Software engineering

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Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software.[1] It encompasses techniques and procedures, often regulated by a software development process, with the purpose of improving the reliability and maintainability of software systems.[2] The effort is necessitated by the potential complexity of those systems, which may contain millions of lines of code.[3]

Contents

[edit] Overview

The term software engineering was coined by F.L. Bauer and popularized by the 1968 NATO Software Engineering Conference, which was organized by Brian Randell.[4] The discipline of software engineering includes knowledge, tools, and methods for:[5]

Software engineering is related to the disciplines of computer science, project management, and systems engineering.[6][7]

In 2004, the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 760,840 software engineers holding jobs in the U.S.; in the same time period there were some 1.4 million practitioners employed in the U.S. in all other engineering disciplines combined.[8] Due to its relative newness as a field of study, formal education in software engineering is often taught as part of a computer science curriculum, and as a result most software engineers hold computer science degrees.[9] The term software engineer is used very liberally in the corporate world. Very few of the practicing software engineers actually hold Engineering degrees from accredited universities. In fact, according to the Association for Computing Machinery, "most people who now function in the U.S. as serious software engineers have degrees in computer science, not in software engineering". See also Debates within software engineering and Controversies over the term Engineer.

[edit] History

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)
Main article: History of software engineering

Software engineering has a long evolving history. Both the tools that are used and the applications that are written have evolved over time. It seems likely that software engineering will continue evolving for many decades to come.

In the 1940s the first computer users wrote machine code by hand. Early tools, such as macro assemblers and interpreters were created and widely used in the 1950s to improve productivity and quality, and the first-generation optimizing compilers emerged. In the 1960s the second generation tools like optimizing compilers and inspections were being used to improve productivity and quality. The concept of software engineering was widely discussed. First large scale(1000 programmer) projects. Commercial mainframes and custom software for big business. The influential 1968 NATO Conference on Software Engineering was held.

In the 1970s collaborative software tools, such as Unix, code repositories, make, and so on emerged, with the minicomputers and the rise of small business software. Since the 1980s the Personal computers and personal workstations became common. Commensurate rise of consumer software. Smalltalk: the first commercial OOP language/platform that is UI based, Memory Managed, VM Image based, scripted/incremental. The 1990s brought Object-oriented programming and agile processes like Extreme programming gained mainstream acceptance. Computer memory capacity sky-rocketed and prices dropped drastically. These new technologies allowed software to grow more complex. The WWW and hand-held computers made software even more widely available. Since the 2000s Managed code emerged and interpreted platforms such as Java, .NET, Ruby, Python and PHP made writing software easier than ever before. Offshore outsourcing changed the nature and focus of software engineering careers.

[edit] Education

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About half of all practitioners today have computer science degrees. A small, but growing, number of practitioners have software engineering degrees. In 1987 Imperial College London introduced the first three year software engineering Bachelor's degree in the UK and the world, in the following year the University of Sheffield established a similar programme[10]. In 1996, Rochester Institute of Technology established the first software engineering Bachelor's degree program in the United States, however, it did not obtain ABET until 2003, the same time as Clarkson University, Milwaukee School of Engineering and Mississippi State University.[11]

Since then, software engineering undergraduate degrees have been established at many universities. A standard international curriculum for undergraduate software engineering degrees was recently defined by the CCSE. As of 2004, in the U.S., about 50 universities offer software engineering degrees, which teach both computer science and engineering principles and practices. The first software engineering Master's degree was established at Seattle University in 1979. Since then graduate software engineering degrees have been made available from many more universities. Likewise in Canada, the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers has recognized several software engineering programs.

In 1998, the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) established the first doctorate program in Software Engineering in the world.[citation needed] Additionally, many online advanced degrees in Software Engineering have appeared such as the Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSE) degree offered through the Computer Science and Engineering Department at California State University, Fullerton. Steve McConnell opines that because most universities teach computer science rather than software engineering, there is a shortage of true software engineers.[12] ETS University and UQAM were mandated by IEEE to develop the SoftWare Engineering BOdy of Knowledge SWEBOK, which has become an ISO standard describing the body of knowledge covered by a software engineer[citation needed].

[edit] Other degrees

In business, some software engineering practitioners have MIS degrees. In embedded systems, some have electrical or computer engineering degrees, because embedded software often requires a detailed understanding of hardware. In medical software, practitioners may have medical informatics, general medical, or biology degrees.[citation needed]

Some practitioners have mathematics, science, engineering, or technology degrees. Some have philosophy (logic in particular) or other non-technical degrees.[citation needed] And, others have no degrees.[citation needed] For instance, Barry Boehm earned degrees in mathematics.

[edit] Profession

[edit] Employment

See also: software engineering demographics

Most software engineers work as employees or contractors. Software engineers work with businesses, government agencies (civilian or military), and non-profit organizations. Some software engineers work for themselves as freelancers. Some organizations have specialists to perform each of the tasks in the software development process. Other organizations required software engineers to do many or all of them. In large projects, people may specialize in only one role. In small projects, people may fill several or all roles at the same time. Specializations include: in industry (analysts, architects, developers, testers, technical support, managers) and in academia (educators, researchers).

There is considerable debate over the future employment prospects for Software Engineers and other IT Professionals. For example, an online futures market called the Future of IT Jobs in America attempts to answer whether there will be more IT jobs, including software engineers, in 2012 than there were in 2002.

[edit] Certification

Professional certification of software engineers is a contentious issue.[citation needed] Some see it as a tool to improve professional practice.[citation needed]

Most successful certification programs in the software industry are oriented toward specific technologies, and are managed by the vendors of these technologies.[citation needed] These certification programs are tailored to the institutions that would employ people who use these technologies.

The ACM had a professional certification program in the early 1980s, which was discontinued due to lack of interest. [13]. As of 2006, the IEEE had certified over 575 software professionals.[14] In Canada the Canadian Information Processing Society has developed a legally recognized professional certification called Information Systems Professional (ISP).[15]

[edit] Impact of globalization

Many students in the developed world have avoided degrees related to software engineering because of the fear of offshore outsourcing (importing software products or services from other countries) and of being displaced by foreign visa workers.[16] Although government statistics do not currently show a threat to software engineering itself; a related career, computer programming does appear to have been affected.[17][18] Often one is expected to start out as a computer programmer before being promoted to software engineer. Thus, the career path to software engineering may be rough, especially during recessions.

Some career counselors suggest a student also focus on "people skills" and business skills rather than purely technical skills because such "soft skills" are allegedly more difficult to offshore.[19] It is the quasi-management aspects of software engineering that appear to be what has kept it from being impacted by globalization.[20]

[edit] Comparing related fields

Main article: Comparing software engineering and related fields

Many fields are closely related to software engineering; here are some key similarities and distinctions. Comparing SE ld become. There is considerable debate over which fields SE most resembles (or should most resemble). These complex and inexact comparisons explain why some see software engineering as its own field.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ “IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology,” IEEE std 610.12-1990, 1990, quoted at the beginning of Chapter 1: Introduction to the guide "Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge" (February 6, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  2. ^ Pecht, Michael (1995). Product Reliability, Maintainability, and Supportability Handbook. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-9457-0. 
  3. ^ Pehrson, Ronald J. (January 1996). "Software Development for the Boeing 777". CrossTalk: the Journal of Defense Software Engineering. http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/1996/01/Boein777.asp. , "The 2.5 million lines of newly developed software were approximately six times more than any previous Boeing commercial airplane development program. Including commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and optional software, the total size is more than 4 million lines of code."
  4. ^ Randell, Brian (10 Aug 2001). "The 1968/69 NATO Software Engineering Reports". Brian Randell's University Homepage. The School of Computer Sciences, Newcastle University. Retrieved on 2008-10-11. "The idea for the first NATO Software Engineering Conference, and in particular that of adopting the then practically unknown term "software engineering" as its (deliberately provocative) title, I believe came originally from Professor Fritz Bauer."
  5. ^ Table 1 in Chapter 1,"Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge" (February 6, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  6. ^ Ian Sommerville (2004). Software Engineering. 7th edition. Chapter 1. Bezien 20 Okt 2008.
  7. ^ Table 2 in Chapter 1,"Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge" (February 6, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  8. ^ Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, USDL 05-2145: Occupational Employment and Wages, November 2004, Table 1.
  9. ^ "Software Engineering". Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  10. ^ Cowling, A. J. 1999. The first decade of an undergraduate degree programme in software engineering. Ann. Softw. Eng. 6, 1-4 (Apr. 1999), 61-90.
  11. ^ "ABET Accredited Engineering Programs" (April 3, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
  12. ^ McConnell, Steve (July 10, 2003. Professional Software Development: Shorter Schedules, Higher Quality Products, More Successful Projects, Enhanced Careers. ISBN 978-0321193674.
  13. ^ Actually the ACM made an explicit decision not to continue with certification. 1
  14. ^ IEEE Computer Society. "2006 IEEE computer societe report to the IFIP General Assembly". Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  15. ^ Canadian Information Processing Society. "I.S.P. Designation". Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
  16. ^ As outsourcing gathers steam, computer science interest wanes
  17. ^ Computer Programmers
  18. ^ Software developer growth slows in North America | InfoWorld | News | 2007-03-13 | By Robert Mullins, IDG News Service
  19. ^ Hot Skills, Cold Skills
  20. ^ Dual Roles: The Changing Face of IT

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Software engineering
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