1.

Evolving Role of
software.
Software has become part of the national
infrastructure
Software is the differentiating factor
Hardware is general-purpose, software is applicationspecific
Hardware is becoming a commodity
Software is often costlier than the hardware it runs
on.

2. Define Computer
Software.
A Computer Software is a sequence of instructions
written to perform a specified task with a computer.
A computer requires programs to function, typically
executing the program's instructions in a central
processor.
The program has an executable form that the computer
can use directly to execute the instructions. The same
program in its human-readable source code form, from
which executable programs are derived enables a
programmer to study and develop its algorithms.

3 .What are the

characteristics of software
? Discuss any three of them
Software is developed, it is not manufactured in the
classical sense.
Software doesnt wear out.
Although the industry is moving toward componentbased construction, most software continues to be
custom built.

4 .Write down the

characteristics of h/w or s/w on
failure cure ?

Larger problems,
Lack of adequate training in software engineering,
Increasing skill shortage,
Low productivity improvements.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE
COLLECTION OF PROFRAMS WRITTEN TO SERVICE OTHER PROGAMS
HEAVY INTERACTION WITH COMPUTER HARDWARE
CONTAINS COMPLEX DATA STRUCTURES AND MULTIPLE EXTERNAL
INTERFACES
CONCURRENT OPERATION THAT REQUIRES SHEDULING
EXAMPLE:
COMPILERS , EDITORS
FILE MANAGEMENT UTILITIES
OTHER SYSTEM APPLICATIONS
DRIVERS AND NETWORKING SOFTWARE

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

y CONSISTS OF STANDALONE PROGRAMS

y USED TO SOLVE SPECIFIC BUSINESS NEEDS
y PROCESS TECHNICAL DATA/TECHNICAL
DECISIONS
y CONTROL BUSINESS FUNCTIONS IN REAL TIME
y EXAMPLE:
y CONVENTIONAL DATA PROCESSING APPLICATIONS
y REALTIME MANUFACTURING PROCESS CONTROL

ENGINEERING & SCIENTIFIC S/W

y CHARACTERISEDBYCONVENTIONALNUMERICALALGORITHMS
y INTERACTIVEAPPLICATIONSTOTAKEONREALTIME
y EXAMPLE:
COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN(CAD/CAM)
SYSTEM SIMULATION
SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITAL DYNAMICS
MOLECULAR BIOLIOGY TO AUTOMATED
MANUFACTURING
USED IN EDUCATIONAL FIELD FOR CREATING
INTERACTIVE APPLICATIONS

NET SOURCING

y WWW A COMPUTING ENGINE & CONTENT

PROVIDER
y CHALLENGE OF S/W ENGINEERS IS TO
ARCHITECT SIMPLE
y SOPHISTICATED APPLICATIONS THAT PROVIDE
BENEFIT TO TARGET AND END-USER MARKETS
WORLDWIDE
y EXAMPLE:
PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING

WEB APPLICATIONS
SPAN A WIDE ARRAY OF APPLICATIONS
SET OF LINKED HYPERTEXT FILES
E-COMMERCE & B2B APPICATIONS GROW IN
IMPORTANCE
PROVIDE STAND ALONE FEATURES,COMPUTING
FUNCTIONS & CONTENT TO END-USER
INTEGRATED WITH CORPORATED DATABASES &
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS

PRODUCT LINE SOFTWARE

y PROVIDE SPECIFIC CAPABIITY FOR USE BY MANY DIFFERENT
CUSTOMERS
y FOCUS ON LIMITED & ESOTERIC MARKETPLACE
y EXAMPLE:
WORD PROCESSING
SPREADSHEETS
COMPUTER GRAPHICS
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
MULTIMEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
BUSINESS FINANCIAL APPLICATIONS

EMBEDDED SOFTWARE
y RESIDES WITHIN A PRODUCT OR SYSTEM
y USED TO IMPLEMENT & CONTROL FEATURES
y PERFORM LIMITED & ESOTERIC FUNCTIONS
y PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT FUNCTION & CONTROL CAPABILITY
y EXAMPLE:
KEYPAD CONTROL FOR A MICROWAVE
OVEN

UBIQUITUOUS COMPUTING
RAPID GROWTH OF WIRELESS NETWORKING
LEADS TO DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING
TO DEVELOP SYSTEMS & APPLICATION S/W THAT
WILL ALLOW SMALL DEVICES , PERSONAL
COMPUTERS & ENTERPRISE SYSTEM TO
COMMUNICATE ACROSS VAST NETWORKS

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
y USE OF NON-NUMERICAL ALGORITHMS TO SOLVE COMPLEX
PROBLEMS
y NOT AMENABLE TO COMPUTATION / STRAIGHT FORWARD
ANALYSIS
y EXAMPLE:
ROBOTICS
EXPERT SYSTEMS
PATTERN RECOGNITION(IMAGE AND VOICE)
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS
THOREM PROVING
GAME PLAYING

A growing trend that result in

distribution
of source code for system
Challengesthrownbyopensystem
applications like operating system.
The challenge for software engineers is
to build source code that is self descriptive ,
but ,more importantly, to develop technique
that will enable both customers and
developers to know what changes have been
made and how those changes manifest
themselves within the software.

LegacySoftware

y Older programs often referred to as legacy

software.
y Legacy software systems were developed
decades ago and have been continually modified
to meet changes in business requirements and
computing platforms.
y Many legacy system remain supportive to core
business functions and are indispensable to the
business.
y Legacy software is characterized by longevity and
business criticality.

Changesaremadetolegacy
software

y The software must be adapted to meet the needs

of new computing environments or technology.
y The software must be enhanced to implement
new business requirements
y The software must be extended to make it
interoperable with more modern systems or
databases.
y The software must be rearchitected to make it
viable within a network environment.

Categoriesofsoftwaremyths

Software Myths beliefs about software and

the process used to build it can be traced to
the earliest day of computing.
Myths have a number of attributes that have
made them insidious.
Management myths
Customer myths
Practitioners myths

Managementmyths.

Managerswithsoftwareresponsibility,
likemanagersinmostdisciplines,areoften
underpressuretomaintainbudgets,keep
schedulesfromslippingandimprove
quality.
Customermyths

Thecustomerbelievesmythsabout
softwarebecausesoftwaremanagersand
practitionersdolittletocorrect
misinformation.

Practitionersmyths

Softwarepractitionershavebeen
fosteredbyover50yearsofprogramming
culture.programmingwasviewedasanart
form.