The bare essentials 1

Question 1

What is a project?

Answer 1

A temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service or result.
Focus: temporary, limited budget, limited resources

Question 2

What are the four main activities of the design cycle, and what is key to the design cycle?

Answer 2

• Analyze;
• Design;
• Implement;
• Test;

-> Iterative, each activity affects the other

Question 3

What are the four steps in waterfall approach, what do they deliver, and which two additional steps can be added?

Answer 3

• Analysis (–> requirements)
• Design (–> specification)
• Implement (–> software)
• Test
• Adoption;
• Maintenance

Question 4

Key characteristics of waterfall?

Answer 4

• Most time in first two steps;
• Focus on planning and requirements;
• Requirements don’t change in principle;
• Next step only when previous is finished;

Question 5

Conditions when Agile is useful?

Answer 5

• Complex problem;
• Solutions are initially unknown;
• Requirements will change;
• Work can be modularized;
• Close collaborations with end-users is possible;
• Creative teams will outperform other types of teams;

Question 6

What is the triple constraint of projects?

Answer 6

A project has 3 limitations:

1. Scope (what and how)
2. Time
3. Cost
4. Quality
5. Satisfaction of project sponsor

Question 7

When is a project a success?

Answer 7

1. Satisfies scope, time and cost;
2. Satisfies customer/sponsor;
3. Meets main objectives;

Question 8

What is the PMI talent triangle?

Answer 8

Skills a PM should have:

1. Technical PM skills;
2. Strategic and business management skills;
3. Leadership skills;

Question 9

What is sequencing in a project?

Answer 9

In which order the activities should be executed and if there are mandatory dependencies.

-> reduce false dependencies;

Question 10

Everything about the critical path (CPM)?

Answer 10

Network diagram technique used to predict total project duration.
-> longest mandatory path (based on dependencies) is the shortest time in which a project is done.

Slack/Float = amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project

Shorten the CP by:

• Increasing resources;
• Crashing: trade-offs between cost and scheduling;
• Fasttracking: doing activities the same time when they should be done after eachother

Question 11

Four difficulties in software engineering according to brooks?

Answer 11

• Complexity
• Conformity
• Changeability
• Invisibility

Question 12

What is complexity according to Brooks?

Answer 12

A function of:
Number of components (volume)
Types of components (variety)
Number of attributes (depth)
Number of relations (dependencies

Essential: inherent to the nature of the software
Accidental: it was made to complex -> rules, compliance, integration

Question 13

What is conformity according to Brooks?

Answer 13

No standards, so has to conform to expectations and norms. These change per context

Does it conform to other products/packages/modules?

• Conform to norms, other applications;
• > new software need to conform because it is new, must be seen as good to use;
• Conformity to other interfaces causes more complexity

Question 14

What is changeability according to Brooks?

Answer 14

Must be changeable after release -> updates;

New uses help keeping it relevant, also after hardware expires;

Question 15

What is invisibility according to Brooks?

Answer 15

Software is no 1 way to visualize it. Therefore it is difficult to communicate about the technical aspects with others, which also impedes the process of design

Question 16

How can you adress essential complexity according to Brooks?

Answer 16

• Buy instead of build (vendors are experts)
• Incremental development;
• Keep refining requirements -> rapid prototypes;
• Select great designers

Question 17

What is the Spiral Model (Boehm)?

Answer 17

Type of system development life cycle which focuses mainly on risk management.

• > It combines waterfall principles with iterations;
• For large, complicated projects

Question 18

Through which quadrants go each phase in the spiral model?

Answer 18

1. Objectives determination and alternative solution identification;
2. Identify and evaluate risk
3. Develop next version of the product;
4. Review and plan for next phase;

Question 19

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the spiral model?

Answer 19

+ Risk handling;
+ Good for large and complex models;
+ Requirements can be changed later;
+Increased CS due to prototypes

• complex
• expensive
• are you good at risk analysis?

Question 20

What is important to do when you assess risk in the spiral model?

Answer 20

• Assess the magnitude of risk

- How effective are you in resolving risk?