Introduction1ObjectivesThe objectives of this chapte.docx

Introduction
1
Objectives
The objectives of this chapter are to introduce software
engineering and
to provide a framework for understanding the rest of the book.
When you
have read this chapter you will:
■ understand what software engineering is and why it is
important;
■ understand that the development of different types of software
systems may require different software engineering techniques;
■ understand some ethical and professional issues that are
important
for software engineers;
■ have been introduced to three systems, of different types, that
will be
used as examples throughout the book.
Contents
1.1 Professional software development
1.2 Software engineering ethics
1.3 Case studies
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Software Engineering, Ninth Edition, by Ian Sommerville.
Published by Addison-Wesley. Copyright © 2011 by Pearson
Education, Inc.
4 Chapter 1 ■ Introduction
We can’t run the modern world without software. National
infrastructures and utili-
ties are controlled by computer-based systems and most
electrical products include a
computer and controlling software. Industrial manufacturing
and distribution is
completely computerized, as is the financial system.
Entertainment, including the
music industry, computer games, and film and television, is
software intensive.

Therefore, software engineering is essential for the functioning
of national and inter-
national societies.
Software systems are abstract and intangible. They are not
constrained by the
properties of materials, governed by physical laws, or by
manufacturing processes.
This simplifies software engineering, as there are no natural
limits to the potential of
software. However, because of the lack of physical constraints,
software systems can
quickly become extremely complex, difficult to understand, and
expensive to change.
There are many different types of software systems, from simple
embedded sys-
tems to complex, worldwide information systems. It is pointless
to look for universal
notations, methods, or techniques for software engineering
because different types
of software require different approaches. Developing an
organizational information
system is completely different from developing a controller for
a scientific instru-
ment. Neither of these systems has much in common with a
graphics-intensive com-
puter game. All of these applications need software engineering;
they do not all need
the same software engineering techniques.
There are still many reports of software projects going wrong
and ‘software failures’.
Software engineering is criticized as inadequate for modern
software development.
However, in my view, many of these so-called software failures

are a consequence of
two factors:
1. Increasing demands As new software engineering techniques
help us to build
larger, more complex systems, the demands change. Systems
have to be built
and delivered more quickly; larger, even more complex systems
are required;
systems have to have new capabilities that were previously
thought to be impos-
sible. Existing software engineering methods cannot cope and
new software
engineering techniques have to be developed to meet new these
new demands.
2. Low expectations It is relatively easy to write computer
programs without using
software engineering methods and techniques. Many companies
have drifted
into software development as their products and services have
evolved. They do
not use software engineering methods in their everyday work.
Consequently,
their software is often more expensive and less reliable than it
should be. We
need better software engineering education and training to
address this problem.
Software engineers can be rightly proud of their achievements.
Of course we still
have problems developing complex software but, without
software engineering, we
would not have explored space, would not have the Internet or
modern telecommuni-
cations. All forms of travel would be more dangerous and

expensive. Software engi-
neering has contributed a great deal and I am convinced that its
contributions in the
21st century will be even greater.
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1.1 ■ Professional software development 5
History of software engineering
The notion of ‘software engineering’ was first proposed in 1968

at a conference held to discuss what was then
called the ‘software crisis’ (Naur and Randell, 1969). It became
clear that individual approaches to program
development did not scale up to large and complex software
systems. These were unreliable, cost more than
expected, and were delivered late.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a variety of new software
engineering techniques and methods were
developed, such as structured programming, information hiding
and object-oriented development. Tools and
standard notations were developed and are now extensively
used.
http://www.SoftwareEngineering-9.com/Web/History/
1.1 Professional software development
Lots of people write programs. People in business write
spreadsheet programs to
simplify their jobs, scientists and engineers write programs to
process their experi-
mental data, and hobbyists write programs for their own interest
and enjoyment.
However, the vast majority of software development is a
professional activity where
software is developed for specific business purposes, for
inclusion in other devices,
or as software products such as information systems, CAD
systems, etc. Professional
software, intended for use by someone apart from its developer,
is usually developed
by teams rather than individuals. It is maintained and changed
throughout its life.
Software engineering is intended to support professional

software development,
rather than individual programming. It includes techniques that
support program
specification, design, and evolution, none of which are normally
relevant for per-
sonal software development. To help you to get a broad view of
what software engi-
neering is about, I have summarized some frequently asked
questions in Figure 1.1.
Many people think that software is simply another word for
computer programs.
However, when we are talking about software engineering,
software is not just the
programs themselves but also all associated documentation and
configuration data
that is required to make these programs operate correctly. A
professionally devel-
oped software system is often more than a single program. The
system usually con-
sists of a number of separate programs and configuration files
that are used to set up
these programs. It may include system documentation, which
describes the structure
of the system; user documentation, which explains how to use
the system, and web-
sites for users to download recent product information.
This is one of the important differences between professional
and amateur soft-
ware development. If you are writing a program for yourself, no
one else will use it
and you don’t have to worry about writing program guides,
documenting the pro-
gram design, etc. However, if you are writing software that
other people will use and

other engineers will change then you usually have to provide
additional information
as well as the code of the program.
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Question Answer
What is software? Computer programs and associated
documentation.

Software products may be developed for a particular
customer or may be developed for a general market.
What are the attributes of good software? Good software should
deliver the required
functionality and performance to the user and should
be maintainable, dependable, and usable.
What is software engineering? Software engineering is an
engineering discipline that
is concerned with all aspects of software production.
What are the fundamental software engineering
activities?
Software specification, software development,
software validation, and software evolution.
What is the difference between software
engineering and computer science?
Computer science focuses on theory and
fundamentals; software engineering is concerned
with the practicalities of developing and delivering
useful software.
What is the difference between software
engineering and system engineering?
System engineering is concerned with all aspects of
computer-based systems development including
hardware, software, and process engineering. Software
engineering is part of this more general process.
What are the key challenges facing software
engineering?

Coping with increasing diversity, demands for reduced
delivery times, and developing trustworthy software.
What are the costs of software engineering? Roughly 60% of
software costs are development
costs; 40% are testing costs. For custom software,
evolution costs often exceed development costs.
What are the best software engineering techniques
and methods?
While all software projects have to be professionally
managed and developed, different techniques are
appropriate for different types of system. For example,
games should always be developed using a series of
prototypes whereas safety critical control systems
require a complete and analyzable specification to be
developed. You can’t, therefore, say that one method
is better than another.
What differences has the Web made to software
engineering?
The Web has led to the availability of software
services and the possibility of developing highly
distributed service-based systems. Web-based
systems development has led to important advances
in programming languages and software reuse.
Software engineers are concerned with developing software
products (i.e., soft-
ware which can be sold to a customer). There are two kinds of
software products:
1. Generic products These are stand-alone systems that are

produced by a develop-
ment organization and sold on the open market to any customer
who is able to
Figure 1.1 Frequently
asked questions about
software
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buy them. Examples of this type of product include software for
PCs such as
databases, word processors, drawing packages, and project-
management tools.
It also includes so-called vertical applications designed for
some specific pur-
pose such as library information systems, accounting systems,
or systems for
maintaining dental records.
2. Customized (or bespoke) products These are systems that are
commissioned by
a particular customer. A software contractor develops the
software especially
for that customer. Examples of this type of software include
control systems for
electronic devices, systems written to support a particular
business process, and
air traffic control systems.
An important difference between these types of software is that,
in generic products,
the organization that develops the software controls the
software specification. For cus-
tom products, the specification is usually developed and
controlled by the organization
that is buying the software. The software developers must work
to that specification.
However, the distinction between these system product types is
becoming
increasingly blurred. More and more systems are now being
built with a generic
product as a base, which is then adapted to suit the requirements
of a customer.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as the SAP

system, are the best
examples of this approach. Here, a large and complex system is
adapted for a com-
pany by incorporating information about business rules and
processes, reports
required, and so on.
When we talk about the quality of professional software, we
have to take into
account that the software is used and changed by people apart
from its developers.
Quality is therefore not just concerned with what the software
does. Rather, it has to
include the software’s behavior while it is executing and the
structure and organization
of the system programs and associated documentation. This is
reflected in so-called
quality or non-functional software attributes. Examples of these
attributes are the soft-
ware’s response time to a user query and the understandability
of the program code.
The specific set of attributes that you might expect from a
software system obvi-
ously depends on its application. Therefore, a banking system
must be secure, an
interactive game must be responsive, a telephone switching
system must be reliable,
and so on. These can be generalized into the set of attributes
shown in Figure 1.2,
which I believe are the essential characteristics of a
professional software system.
1.1.1 Software engineering
Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is

concerned with all aspects of
software production from the early stages of system
specification through to maintain-
ing the system after it has gone into use. In this definition, there
are two key phrases:
1. Engineering discipline Engineers make things work. They
apply theories, meth-
ods, and tools where these are appropriate. However, they use
them selectively
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and always try to discover solutions to problems even when
there are no appli-
cable theories and methods. Engineers also recognize that they
must work to
organizational and financial constraints so they look for
solutions within these
constraints.
2. All aspects of software production Software engineering is
not just concerned
with the technical processes of software development. It also
includes activities
such as software project management and the development of
tools, methods,
and theories to support software production.
Engineering is about getting results of the required quality
within the schedule
and budget. This often involves making compromises—
engineers cannot be perfec-
tionists. People writing programs for themselves, however, can
spend as much time
as they wish on the program development.
In general, software engineers adopt a systematic and organized
approach to their
work, as this is often the most effective way to produce high-
quality software.
However, engineering is all about selecting the most appropriate
method for a set of
circumstances so a more creative, less formal approach to
development may be
effective in some circumstances. Less formal development is

particularly appropri-
ate for the development of web-based systems, which requires a
blend of software
and graphical design skills.
Software engineering is important for two reasons:
1. More and more, individuals and society rely on advanced
software systems. We
need to be able to produce reliable and trustworthy systems
economically and
quickly.
Product characteristics Description
Maintainability Software should be written in such a way so
that it can evolve to
meet the changing needs of customers. This is a critical
attribute
because software change is an inevitable requirement of a
changing business environment.
Dependability and security Software dependability includes a
range of characteristics
including reliability, security, and safety. Dependable software
should not cause physical or economic damage in the event of
system failure. Malicious users should not be able to access or
damage the system.
Efficiency Software should not make wasteful use of system
resources such
as memory and processor cycles. Efficiency therefore includes
responsiveness, processing time, memory utilization, etc.
Acceptability Software must be acceptable to the type of users
for which it is

designed. This means that it must be understandable, usable,
and
compatible with other systems that they use.
Figure 1.2 Essential
attributes of good
software
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2. It is usually cheaper, in the long run, to use software
engineering methods and
techniques for software systems rather than just write the
programs as if it was a
personal programming project. For most types of systems, the
majority of costs
are the costs of changing the software after it has gone into use.
The systematic approach that is used in software engineering is
sometimes called
a software process. A software process is a sequence of
activities that leads to the
production of a software product. There are four fundamental
activities that are com-
mon to all software processes. These activities are:
1. Software specification, where customers and engineers define
the software that
is to be produced and the constraints on its operation.
2. Software development, where the software is designed and
programmed.
3. Software validation, where the software is checked to ensure
that it is what the
customer requires.
4. Software evolution, where the software is modified to reflect
changing customer
and market requirements.
Different types of systems need different development
processes. For example,
real-time software in an aircraft has to be completely specified
before development
begins. In e-commerce systems, the specification and the

program are usually devel-
oped together. Consequently, these generic activities may be
organized in different
ways and described at different levels of detail depending on
the type of software
being developed. I describe software processes in more detail in
Chapter 2.
Software engineering is related to both computer science and
systems engineering:
1. Computer science is concerned with the theories and methods
that underlie com-
puters and software systems, whereas software engineering is
concerned with the
practical problems of producing software. Some knowledge of
computer science
is essential for software engineers in the same way that some
knowledge of
physics is essential for electrical engineers. Computer science
theory, however, is
often most applicable to relatively small programs. Elegant
theories of computer
science cannot always be applied to large, complex problems
that require a soft-
ware solution.
2. System engineering is concerned with all aspects of the
development and evo-
lution of complex systems where software plays a major role.
System engineer-
ing is therefore concerned with hardware development, policy
and process
design and system deployment, as well as software engineering.
System engi-
neers are involved in specifying the system, defining its overall

architecture,
and then integrating the different parts to create the finished
system. They are
less concerned with the engineering of the system components
(hardware,
software, etc.).
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As I discuss in the next section, there are many different types

of software. There is no
universal software engineering method or technique that is
applicable for all of these.
However, there are three general issues that affect many
different types of software:
1. Heterogeneity Increasingly, systems are required to operate
as distributed systems
across networks that include different types of computer and
mobile devices. As
well as running on general-purpose computers, software may
also have to execute
on mobile phones. You often have to integrate new software
with older legacy sys-
tems written in different programming languages. The challenge
here is to develop
techniques for building dependable software that is flexible
enough to cope with
this heterogeneity.
2. Business and social change Business and society are changing
incredibly quickly
as emerging economies develop and new technologies become
available. They
need to be able to change their existing software and to rapidly
develop new soft-
ware. Many traditional software engineering techniques are time
consuming and
delivery of new systems often takes longer than planned. They
need to evolve so
that the time required for software to deliver value to its
customers is reduced.
3. Security and trust As software is intertwined with all aspects
of our lives, it is
essential that we can trust that software. This is especially true

for remote soft-
ware systems accessed through a web page or web service
interface. We have to
make sure that malicious users cannot attack our software and
that information
security is maintained.
Of course, these are not independent issues. For example, it may
be necessary to
make rapid changes to a legacy system to provide it with a web
service interface. To
address these challenges we will need new tools and techniques
as well as innovative
ways of combining and using existing software engineering
methods.
1.1.2 Software engineering diversity
Software engineering is a systematic approach to the production
of software that
takes into account practical cost, schedule, and dependability
issues, as well as the
needs of software customers and producers. How this systematic
approach is actu-
ally implemented varies dramatically depending on the
organization developing the
software, the type of software, and the people involved in the
development process.
There are no universal software engineering methods and
techniques that are suit-
able for all systems and all companies. Rather, a diverse set of
software engineering
methods and tools has evolved over the past 50 years.
Perhaps the most significant factor in determining which
software engineering

methods and techniques are most important is the type of
application that is being
developed. There are many different types of application
including:
1. Stand-alone applications These are application systems that
run on a local com-
puter, such as a PC. They include all necessary functionality
and do not need to
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be connected to a network. Examples of such applications are
office applica-
tions on a PC, CAD programs, photo manipulation software, etc.
2. Interactive transaction-based applications These are
applications that execute
on a remote computer and that are accessed by users from their
own PCs or
terminals. Obviously, these include web applications such as e-
commerce appli-
cations where you can interact with a remote system to buy
goods and services.
This class of application also includes business systems, where
a business
provides access to its systems through a web browser or special-
purpose client
program and cloud-based services, such as mail and photo
sharing. Interactive
applications often incorporate a large data store that is accessed
and updated in
each transaction.
3. Embedded control systems These are software control
systems that control and
manage hardware devices. Numerically, there are probably more
embedded sys-
tems than any other type of system. Examples of embedded
systems include the
software in a mobile (cell) phone, software that controls anti-
lock braking in a
car, and software in a microwave oven to control the cooking
process.
4. Batch processing systems These are business systems that are

designed to
process data in large batches. They process large numbers of
individual inputs to
create corresponding outputs. Examples of batch systems
include periodic
billing systems, such as phone billing systems, and salary
payment systems.
5. Entertainment systems These are systems that are primarily
for personal use and
which are intended to entertain the user. Most of these systems
are games of one
kind or another. The quality of the user interaction offered is
the most important
distinguishing characteristic of entertainment systems.
6. Systems for modeling and simulation These are systems that
are developed by
scientists and engineers to model physical processes or
situations, which
include many, separate, interacting objects. These are often
computationally
intensive and require high-performance parallel systems for
execution.
7. Data collection systems These are systems that collect data
from their environ-
ment using a set of sensors and send that data to other systems
for processing.
The software has to interact with sensors and often is installed
in a hostile envi-
ronment such as inside an engine or in a remote location.
8. Systems of systems These are systems that are composed of a
number of other
software systems. Some of these may be generic software

products, such as a
spreadsheet program. Other systems in the assembly may be
specially written
for that environment.
Of course, the boundaries between these system types are
blurred. If you develop
a game for a mobile (cell) phone, you have to take into account
the same constraints
(power, hardware interaction) as the developers of the phone
software. Batch pro-
cessing systems are often used in conjunction with web-based
systems. For example,
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in a company, travel expense claims may be submitted through a
web application but
processed in a batch application for monthly payment.
You use different software engineering techniques for each type
of system
because the software has quite different characteristics. For
example, an embedded
control system in an automobile is safety-critical and is burned
into ROM when
installed in the vehicle. It is therefore very expensive to change.
Such a system needs
very extensive verification and validation so that the chances of
having to recall cars
after sale to fix software problems are minimized. User
interaction is minimal (or
perhaps nonexistent) so there is no need to use a development
process that relies on
user interface prototyping.
For a web-based system, an approach based on iterative
development and delivery
may be appropriate, with the system being composed of reusable
components.
However, such an approach may be impractical for a system of
systems, where
detailed specifications of the system interactions have to be
specified in advance so
that each system can be separately developed.

Nevertheless, there are software engineering fundamentals that
apply to all types
of software system:
1. They should be developed using a managed and understood
development
process. The organization developing the software should plan
the development
process and have clear ideas of what will be produced and when
it will be com-
pleted. Of course, different processes are used for different
types of software.
2. Dependability and performance are important for all types of
systems. Software
should behave as expected, without failures and should be
available for use
when it is required. It should be safe in its operation and, as far
as possible,
should be secure against external attack. The system should
perform efficiently
and should not waste resources.
3. Understanding and managing the software specification and
requirements (what
the software should do) are important. You have to know what
different customers
and users of the system expect from it and you have to manage
their expectations
so that a useful system can be delivered within budget and to
schedule.
4. You should make as effective use as possible of existing
resources. This means
that, where appropriate, you should reuse software that has
already been devel-

oped rather than write new software.
These fundamental notions of process, dependability,
requirements, management,
and reuse are important themes of this book. Different methods
reflect them in dif-
ferent ways but they underlie all professional software
development.
You should notice that these fundamentals do not cover
implementation and pro-
gramming. I don’t cover specific programming techniques in
this book because these
vary dramatically from one type of system to another. For
example, a scripting lan-
guage such as Ruby is used for web-based system programming
but would be com-
pletely inappropriate for embedded systems engineering.
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1.1.3 Software engineering and the Web
The development of the World Wide Web has had a profound
effect on all of our
lives. Initially, the Web was primarily a universally accessible
information store and
it had little effect on software systems. These systems ran on
local computers and
were only accessible from within an organization. Around 2000,
the Web started to
evolve and more and more functionality was added to browsers.
This meant that
web-based systems could be developed where, instead of a
special-purpose user
interface, these systems could be accessed using a web browser.
This led to the
development of a vast range of new system products that
delivered innovative serv-
ices, accessed over the Web. These are often funded by adverts
that are displayed on
the user’s screen and do not involve direct payment from users.
As well as these system products, the development of web
browsers that could
run small programs and do some local processing led to an

evolution in business and
organizational software. Instead of writing software and
deploying it on users’ PCs,
the software was deployed on a web server. This made it much
cheaper to change
and upgrade the software, as there was no need to install the
software on every PC. It
also reduced costs, as user interface development is particularly
expensive.
Consequently, wherever it has been possible to do so, many
businesses have moved
to web-based interaction with company software systems.
The next stage in the development of web-based systems was
the notion of web
services. Web services are software components that deliver
specific, useful function-
ality and which are accessed over the Web. Applications are
constructed by integrating
these web services, which may be provided by different
companies. In principle, this
linking can be dynamic so that an application may use different
web services each time
that it is executed. I cover this approach to software
development in Chapter 19.
In the last few years, the notion of ‘software as a service’ has
been developed. It
has been proposed that software will not normally run on local
computers but will
run on ‘computing clouds’ that are accessed over the Internet. If
you use a service
such as web-based mail, you are using a cloud-based system. A
computing cloud is
a huge number of linked computer systems that is shared by
many users. Users do

not buy software but pay according to how much the software is
used or are given
free access in return for watching adverts that are displayed on
their screen.
The advent of the web, therefore, has led to a significant change
in the way that
business software is organized. Before the web, business
applications were mostly
monolithic, single programs running on single computers or
computer clusters.
Communications were local, within an organization. Now,
software is highly distrib-
uted, sometimes across the world. Business applications are not
programmed from
scratch but involve extensive reuse of components and
programs.
This radical change in software organization has, obviously, led
to changes in the
ways that web-based systems are engineered. For example:
1. Software reuse has become the dominant approach for
constructing web-based
systems. When building these systems, you think about how you
can assemble
them from pre-existing software components and systems.
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2. It is now generally recognized that it is impractical to specify
all the require-
ments for such systems in advance. Web-based systems should
be developed
and delivered incrementally.
3. User interfaces are constrained by the capabilities of web
browsers. Although
technologies such as AJAX (Holdener, 2008) mean that rich
interfaces can be
created within a web browser, these technologies are still
difficult to use. Web
forms with local scripting are more commonly used. Application
interfaces on
web-based systems are often poorer than the specially designed
user interfaces

on PC system products.
The fundamental ideas of software engineering, discussed in the
previous section,
apply to web-based software in the same way that they apply to
other types of soft-
ware system. Experience gained with large system development
in the 20th century
is still relevant to web-based software.
1.2 Software engineering ethics
Like other engineering disciplines, software engineering is
carried out within a
social and legal framework that limits the freedom of people
working in that area. As
a software engineer, you must accept that your job involves
wider responsibilities
than simply the application of technical skills. You must also
behave in an ethical
and morally responsible way if you are to be respected as a
professional engineer.
It goes without saying that you should uphold normal standards
of honesty and
integrity. You should not use your skills and abilities to behave
in a dishonest way or
in a way that will bring disrepute to the software engineering
profession. However,
there are areas where standards of acceptable behavior are not
bound by laws but by
the more tenuous notion of professional responsibility. Some of
these are:
1. Confidentiality You should normally respect the
confidentiality of your employ-

ers or clients irrespective of whether or not a formal
confidentiality agreement
has been signed.
2. Competence You should not misrepresent your level of
competence. You should
not knowingly accept work that is outside your competence.
3. Intellectual property rights You should be aware of local laws
governing the use
of intellectual property such as patents and copyright. You
should be careful to
ensure that the intellectual property of employers and clients is
protected.
4. Computer misuse You should not use your technical skills to
misuse other
people’s computers. Computer misuse ranges from relatively
trivial (game playing
on an employer’s machine, say) to extremely serious
(dissemination of viruses or
other malware).
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1.2 ■ Software engineering ethics 15
Professional societies and institutions have an important role to
play in setting
ethical standards. Organizations such as the ACM, the IEEE
(Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers), and the British Computer Society
publish a code of
professional conduct or code of ethics. Members of these
organizations undertake to
follow that code when they sign up for membership. These
codes of conduct are gen-
erally concerned with fundamental ethical behavior.
Professional associations, notably the ACM and the IEEE, have
cooperated to
produce a joint code of ethics and professional practice. This
code exists in both a
short form, shown in Figure 1.3, and a longer form (Gotterbarn
et al., 1999) that adds
detail and substance to the shorter version. The rationale behind
this code is summa-
rized in the first two paragraphs of the longer form:

Computers have a central and growing role in commerce,
industry, government,
medicine, education, entertainment and society at large.
Software engineers are
those who contribute by direct participation or by teaching, to
the analysis, spec-
ification, design, development, certification, maintenance and
testing of software
Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice
ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Task Force on Software Engineering
Ethics and Professional Practices
PREAMBLE
The short version of the code summarizes aspirations at a high
level of the abstraction; the clauses that are
included in the full version give examples and details of how
these aspirations change the way we act as
software engineering professionals. Without the aspirations, the
details can become legalistic and tedious;
without the details, the aspirations can become high sounding
but empty; together, the aspirations and the
details form a cohesive code.
Software engineers shall commit themselves to making the
analysis, specification, design, development,
testing and maintenance of software a beneficial and respected
profession. In accordance with their
commitment to the health, safety and welfare of the public,
software engineers shall adhere to the following
Eight Principles:
1. PUBLIC — Software engineers shall act consistently with the
public interest.

2. CLIENT AND EMPLOYER — Software engineers shall act
in a manner that is in the
best interests of their client and employer consistent with the
public interest.
3. PRODUCT — Software engineers shall ensure that their
products and related
modifications meet the highest professional standards possible.
4. JUDGMENT — Software engineers shall maintain integrity
and independence in their
professional judgment.
5. MANAGEMENT — Software engineering managers and
leaders shall subscribe to and
promote an ethical approach to the management of software
development and
maintenance.
6. PROFESSION — Software engineers shall advance the
integrity and reputation of
the profession consistent with the public interest.
7. COLLEAGUES — Software engineers shall be fair to and
supportive of their
colleagues.
8. SELF — Software engineers shall participate in lifelong
learning regarding the
practice of their profession and shall promote an ethical
approach to the
practice of the profession.
Figure 1.3 The
ACM/IEEE Code of

Ethics (© IEEE/ACM
1999)
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systems. Because of their roles in developing software systems,
software engi-
neers have significant opportunities to do good or cause harm,
to enable others to
do good or cause harm, or to influence others to do good or

cause harm. To
ensure, as much as possible, that their efforts will be used for
good, software engi-
neers must commit themselves to making software engineering a
beneficial and
respected profession. In accordance with that commitment,
software engineers
shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics and Professional
Practice.
The Code contains eight Principles related to the behaviour of
and decisions
made by professional software engineers, including
practitioners, educators,
managers, supervisors and policy makers, as well as trainees
and students of
the profession. The Principles identify the ethically responsible
relationships
in which individuals, groups, and organizations participate and
the primary
obligations within these relationships. The Clauses of each
Principle are illus-
trations of some of the obligations included in these
relationships. These obli-
gations are founded in the software engineer’s humanity, in
special care owed
to people affected by the work of software engineers, and the
unique elements
of the practice of software engineering. The Code prescribes
these as obliga-
tions of anyone claiming to be or aspiring to be a software
engineer.
In any situation where different people have different views and
objectives you
are likely to be faced with ethical dilemmas. For example, if

you disagree, in princi-
ple, with the policies of more senior management in the
company, how should you
react? Clearly, this depends on the particular individuals and
the nature of the dis-
agreement. Is it best to argue a case for your position from
within the organization or
to resign in principle? If you feel that there are problems with a
software project,
when do you reveal these to management? If you discuss these
while they are just a
suspicion, you may be overreacting to a situation; if you leave it
too late, it may be
impossible to resolve the difficulties.
Such ethical dilemmas face all of us in our professional lives
and, fortunately, in
most cases they are either relatively minor or can be resolved
without too much dif-
ficulty. Where they cannot be resolved, the engineer is faced
with, perhaps, another
problem. The principled action may be to resign from their job
but this may well
affect others such as their partner or their children.
A particularly difficult situation for professional engineers
arises when their
employer acts in an unethical way. Say a company is
responsible for developing a
safety-critical system and, because of time pressure, falsifies
the safety validation
records. Is the engineer’s responsibility to maintain
confidentiality or to alert the
customer or publicize, in some way, that the delivered system
may be unsafe?

The problem here is that there are no absolutes when it comes to
safety. Although
the system may not have been validated according to predefined
criteria, these crite-
ria may be too strict. The system may actually operate safely
throughout its lifetime.
It is also the case that, even when properly validated, the system
may fail and cause
an accident. Early disclosure of problems may result in damage
to the employer and
other employees; failure to disclose problems may result in
damage to others.
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1.3 ■ Case studies 17
You must make up your own mind in these matters. The
appropriate ethical posi-
tion here depends entirely on the views of the individuals who
are involved. In this
case, the potential for damage, the extent of the damage, and the
people affected by
the damage should influence the decision. If the situation is
very dangerous, it may
be justified to publicize it using the national press (say).
However, you should
always try to resolve the situation while respecting the rights of
your employer.
Another ethical issue is participation in the development of
military and nuclear
systems. Some people feel strongly about these issues and do
not wish to participate in
any systems development associated with military systems.
Others will work on mili-
tary systems but not on weapons systems. Yet others feel that
national security is an
overriding principle and have no ethical objections to working
on weapons systems.
In this situation, it is important that both employers and
employees should make
their views known to each other in advance. Where an
organization is involved in
military or nuclear work, they should be able to specify that
employees must be will-
ing to accept any work assignment. Equally, if an employee is

taken on and makes
clear that they do not wish to work on such systems, employers
should not put pres-
sure on them to do so at some later date.
The general area of ethics and professional responsibility is
becoming more
important as software-intensive systems pervade every aspect of
work and everyday
life. It can be considered from a philosophical standpoint where
the basic principles
of ethics are considered and software engineering ethics are
discussed with reference
to these basic principles. This is the approach taken by Laudon
(1995) and to a lesser
extent by Huff and Martin (1995). Johnson’s text on computer
ethics (2001) also
approaches the topic from a philosophical perspective.
However, I find that this philosophical approach is too abstract
and difficult to
relate to everyday experience. I prefer the more concrete
approach embodied in codes
of conduct and practice. I think that ethics are best discussed in
a software engineer-
ing context and not as a subject in their own right. In this book,
therefore, I do not
include abstract ethical discussions but, where appropriate,
include examples in the
exercises that can be the starting point for a group discussion on
ethical issues.
1.3 Case studies
To illustrate software engineering concepts, I use examples
from three different

types of systems throughout the book. The reason why I have
not used a single case
study is that one of the key messages in this book is that
software engineering prac-
tice depends on the type of systems being produced. I therefore
choose an appropri-
ate example when discussing concepts such as safety and
dependability, system
modeling, reuse, etc.
The three types of systems that I use as case studies are:
1. An embedded system This is a system where the software
controls a hardware
device and is embedded in that device. Issues in embedded
systems typically
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include physical size, responsiveness, power management, etc.
The example of an
embedded system that I use is a software system to control a
medical device.
2. An information system This is a system whose primary
purpose is to manage
and provide access to a database of information. Issues in
information systems
include security, usability, privacy, and maintaining data
integrity. The example
of an information system that I use is a medical records system.
3. A sensor-based data collection system This is a system whose
primary purpose
is to collect data from a set of sensors and process that data in
some way. The
key requirements of such systems are reliability, even in hostile
environmental
conditions, and maintainability. The example of a data
collection system that
I use is a wilderness weather station.
I introduce each of these systems in this chapter, with more
information about
each of them available on the Web.

1.3.1 An insulin pump control system
An insulin pump is a medical system that simulates the
operation of the pancreas (an
internal organ). The software controlling this system is an
embedded system, which
collects information from a sensor and controls a pump that
delivers a controlled
dose of insulin to a user.
People who suffer from diabetes use the system. Diabetes is a
relatively common
condition where the human pancreas is unable to produce
sufficient quantities of a
hormone called insulin. Insulin metabolises glucose (sugar) in
the blood. The con-
ventional treatment of diabetes involves regular injections of
genetically engineered
insulin. Diabetics measure their blood sugar levels using an
external meter and then
calculate the dose of insulin that they should inject.
The problem with this treatment is that the level of insulin
required does not just
depend on the blood glucose level but also on the time of the
last insulin injection.
This can lead to very low levels of blood glucose (if there is too
much insulin) or very
high levels of blood sugar (if there is too little insulin). Low
blood glucose is, in the
short term, a more serious condition as it can result in
temporary brain malfunctioning
and, ultimately, unconsciousness and death. In the long term,
however, continual high
levels of blood glucose can lead to eye damage, kidney damage,
and heart problems.

Current advances in developing miniaturized sensors have
meant that it is now pos-
sible to develop automated insulin delivery systems. These
systems monitor blood sugar
levels and deliver an appropriate dose of insulin when required.
Insulin delivery systems
like this already exist for the treatment of hospital patients. In
the future, it may be pos-
sible for many diabetics to have such systems permanently
attached to their bodies.
A software-controlled insulin delivery system might work by
using a micro-
sensor embedded in the patient to measure some blood
parameter that is proportional
to the sugar level. This is then sent to the pump controller. This
controller computes
the sugar level and the amount of insulin that is needed. It then
sends signals to a
miniaturized pump to deliver the insulin via a permanently
attached needle.
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Figure 1.4 shows the hardware components and organization of
the insulin
pump. To understand the examples in this book, all you need to
know is that the
blood sensor measures the electrical conductivity of the blood
under different
conditions and that these values can be related to the blood
sugar level. The
insulin pump delivers one unit of insulin in response to a single
pulse from a con-
troller. Therefore, to deliver 10 units of insulin, the controller
sends 10 pulses to
the pump. Figure 1.5 is a UML activity model that illustrates
how the software
transforms an input blood sugar level to a sequence of
commands that drive the
insulin pump.
Clearly, this is a safety-critical system. If the pump fails to
operate or does not
operate correctly, then the user’s health may be damaged or

they may fall into a
coma because their blood sugar levels are too high or too low.
There are, therefore,
two essential high-level requirements that this system must
meet:
1. The system shall be available to deliver insulin when
required.
2. The system shall perform reliably and deliver the correct
amount of insulin to
counteract the current level of blood sugar.
Needle
Assembly
Sensor
Display1 Display2
Alarm
Pump Clock
Controller
Power Supply
Insulin Reservoir
Figure 1.4 Insulin
pump hardware
Blood
Sensor

Insulin
Pump
Blood
Sugar
Analyze Sensor
Reading
Compute
Insulin
Insulin
Dose
Insulin
Log
Log Dose
Compute Pump
Commands
Pump
Data
Control Insulin
Pump
Figure 1.5 Activity
model of the insulin
pump
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The system must therefore be designed and implemented to
ensure that the sys-
tem always meets these requirements. More detailed
requirements and discussions
of how to ensure that the system is safe are discussed in later
chapters.
1.3.2 A patient information system for mental health care
A patient information system to support mental health care is a
medical informa-
tion system that maintains information about patients suffering

from mental
health problems and the treatments that they have received.
Most mental health
patients do not require dedicated hospital treatment but need to
attend specialist
clinics regularly where they can meet a doctor who has detailed
knowledge of
their problems. To make it easier for patients to attend, these
clinics are not just
run in hospitals. They may also be held in local medical
practices or community
centers.
The MHC-PMS (Mental Health Care-Patient Management
System) is an informa-
tion system that is intended for use in clinics. It makes use of a
centralized database of
patient information but has also been designed to run on a PC,
so that it may be accessed
and used from sites that do not have secure network
connectivity. When the local sys-
tems have secure network access, they use patient information
in the database but they
can download and use local copies of patient records when they
are disconnected. The
system is not a complete medical records system so does not
maintain information
about other medical conditions. However, it may interact and
exchange data with other
clinical information systems. Figure 1.6 illustrates the
organization of the MHC-PMS.
The MHC-PMS has two overall goals:
1. To generate management information that allows health
service managers to

assess performance against local and government targets.
2. To provide medical staff with timely information to support
the treatment of
patients.
MHC-PMS Server
Patient Database
MHC-PMS
Local
MHC-PMS
Local
MHC-PMS
Local
Figure 1.6 The
organization of
the MHC-PMS
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The nature of mental health problems is such that patients are
often disorganized
so may miss appointments, deliberately or accidentally lose
prescriptions and med-
ication, forget instructions, and make unreasonable demands on
medical staff. They
may drop in on clinics unexpectedly. In a minority of cases,
they may be a danger to
themselves or to other people. They may regularly change
address or may be home-
less on a long-term or short-term basis. Where patients are
dangerous, they may need
to be ‘sectioned’—confined to a secure hospital for treatment
and observation.
Users of the system include clinical staff such as doctors,
nurses, and health visi-
tors (nurses who visit people at home to check on their
treatment). Nonmedical users
include receptionists who make appointments, medical records
staff who maintain

the records system, and administrative staff who generate
reports.
The system is used to record information about patients (name,
address, age, next
of kin, etc.), consultations (date, doctor seen, subjective
impressions of the patient,
etc.), conditions, and treatments. Reports are generated at
regular intervals for med-
ical staff and health authority managers. Typically, reports for
medical staff focus on
information about individual patients whereas management
reports are anonymized
and are concerned with conditions, costs of treatment, etc.
The key features of the system are:
1. Individual care management Clinicians can create records for
patients, edit the
information in the system, view patient history, etc. The system
supports data
summaries so that doctors who have not previously met a
patient can quickly
learn about the key problems and treatments that have been
prescribed.
2. Patient monitoring The system regularly monitors the records
of patients that
are involved in treatment and issues warnings if possible
problems are detected.
Therefore, if a patient has not seen a doctor for some time, a
warning may be
issued. One of the most important elements of the monitoring
system is to keep
track of patients who have been sectioned and to ensure that the
legally required

checks are carried out at the right time.
3. Administrative reporting The system generates monthly
management reports
showing the number of patients treated at each clinic, the
number of patients
who have entered and left the care system, number of patients
sectioned, the
drugs prescribed and their costs, etc.
Two different laws affect the system. These are laws on data
protection that govern
the confidentiality of personal information and mental health
laws that govern the com-
pulsory detention of patients deemed to be a danger to
themselves or others. Mental
health is unique in this respect as it is the only medical
speciality that can recommend
the detention of patients against their will. This is subject to
very strict legislative safe-
guards. One of the aims of the MHC-PMS is to ensure that staff
always act in accor-
dance with the law and that their decisions are recorded for
judicial review if necessary.
As in all medical systems, privacy is a critical system
requirement. It is essential that
patient information is confidential and is never disclosed to
anyone apart from author-
ized medical staff and the patient themselves. The MHC-PMS is
also a safety-critical
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system. Some mental illnesses cause patients to become suicidal
or a danger to other
people. Wherever possible, the system should warn medical
staff about potentially sui-
cidal or dangerous patients.
The overall design of the system has to take into account
privacy and safety
requirements. The system must be available when needed
otherwise safety may be
compromised and it may be impossible to prescribe the correct
medication to patients.

There is a potential conflict here—privacy is easiest to maintain
when there is only a
single copy of the system data. However, to ensure availability
in the event of server
failure or when disconnected from a network, multiple copies of
the data should be
maintained. I discuss the trade-offs between these requirements
in later chapters.
1.3.3 A wilderness weather station
To help monitor climate change and to improve the accuracy of
weather forecasts in
remote areas, the government of a country with large areas of
wilderness decides to
deploy several hundred weather stations in remote areas. These
weather stations col-
lect data from a set of instruments that measure temperature and
pressure, sunshine,
rainfall, wind speed, and wind direction.
Wilderness weather stations are part of a larger system (Figure
1.7), which is a
weather information system that collects data from weather
stations and makes it
available to other systems for processing. The systems in Figure
1.7 are:
1. The weather station system This is responsible for collecting
weather data,
carrying out some initial data processing, and transmitting it to
the data manage-
ment system.
2. The data management and archiving system This system
collects the data from

all of the wilderness weather stations, carries out data
processing and analysis,
and archives the data in a form that can be retrieved by other
systems, such as
weather forecasting systems.
3. The station maintenance system This system can
communicate by satellite
with all wilderness weather stations to monitor the health of
these systems and
provide reports of problems. It can update the embedded
software in these
systems. In the event of system problems, this system can also
be used to
remotely control a wilderness weather system.
«system»
Data Management
and Archiving
«system»
Station Maintenance
«system»
Weather Station
Figure 1.7 The weather
station’s environment
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In Figure 1.7, I have used the UML package symbol to indicate
that each system
is a collection of components and have identified the separate
systems, using the
UML stereotype «system». The associations between the
packages indicate there is
an exchange of information but, at this stage, there is no need to
define them in any
more detail.
Each weather station includes a number of instruments that
measure weather
parameters such as the wind speed and direction, the ground and
air temperatures,

the barometric pressure, and the rainfall over a 24-hour period.
Each of these instru-
ments is controlled by a software system that takes parameter
readings periodically
and manages the data collected from the instruments.
The weather station system operates by collecting weather
observations at fre-
quent intervals—for example, temperatures are measured every
minute. However,
because the bandwidth to the satellite is relatively narrow, the
weather station carries
out some local processing and aggregation of the data. It then
transmits this aggre-
gated data when requested by the data collection system. If, for
whatever reason, it is
impossible to make a connection, then the weather station
maintains the data locally
until communication can be resumed.
Each weather station is battery-powered and must be entirely
self-contained—there
are no external power or network cables available. All
communications are through a rel-
atively slow-speed satellite link and the weather station must
include some mechanism
(solar or wind power) to charge its batteries. As they are
deployed in wilderness areas,
they are exposed to severe environmental conditions and may be
damaged by animals.
The station software is therefore not just concerned with data
collection. It must also:
1. Monitor the instruments, power, and communication
hardware and report faults
to the management system.

2. Manage the system power, ensuring that batteries are charged
whenever the
environmental conditions permit but also that generators are
shut down in
potentially damaging weather conditions, such as high wind.
3. Allow for dynamic reconfiguration where parts of the
software are replaced
with new versions and where backup instruments are switched
into the system
in the event of system failure.
Because weather stations have to be self-contained and
unattended, this means
that the software installed is complex, even though the data
collection functionality
is fairly simple.
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K E Y P O I N T S
■ Software engineering is an engineering discipline that is
concerned with all aspects of software
production.
■ Software is not just a program or programs but also includes
documentation. Essential software
product attributes are maintainability, dependability, security,
efficiency, and acceptability.
■ The software process includes all of the activities involved in
software development. The high-
level activities of specification, development, validation, and
evolution are part of all software
processes.
■ The fundamental notions of software engineering are
universally applicable to all types of
system development. These fundamentals include software
processes, dependability, security,
requirements, and reuse.
■ There are many different types of systems and each requires
appropriate software engineering

tools and techniques for their development. There are few, if
any, specific design and
implementation techniques that are applicable to all kinds of
systems.
■ The fundamental ideas of software engineering are applicable
to all types of software systems.
These fundamentals include managed software processes,
software dependability and security,
requirements engineering, and software reuse.
■ Software engineers have responsibilities to the engineering
profession and society. They should
not simply be concerned with technical issues.
■ Professional societies publish codes of conduct that set out
the standards of behavior expected
of their members.
F U R T H E R R E A D I N G
‘No silver bullet: Essence and accidents of software
engineering’. In spite of its age, this paper is a
good general introduction to the problems of software
engineering. The essential message of the
paper still hasn’t changed. (F. P. Brooks, IEEE Computer, 20
(4), April 1987.)
http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.1987.1663532.
‘Software engineering code of ethics is approved’. An article
that discusses the background to the
development of the ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics and that includes
both the short and long form of the
code. (Comm. ACM, D. Gotterbarn, K. Miller, and S. Rogerson,
October 1999.)
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=317665.317682.

Professional Issues in Software Engineering. This is an
excellent book discussing legal and
professional issues as well as ethics. I prefer its practical
approach to more theoretical texts on
ethics. (F. Bott, A. Coleman, J. Eaton and D. Rowland, 3rd
edition, 2000, Taylor and Francis.) ISB
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Chapter 1 ■ Exercises 25
IEEE Software, March/April 2002. This is a special issue of the
magazine devoted to the
development of Web-based software. This area has changed

very quickly so some articles are a little
dated but most are still relevant. (IEEE Software, 19 (2), 2002.)
http://www2.computer.org/portal/web/software.
‘A View of 20th and 21st Century Software Engineering’. A
backward and forward look at software
engineering from one of the first and most distinguished
software engineers. Barry Boehm identifies
timeless software engineering principles but also suggests that
some commonly used practices are
obsolete. (B. Boehm, Proc. 28th Software Engineering Conf.,
Shanghai. 2006.)
http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1145/1134285.1134288.
‘Software Engineering Ethics’. Special issue of IEEE Computer,
with a number of papers on the topic.
(IEEE Computer, 42 (6), June 2009.)
E X E R C I S E S
1.1. Explain why professional software is not just the programs
that are developed for a customer.
1.2. What is the most important difference between generic
software product development and
custom software development? What might this mean in practice
for users of generic software
products?
1.3. What are the four important attributes that all professional
software should have? Suggest
four other attributes that may sometimes be significant.
1.4. Apart from the challenges of heterogeneity, business and
social change, and trust and
security, identify other problems and challenges that software

engineering is likely to face in
the 21st century (Hint: think about the environment).
1.5. Based on your own knowledge of some of the application
types discussed in section 1.1.2,
explain, with examples, why different application types require
specialized software
engineering techniques to support their design and development.
1.6. Explain why there are fundamental ideas of software
engineering that apply to all types of
software systems.
1.7. Explain how the universal use of the Web has changed
software systems.
1.8. Discuss whether professional engineers should be certified
in the same way as doctors or
lawyers.
1.9. For each of the clauses in the ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics
shown in Figure 1.3, suggest an
appropriate example that illustrates that clause.
1.10. To help counter terrorism, many countries are planning or
have developed computer systems
that track large numbers of their citizens and their actions.
Clearly this has privacy
implications. Discuss the ethics of working on the development
of this type of system.
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R E F E R E N C E S
Gotterbarn, D., Miller, K. and Rogerson, S. (1999). Software
Engineering Code of Ethics is Approved.
Comm. ACM, 42 (10), 102–7.
Holdener, A. T. (2008). Ajax: The Definitive Guide. Sebastopol,
Ca.: O’Reilly and Associates.
Huff, C. and Martin, C. D. (1995). Computing Consequences: A
Framework for Teaching Ethical
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