QUESTION BANK
(Software Engineering)
Q.1 Define Software Engineering.
Ans. Software Engineering is defined as the application
of systematic, disciplined, quantified approach to the development, operations,
and maintenance of software.
Q.2 List out the elements in Computer-Based
System?
Ans. Elements in Computer-Based System are:
l Software l Hardware
l People l Database
l Documentation l Procedures.
Q.3 What are the factors to be considered in the
System Model Construction?
Ans. Factors to be considered in the System Model
Construction are:
l Assumption l Simplification
l Limitation l Constraints
l Preferences
Q.4 What does a System Engineering Model
accomplish?
Ans. System Engineering Model accomplishes the
following:
l Define Processes that serve needs of
view
l Represent behavior of process and
assumption
l Explicitly define Exogenous and
Endogenous Input
l Represent all Linkages that enable
engineer to better understand view.
Q.5 Define Framework.
Ans. Framework is
the Code Skeleton that can fleshed out with specific classes or functionality
and Designed to address specifies problem at hand.
Q.6 What are the important roles of Conventional
Component within the Software Architecture?
Ans. The important roles of Conventional component
within the Software Architecture are:
·
Control
Component: That coordinates invocation of
all other problem domain.
·
Problem
Domain Component: That implements
Complete or Partial function required by customer.
·
Infrastructure
Component: That responsible for functions
that support processing required in problem domain.
Q.7 Differentiate Software Engineering methods,
tools and procedures.
Ans. Methods: Broad
array of tasks like project planning cost estimation etc.
Tools: Automated
or semi automated support for methods.
Procedures: Holds
the methods and tools together. It enables the timely development of computer
software.
Q.8 Who is called as the Stakeholder?
Ans. Stakeholder is
anyone in the organization who has a direct business interest in the system or
product to be built.
Q.9 Write about Real Time Systems.
Ans. It provides
specified amount of computation with in fixed time intervals. RTS sense and
control external devices, respond to external events and share processing time
between tasks.
Q.10 Define
Distributed system.
Ans. It consists of
a collection of nearly autonomous processors that communicate to achieve a
coherent computing system.
Q.11 What are the characteristics of the software?
Ans. Characteristics
of the software are:
Ø Software
is engineered, not manufactured.
Ø Software
does not wear out.
Ø Most
software is custom built rather than being assembled from components.
Q.12 What are the various categories of software?
Ans. The various
categories of software are:
Ø System
software Application.
Ø Software
Engineering / Scientific.
Ø Software
Embedded software.
Ø Web
Applications.
Ø Artificial
Intelligence software.
Q.13 What are the challenges in software?
Ans. The challenges
in software are:
Ø Copying
with legacy systems.
Ø Heterogeneity
challenge.
Ø Delivery
times challenge.
Q.14 Define Software process.
Ans. Software
process is defined as the structured set of activities that are required to
develop the software system.
Q.15 What are the fundamental activities of a
software process?
Ans. The
fundamental activities of a software process are:
Ø Specification
Ø Design
and Implementation
Ø Validation
Ø Evolution
Q.16 What are the umbrella activities of a software
process?
Ans. The umbrella
activities of a software process are:
Ø Software
project tracking and control.
Ø Risk
Management.
Ø Software
Quality Assurance.
Ø Formal
Technical Reviews.
Ø Software
Configuration Management.
Ø Work
product preparation and production.
Ø Reusability
management, Measurement.
Q.17 List the activities during project Initiation.
Ans. Important
activities during project initiation phase:
·
Management team
building.
·
Enables the team
members to understand one another.
·
Minimize the impact
of cultural and language barriers.
·
Scope and high level
work division agreements.
·
Management reporting
and escalating procedures.
·
Involvement of infra
structure / support groups.
·
Team formation.
·
Project kick off
meeting is attended by formally all concerned so that everyone has a common
understanding of what is expected.
Q.18 What is work breakdown structure?
Ans. Work breakdown
structure is the decomposition of the project into smaller and more manageable
parts with each part satisfying the following criteria-
·
Each WBS unit has a
clear outcome.
·
The outcome has a
direct relationship to achieve the overall project goal.
·
Each point has single
point of accountability.
Q.19 What are the issues that get discussed during
project closure?
Ans. The issues
that get discussed during project closure are:
·
What were the goals
that we set out to achieve?
·
How effective were
the in process metrics?
·
What were the root
causes for under-achievement or over achievement?
·
Was our estimation
effort correct?
·
What were the factors
in the environment that would like to change?
·
What did we gain from
the system or environment?
·
Was our estimation of
the hardware correct?
Q.20 Give any two activities of project
initiation.
Ans. Management team building and Team formation
Q.21. What are the external dependencies in project
planning?
Ans. Staffing,
Training, Acquisition and Commissioning of new hardware, Availability of
modules, Travel.
Q.22. What are internal milestones?
Ans. They
are the measurable and quantifiable attributes of progress. They are the
intermediate points in the project which ensure that we are in the right track.
They are under the control of project manager.
Q.23. What is the role of the project board?
Ans. The
overall responsibility for ensuring satisfaction progress on a project is the
role of the project board.
Q.24. What is the role of project manager?
Ans. The
project manager is responsible for day to day administration of the project.
Q.25. What is closed system?
Ans. Closed
systems are those that do not interact with the environment.
Q.26. What is embedded system?
Ans. A
system that is a part of a large system whose primary purpose is non
computational.
Q.27. What is a Process Framework?
Ans. Process
Framework establishes foundation for a complete software process by identifying
a small number of framework activities that are applicable for all software
projects regardless of their size and complexity.
Q.28 What are the Generic Framework Activities?
Ans. Generic
Framework Activities are:
·
Communication.
·
Planning.
·
Modeling.
·
Construction.
·
Deployment.
Q.29. Define Stakeholder.
Ans. Stakeholder
is anyone who has stake in successful outcome of project such as:
·
Business Managers,
·
End-users,
·
Software Engineer,
·
Support People
Q.30. How the Process Model differ from one another?
Ans. Process
Model differ from one another due to the following reasons:
·
Based on flow of
Activities.
·
Interdependencies
between Activities.
·
Manner of Quality
Assurance.
·
Manner of Project
Tracking.
·
Tam Organization and Roles.
·
Work Products
identify a requirement Identifier.
Q.31 Write out the reasons for the Failure of
Water Fall Model?
Ans. Reasons
for the Failure of Water Fall Model are :
·
Real project rarely
follow sequential Flow. Iterations are made in indirect manner.
·
Difficult for
customer to state all requirements explicitly.
·
Customer needs more
patients as working products reach only at deployment phase.
Q.32 What are the Drawbacks of RAD Model ?
Ans. Drawbacks
of RAD Model are :
·
Require sufficient
number of Human Resources to create enough number of teams.
·
Developers and
Customers are not committed, system result in failure.
·
Not Properly
Modularized building component may Problematic.
·
Not applicable when
there is more possibility for Technical Risk.
Q.33 Define the term Scripts.
Ans. Scripts
Specific Process Activities and other detailed work functions that are part of
team process.
Q.34. Write the disadvantages of classic life cycle
model.
Ans. Disadvantages
of classic life cycle model are :
I.
Real projects rarely
follow sequential flow. Iteration always occurs and creates problem.
II.
Difficult for the
customer to state all requirements.
III.
Working version of
the program is not available. So the customer must have patience.
Q.35. What do you mean by task set in spiral Model?
Ans. Each
of the regions in the spiral model is populated by a set of work tasks called a
task set that are adopted to the characteristics of the project to be
undertaken.
Q.36 What is the main objective of Win-Win Spiral
Model ?
Ans. The
customer and the developer enter into the process of negotiation where the
customer may be asked to balance functionality, performance and other product
against cost and time to market.
Q.37. Which of the software engineering paradigms
would be most effective? Why?
Ans. Incremental
/ Spiral model will be most effective.
Reasons
:
I.
It combines linear
sequential model with iterative nature of prototyping.
II.
Focuses on delivery
of product at each increment.
III.
Can be planned to
manage technical risks.
Q.38. What are the merits of incremental model ?
Ans. The
merits of incremental model are :
I.
The incremental model
can be adopted when there are less number of people involved in the project.
II.
Technical risks can
be managed with each increment.
III.
For a very small time
span, at least core product can be delivered to the customer.
Q.39. List the task regions in the Spiral model.
Ans. Task
regions in the Spiral model are :
Ø Customer
Communication : In this region it is suggested to
establish customer communication.
Ø Planning :
All planning activities are carried out in order to define resources timeline
and other project related activities.
Ø Risk Analysis :
The tasks required to calculate technical and management risks.
Ø Engineering :
In this the task region, tasks required to build one or more representations of
applications are carried out.
Ø Construct and Release
: All the necessary tasks required to
construct, test, install the applications are conducted.
Ø Customer Evaluation :
Customer's feedback is obtained and based on the customer evaluation required
tasks are performed and implemented at installation stage.
Q.40. What are the drawbacks of spiral model ?
Ans. The
drawbacks of spiral model are :
1.
It is based on
customer communication. If the communication is not proper then the software
product that gets developed will not be the up to the mark.
2.
It demands
considerable risk assessment. If the risk assessment is done properly then only
the successful product can be obtained.
Q.41 Name the Evolutionary process Models.
Ans. Evolutionary
powers models are :
I.
Incremental model
II.
Spiral model
III.
WIN-WIN spiral model
IV.
Concurrent
Development
Q.42 Define Software Prototyping.
Ans. Software
prototyping is defined as a rapid software development for validating the
requirements.
Q.43 What are the benefits of prototyping ?
Ans. The
benefits of prototyping are :
I.
Prototype services as
a basis for deriving system specification.
II.
Design quality can be
improved.
III.
System can be
maintained easily.
IV.
Development efforts
may get reduced.
V.
System usability can
be improved.
Q.44. What are the prototyping approaches in
software process?
Ans. The
prototyping approaches in software process are :
I.
Evolutionary
prototyping : In this approach of system
development, the initial prototype is prepared and it is then refined through
number of stages to final stage.
II.
Throw-away
prototyping : Using this approach a rough
practical implementation of the system is produced. The requirement problems
can be identified from this implementation. It is then discarded. System is
then developed using some different engineering paradigm.
Q.45. What are the advantages of evolutionary
prototyping ?
Ans. The
advantages of evolutionary prototyping are :
I.
Fast delivery of the
working system.
II.
User is involved
while developing the system.
III.
More useful system
can be delivered.
IV.
Specification, design
and implementation work in co-ordinated manner.
Q.46. What are the various Rapid prototyping
techniques ?
Ans. The
various rapid prototyping techniques are :
I.
Dynamic high level
language development.
II.
Database programming.
III.
Component and
application assembly.
Q.47. What is the use of User Interface prototyping
?
Ans. This
prototyping is used to pre-specify the look and feel of user interface in an
effective way.
Q.48. Give the phases of product development life
cycle.
Ans. The
phase of product development life cycle are :
·
Idea
generation : Ideas come from various sources
like customers, suppliers, employees, market place demands.
·
Prototype
development phase : This entails
buildings simplistic model of final product.
·
Beta
phase : This iron out the kinks in the
product and add necessary supporting infrastructure to roll out the product.
·
Production
phase : In this phase product is ready for
prime time.
·
Maintenance
and obsolescence phase : In this critical
bugs are fixed after which the product goes into obsolescence.
Q.49. Explain water fall model in detail.
Ans. The
project is divided into sequence of well defined phases. One phase is completed
before next starts. There is a feedback loop between adjacent phases. What the
actual phase are depends on the project.
Advantages :
·
Simplicity
·
Lining up resources
with appropriate skills is easy
Disadvantages :
·
Highly impractical
for most projects
·
Phases are tightly
coupled.
Q.50 Explain RAD model in detail
Ans. The
customer and developer agree on breaking the product into small units.
Development is carried out using modeling tools and CASE tools. Customer is
kept in touch so the changes are reflected time. Quality assurance is imposed.
Advantages
:
·
Responsiveness to
change
·
Ability to capture
user requirements effectively.
·
Application turn
around time is shorter.
Disadvantages
:
·
Need for modeling
tools which adds expense.
·
Places restriction on
type and structure.
Q.51. What is the principle of prototype model ?
Ans. A
prototype is built to quickly demonstrate to the customer what the product
would look like. Only minimal functionality of the actual product is provided
during the prototyping phase.
Q.52. What is the advantage of Spiral model ?
Ans. The
main advantages of spiral model is, it is realistic and typifies most software
development products/projects. It combines the best features of most of the
earlier models. It strikes a good balance mechanism for early problem
identification and correction while not missing out proactive problem prevention.
Q.53 What is lifecycle model ?
Ans. Here
different terms have specialization and responsibility in different life cycle
phase.
Q.54. Why Formal Methods are not widely used?
Ans. Formal
Methods are not widely used due to the following reasons :
·
It is Quite Time
Consuming and Expensive.
·
Extensive expertise
is needed for developers to apply formal methods.
·
Difficult to use as
their technically sophisticated maintenance may become risk.
Q.55. What are the Objectives of Requirement
Analysis ?
Ans. Objectives
of Requirement Analysis are :
·
It describes what
customer requires.
·
It establishes a
basis for creation of software design.
·
It defines a set of
requirements that can be validated once the software design is built.
Q.56. Define System Context Diagram (SCD)?
Ans. System
Context Diagram (SCD):
·
Establish information
boundary between System being implemented and Environment in which system operates.
·
Defines all external
producers, external consumers and entities that communicate through user
interface.
Q.57. Define System Flow Diagram (SFD)?
Ans.
System Flow Diagram (SFD):
·
Indicates Information
flow across System Context Diagram region.
·
Used to guide system
engineer in developing system.
Q.58. What are the Requirements Engineering Process
Functions?
Ans.
Requirements Engineering Process
Functions are:
|
·
Inception
·
Elaboration
·
Specification
·
Management
|
·
Elicitation
·
Negotiation
·
Validation
|
Q.59. What are the Difficulties in Elicitations?
Ans.
Difficulties in Elicitation are:
|
·
Problem of Scope
·
Problem of Volatility
|
·
Problem of
Understanding
|
Q.60. Define Quality Function Deployment (QFD)?
Ans.
Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a
technique that translates needs of customer into technical requirement. It concentrates
on maximizing customer satisfaction from the software engineering process.
Q.61. Write a short note on structure charts.
Ans.
These are used in architectural design
to document hierarchical structure, parameters and interconnections in a
system. No Decision box. The chart can be augmented with module by module
specification of 
attributes.
attributes.
Q.62. What are the contents of HIPO diagrams?
Ans.
The contents of HIPO diagrams are:
Visual table of contents,
Set overview diagrams,
Set of details diagrams.
Q.63 Explain software Requirement Specification.
Ans.
Software Requirement Specification includes;
|
·
Information
Description
·
Behavioural
Description
·
Bibliography and
Appendix
|
·
Functional
Description
·
Validation criteria
·
Preliminary user's
Manual
|
Q.64 What is Requirement Engineering ?
Ans.
Requirement engineering is the process of establishing to services that the
customer required from the system and constraints under which it operates and
is developed.
Q.65 What are the characteristics of SRS?
Ans.
The characteristics of SRS are as follows:
i.
Correct:
The SRS should be made up the date when appropriate requirements are
identified.
ii.
Unambiguous:
When the requirements are correctly
understood then only it is possible to write unambiguous software.
iii.
Complete:
To make SRS complete, its hold be specified what a software designer wants to
create software.
iv.
Consistent:
It should be consistent with reference
to the functionalities identified.
v.
Specific:
The requirements should be mentioned specifically.
vi.
Traceable:
What is the need for mentioned requirement? This should be correctly
identified.
Q.66 What are the objectives of Analysis modeling
?
Ans.
The objectives of analysis modeling are:
i.
To describe what the
customer requires.
ii.
To establish a basis
for the creation of software design.
iii.
To devise a set of
valid requirements after which the software can be build.
Q.67 What is ERD?
Ans.
Entity Relationship Diagram is the graphical representation of the object
relationship pair. It is mainly used in database application.
Q.68
What is DFD?
Ans.
Data Flow Diagram depicts the
information flow and the transforms that are applied on the data as it moves
from input to output.
Q.69
What does Level 0 DFD represent?
Ans. Level-0
DFD is called as fundamental system model or context model. In the context model
the entire software system is represented by a single bubble with input and
output indicated by incoming and outgoing arrows.
Q.70 What is a state transition diagram?
Ans.
State
transition diagram is basically a collection of states and events. The events
cause the system to change its state. It also represents what actions are to be
taken on the occurrence of particular events.
Q.71 Define Data Dictionary.
Ans.
The
data dictionary can be defined as an organized collection of all the data
elements of the system with precise and rigorous definitions so that user and
system analyst will have a common understanding of inputs, outputs, components
of stores and intermediate calculations.
Q.72 What are the elements of analysis model?
Ans. The elements of analysis model are:
(i) Data Dictionary (ii) Entity Relationship Diagram
(iii) Data flow Diagram (iv) State Transition Diagram
(v) Control Specification (vi) Process
Specification
Q.73 What are the elements of design model
Ans.
The
elements of design model are;
(i)
Data Design (ii) Architectural design
(ii)
Interface design (iv) Component-level design.
Q.74 What are the dimensions of requirements
gathering?
Ans.
The
dimensions of requirements gathering are:
·
Responsibilities:
Commitments on either side Requirement form the basis for the success of
further in a project.
·
Current system
requirements
(i)
Functionality
requirements
(ii)
Performance
requirements
(iii)
Availability needs
(iv)
Security
(v)
Environmental
definitions
·
Targets
·
Acceptance criteria
·
Ongoing needs:
Documentation
Training
Ongoing
support
Q.75 List the skill sets required during the
requirements phase.
Ans.
The
skill sets required during the requirements phase are:
|
·
Availability to
look the requirements
·
domain expertise
·
Storing
interpersonal skills
·
Ability to tolerate
ambiguity
|
·
Technology
awareness
·
Strong negotiation
skills
·
Strong
communication skills
|
Q.76 What is the primary objective of project
closure ?
Ans.
Evaluating
effectiveness of the original project goals and providing to improve the
system.
Q.77 What are the dimensions of requirements
gathering?
Ans.
The
dimensions of requirements gathering are:
|
·
Responsibilities
·
Targets
|
·
Current system
needs
·
Ongoing needs
|
Q.78 Give the classifications of system
requirements.
Ans.
The
classification of system requirements are:
|
·
Functionality
Requirements
|
Performance requirements
|
|
·
Availability needs
|
Security
|
|
·
Environmental
definition
|
|
Q.79 List some of the skills essential for
requirements gathering phase.
Ans.
The
skills essential for requirements gathering phase are:
|
·
Ability to see from
customers point of view
|
|
|
·
Technology
awareness
·
Strong
interpersonal skills
|
·
Domain expertise
·
Strong
communication skills
|
Q.80 What does P-CMM model stand for?
Ans.
P-CMM
stand for people CMM.
Q.81 What are the components of the Cost of
Quality?
Ans.
Components
of the Cost of Quality are:
|
·
Quality Costs.
·
Appraisal Costs.
|
·
Prevention Costs.
|
Q.82 What is Software Quality Control?
Ans.
Software
Quality Control involves series of inspections, reviews and tests which are used
throughout software process to ensure each work product meets requirements
placed upon it.
Q.83 What is Software Quality Assurance?
Ans.
Software
Quality Assurance is a set of auditing and reporting functions that assess
effectiveness and completeness of quality control activities.
Q.84 What steps are required to perform
Statistical SQA?
Ans.
Following
steps are required to perform Statistical SQA:
·
Information about
software defects is collected and categorized.
·
Attempt is to trace each
defect.
·
Using Pareto
principal, isolate 20%
·
Once vital causes are
identified, correct problems can be enforced to overcome.
Q.85 Define SQA Plan
Ans.
SQA
Plan provides road map for instituting SQA and it serves as template for SQA
activities that are instituted for each software project.
Q.86 How do we define Software Quality?
Ans.
Software
Quality means Conformance to explicitly state functional and performance
requirements, explicitly documented development standards, implicit
characteristics expected for professionally developed software.
Q.87 Define the terms:
(a) Quality of Design (b) Quality of Conformance
Ans.
a) Quality
of Design means characteristics, designer specify for an item.
b) Quality
of Conformance means Degree to which design specifications are followed during
manufacturing.
Q.88 How the Registration process of ISO 9000
certification is done?
Ans.
Registration
process of ISO 9000 certification has the following stages:
(i) Application. (ii) Pre-Assessment.
(iii) Documents Review and Adequacy of audit.
(iv) Compliance
Audit (v) Registration
(vi) Continued
Surveillance
Q.89 What are the factors of Software Quality?
Ans.
Factors
of Software Quality are:
|
·
Portability
·
Reusability
·
Maintainability
|
·
Usability
·
Correctness
|
Q.90 List the process maturity levels in SEIs CMM.
Ans.
The
process maturity levels in SEIs CMM are:
Level
1: Initial: Few processes are defined and
individual efforts are taken.
Level
2: Repeatable: To track cost schedule and
functionality basis project management processes are established.
Level
3: Defined:
The process is standardized, documented and followed.
Level
4: Managed:
Both the software process and product are quantitatively understood and
controlled using detailed measures.
Level 5: Optimizing: Establish
mechanisms to plan and implement change.
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