question 10

what is software evolution activity?

Answer 10

activity of software evolving in order to meet changing customer needs

Question 11

what is produced by software activities?

Answer 11

products (model of architecture or requirements specification) or deliverables (software system(s))

Question 12

who is involved in software activities?

Answer 12

people with different roles: programmer, project manager, qa

Question 13

what is software activity conditions?

Answer 13

set of preconditions and post-conditions that must be met before or after activity

Question 14

name precondition of software development activity

Answer 14

software requirements specification should be approved by customer and refined by team

Question 15

name post condition of software development activity

Answer 15

• software verification report should be approved by customer
• demo for customer

Question 16

what is software process model?

Answer 16

abstract and high-level representation of activities and their order in software development process

Question 17

what is the first software process model?

Answer 17

waterfall

Question 18

what is waterfall model?

Answer 18

model that creates cascade from fundamental activities and represent them as separate phases

Question 19

what is the software process model after waterfall?

Answer 19

incremental development

Question 20

what is incremental development model?

Answer 20

model that group fundamental activities into recurrent groups - increments

Question 21

what is output of increment?

Answer 21

software version

Question 22

what is software version?

Answer 22

functionality added to previous version of software

Question 23

what is integration and configuration model?

Answer 23

model that includes additional activities of discovering and configuring existing components and systems in order to create new one

Question 24

what software process model is the best for business systems?

Answer 24

integration and configuration + incremental model

Question 25

what software process model is the best for safety-critical systems?

Answer 25

waterfall with detailed analysis and specification, because mistakes could be very expensive

Question 26

what software process model is the best for large systems?

Answer 26

use best suitable model for different parts

Question 27

what is structure of activities in waterfall model?

Answer 27

cascade

Question 28

is feedback from one activity to another allowed in waterfall model?

Answer 28

no, waterfall model describes linear process

Question 29

what software process model is the best for embedded systems (interaction with hardware)?

Answer 29

waterfall, because of inflexibility of hardware

Question 30

what software process model is the best for large software programs (developed by several companies)?

Answer 30

waterfall, because specification is needed for independent development

Question 31

what software process model for unstable software requirements?

Answer 31

incremental, because feedback loop is shorter

Question 32

is feedback from one activity to another allowed in incremental development?

Answer 32

yes

Question 33

what is incremental approach when all system increments are identified in advance?

Answer 33

plan-driven incremental development

Question 34

what is incremental approach when development of later increments depends on progress (customer feedback)?

Answer 34

agile

Question 35

what software development model it the best for likely dynamic requirements?

Answer 35

incremental model

Question 36

what are the benefits of using incremental development model?

Answer 36

making small steps we reduce amount of analysis, documentation and mistakes

Question 37

what are the downsides of using incremental development model?

Answer 37

system structure degrades because of regular changes and needs refactoring

Question 38

is it OK to use incremental development for complex systems?

Answer 38

no, framework and architecture should be stable