Introduction  (Page 6/8)

What are the attributes of good software?

As well as the services which it provides, software products have a number of other associated attributes which reflect the quality of that software. These attributes are not directly concerned with what the software does, Rather, they reflect its behaviour while it is executing and the structure and organisation of the source program and associated documentation. Examples of these attributes (sometimes called non-functional attributes) are the software’s response time to a user query and the understandability of the program code.

The specific set of attributes which you might expect from a software system obviously depends on its application. Therefore, a banking system must be secure, an interactive game must be responsive, a telephone switching system must be reliable, etc.

What are the key challenges facing software engineering?

Software engineering in the 21st century faces three key challenges:

1. The legacy challenge: The majority of software systems which are in use today were developed many years ago yet they perform critical business functions. The legacy challenge is the challenge of maintaining and updating this software in such a way that excessive costs are avoided and essential business services continue to be delivered.

2. The heterogeneity challenge: Increasingly, systems are required to operate as distributed systems across networks that include different types of computer and with different kinds of support systems. The heterogeneity challenge is the challenge of developing techniques to build dependable software which is flexible enough to cope with this heterogeneity.

3. The delivery challenge: Many traditional software engineering techniques are time-consuming. The time they take is required to achieve software quality. However, businesses today must be responsive and change very rapidly. Their supporting software must change equally rapidly. The delivery challenge is the challenge of shortening delivery times for large and complex systems without compromising system quality.

Of course, these are not independent. For example, it may be necessary to make rapid changes to a legacy system to make it accessible across a network. To address these challenges we will need new tools and techniques as well as innovative ways of combining and using existing software engineering methods.

Professional and ethical responsibility

Like other engineers, software engineers must accept that their job involves wider responsibilities than simply the application of technical skills. Their work is carried out within a legal and social framework. Software engineering is obviously bounded by local, national and international laws. Software engineers must behave in an ethical and morally responsible way if they are to be respected as professionals.

It goes without saying that engineers should uphold normal standards of honesty and integrity. They should not use their 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 behaviour are not bounded by laws but by the more tenuous notion of professional responsibility.