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Software Requirement
Engineering (SWE – 205)
Engr. Priha Bhatti
Incharge CFMC
Lecturer Week No. 1
Software Engineering Department
Sir Syed University of Engineering &
Technology
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Content
• The Essential Software Requirement
▫ Software requirements

 Some interpretations of ”requirement”

 Key Trends
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Where are the requirements?

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The traditional software development process:

• Perceptions, communication patterns and interests…

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What is a requirement?

• –Definitions –
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IEEE-Standard 610.12 (1990)

• A requirement is:

1. “A condition or capability needed by a user(be it person or system) to

solve a problem or achieve an objective.”

2. “A condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a system or

system component to satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other
formally imposed document.”

3. A documented representation of a condition or capability as in (1) or (2).

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Requirement: A definition

• According to Ian Sommerville and Pete Sawyer (1997): :

▫ “Requirements are a specification of what should be implemented. They are

descriptions of how the system should behave, or of a system property or
attribute. They may be a constraint on the development process of the
system.”
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Requirement: A definition

• According to Wiegers & Beatty (2013):

▫ “[A requirement is a] statement of a customer need or objective, or of a

condition or capability that a product must possess to satisfy such a need or
objective. A property that a product must have to provide value to a
stakeholder.”
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Key Trends?
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Key Trends

• Software is currently the dominant force of change of new products.

• The trend is driven by three key factors:

▫ Arbitrary complexity. The most complex systems tend to be those with

software, often integrated deep inside the system’s components. The
complexity of such products is limited only by the imagination of those who
conceive them.
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Key Trends
• Software is currently the dominant force of change of new products.

• The trend is driven by three key factors:

▫ Instant distribution. Company can think of a new product, implement it in

software, and rapidly distribute it around the world.

▫ “Off-the-shelf” components. Systems are now constructed from bought-in

technology and ready-made components with a corresponding reduction in
the product development cycle.
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Net Impact of these trends

• Sudden intensity of competition

• The ability to monopolies the rewards

• Pressure to reduce the development cycle and time to deploy

technology without getting sufficient time to market
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Requirement form the basis for

• Project planning

• Risk management

• Acceptance testing

• Trade off

• change control
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Reason for Project Failure

• Requirement:

▫ Poorly organized

▫ Poorly expressed

▫ Weakly related to stakeholder

▫ Changing too rapidly

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Reason for Failure

• Management problems of resources

▫ Failure to have enough money

▫ Lack of support

▫ Failure to impose proper discipline and planning

• Politics
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Summary
• The Essential Software Requirement
▫ Software requirements

 Some interpretations of ”requirement”

 Key Trends