Requirements Engineering for Software and Systems, Second Edition
Auerbach Publications – 2013 – 324 pages
As requirements engineering continues to be recognized as the key to on-time and on-budget delivery of software and systems projects, many engineering programs have made requirements engineering mandatory in their curriculum. In addition, the wealth of new software tools that have recently emerged is empowering practicing engineers to improve their requirements engineering habits. However, these tools are not easy to use without appropriate training.
Filling this need, Requirements Engineering for Software and Systems, Second Edition has been vastly updated and expanded to include about 30 percent new material. In addition to new exercises and updated references in every chapter, this edition updates all chapters with the latest applied research and industry practices. It also presents new material derived from the experiences of professors who have used the text in their classrooms. Improvements to this edition include:
Following in the footsteps of its bestselling predecessor, the text illustrates key ideas associated with requirements engineering using extensive case studies and three common example systems: an airline baggage handling system, a point-of-sale system for a large pet store chain, and a system for a smart home. This edition also includes an example of a wet well pumping system for a wastewater treatment station.
With a focus on software-intensive systems, but highly applicable to non-software systems, this text provides a probing and comprehensive review of recent developments in requirements engineering in high integrity systems.
Praise for the Bestselling First Edition:
Based on a Penn State course taught by the author, this text provides a review of the theoretical and practical aspects of discovering, analyzing, modeling, validating, testing, and writing requirements for systems of all kinds, particularly software-intensive systems. Incorporating a variety of formal methods, social models, and modern requirements writing techniques useful to practicing engineers, the text is suitable for professional software engineers, systems engineers, and senior undergraduate and graduate students in these fields.
—Book News Inc.
Introduction to Requirements Engineering
What Is Requirements Engineering?
You Probably Don’t Do Enough Requirements Engineering
What Are Requirements?
Requirements versus Goals
Requirements Level Classification
Requirements Specifications Types
Domain Vocabulary Understanding
Requirements Engineering Activities
Requirements Analysis and Agreements
Bodies of Knowledge
Requirements Engineering Paradigms
Requirements Engineer as Software Systems Engineer
Requirements Engineer as Subject Matter Expert
Requirements Engineer as Architect
Requirements Engineer as Business Process Expert
Ignorance as Virtue
Problems with Traditional Requirements Engineering
Four Dark Corners
Difficulties in Enveloping System Behavior
Danger of "All" in Specifications
Preparing for Requirements Elicitation
Product Mission Statement
Encounter with a Customer
Customer Wants and Needs
What Do Customers Want?
What Don’t Customers Want?
Why Do Customers Change Their Minds?
Communicating with Customers and Other Stakeholders
Uncovering Stakeholder Goals
Preparing for Requirements Elicitation
Elicitation Techniques Survey
Designer as Apprentice
Joint Application Design (JAD)
Quality Function Deployment
Which Combination of Requirements Elicitation Techniques Should Be Used?
Prevalence of Requirements Elicitation Techniques
Writing the Requirements Document
Requirements Agreement and Analysis
Requirements Representation Approaches
IEEE Standard 830–1998
IEEE Standard 830 Recommendations on Representing Nonfunctional Requirements
IEEE Standard 830 Recommendations on Representing Functional Requirements
ISO/IEC Standard 25030
Users of a Requirements Document
Requirements Document Requirements
Preferred Writing Style
Text Structure Analysis
Use of Imperatives
Best Practices and Recommendations
Requirements Risk Management
What Is Requirements Risk Management?
Requirements Validation and Verification
Techniques for Requirements V&V
Goal-Based Requirements Analysis
Validating Requirements Use Cases
Requirements Validation and Verification Matrices
Importance of Measurement in Requirements Validation and Verification
Standards for Validation and Verification
IEEE Standard 830
Example Validation of Requirements
NASA Requirements Testing
NASA ARM Tool
Summary of NASA Metrics
What Are Formal Methods?
Formal Methods Classification
A Little History
Using Formal Methods
Formalization of Train Station in B
Formalization of Space Shuttle Flight Software Using MurΦ
Formalization of an Energy Management System Using Category Theory
Example: Energy Management System
Objections, Myths, and Limitations
Objections and Myths
Limitations of Formal Methods
Bowen and Hinchey’s Advice
Requirements Specification and Agile Methodologies
Introduction to Agile Methodologies
Principles Behind Agile Manifesto
Extreme Programming (XP)
Requirements Engineering for Agile Methodologies
General Practices in Agile Methodologies
Example Application of Agile Software Development
When Is Agile Recommended?
Agile Requirements Best Practices
Requirements Engineering in XP
Requirements Engineering in Scrum
Writing User Stories
Agile Requirements Engineering
Challenges for Requirements Engineering in Agile Methodologies
Tool Support for Requirements Engineering
Requirements Linkage Traceability Matrix
Requirements Source Traceability Matrix
Requirements Stakeholder Traceability Matrix
Requirements Management Tools
Open Source Requirements Engineering Tools
Open Source Requirements Management Tool (OSRMT)
Requirements Engineering Tool Best Practices
Elicitation Support Technologies
Using Wikis for Requirements Elicitation
Managing Divergent Agendas
Expectation Revisited: Pascal’s Wager
Global Requirements Management
Antipatterns in Requirements Management
Other Paradigms for Requirements Management
Requirements Management and Improvisational Comedy
Requirements Management as Scriptwriting
Standards for Requirements Management
Capability Maturity Model Integrative (CMMI)
Usage of Standards
A Case Study: FBI Virtual Case File
Value Engineering of Requirements
What, Why, When, and How of Value Engineering
What Is Value Engineering?
When Does Value Engineering Occur?
Challenges to Simple Cost versus Risk Analysis
Estimating Using COCOMO and Its Derivatives
Estimating Using Function Points
Function Point Cost Drivers
Use Case Points
Requirements Feature Cost Justification
Return on Investment
Net Present Value
Internal Rate of Return
Putting It All Together
Appendix A: Software Requirements Specification for a Smart Home
Appendix B: Software Requirements for a Wastewater Pumping Station Wet Well Control System
Phillip A. Laplante, PhD, is professor of software engineering and a member of the graduate faculty at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). His research, teaching, and consulting focuses on software quality, particularly with respect to requirements, testing, and project management. Before joining Penn State he was a professor and senior academic administrator at several colleges and universities.
Dr. Laplante has consulted to Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, the US DOD, and NASA. He has also served on the technology advisory boards for several companies. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Laplante spent nearly a decade as a software engineer and project manager working on avionics (including the Space Shuttle), CAD, and software test systems. He was also director of business development for a software consulting firm. He has authored or edited 29 books and more than 200 papers, articles, reviews, and editorials.
Dr. Laplante received his BS, MEng, and PhD in computer science, electrical engineering, and computer science, respectively, from Stevens Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He is licensed in Pennsylvania as a professional engineer and is a Certified Software Development Professional. He is a fellow of the IEEE and SPIE and a member of numerous professional societies, program committees, and boards.