Software Engineering-Basic Principles

Although there are many reasons why software is delivered late, most can be traced to one or more of the following root causes: • An unre...


Although there are many reasons why software is delivered late, most can be traced to one or more of the following root causes:

An unrealistic deadline established by someone outside the software development group and forced on managers and practitioner's within the group.
Changing customer requirements that are not reflected in schedule changes.
An honest underestimate of the amount of effort and/or the number of resources that will be required to do the job.
Predictable and/or unpredictable risks that were not considered when the project commenced.
Technical difficulties that could not have been foreseen in advance.
Human difficulties that could not have been foreseen in advance.
Miscommunication among project staff that results in delays.
A failure by project management to recognize that the project is falling behind schedule and a lack of action to correct the problem.

Aggressive (read "unrealistic") deadlines are a fact of life in the software business. Sometimes such deadlines are demanded for reasons that are legitimate, from the point of view of the person who sets the deadline. But common sense says that legitimacy must also be perceived by the people doing the work.

Comments on “Lateness”

Napoleon once said: "Any commander in chief who undertakes to carry out a plan which he considers defective is at fault; he must put forth his reasons, insist on the plan being changed, and finally tender his resignation rather than be the instrument of his army's downfall." These are strong words that many software project managers should ponder.

The estimation and risk analysis activities  and the scheduling techniques are often implemented under the constraint of a defined deadline. If best estimates indicate that the deadline is unrealistic, a competent project manager should "protect his or her team from undue [schedule] pressure . . . [and] reflect the pressure back to its originators" .

To illustrate, assume that a software development group has been asked to build a real-time controller for a medical diagnostic instrument that is to be introduced to the market in nine months. After careful estimation and risk analysis, the software project manager comes to the conclusion that the software, as requested, will require 14 calendar months to create with available staff. How does the project manager proceed?

It is unrealistic to march into the customer's office (in this case the likely customeris marketing/sales) and demand that the delivery date be changed. External market pressures have dictated the date, and the product must be released. It is equally foolhardy to refuse to undertake the work (from a career standpoint). So, what to do?
The following steps are recommended in this situation:
1. Perform a detailed estimate using historical data from past projects. Determine the estimated effort and duration for the project.
2. Using an incremental process model (Chapter 2), develop a software engineering strategy that will deliver critical functionality by the imposed deadline, but delay other functionality until later. Document the plan.
3. Meet with the customer and (using the detailed estimate), explain why the imposed deadline is unrealistic. Be certain to note that all estimates are based on performance on past projects. Also be certain to indicate the percent improvement that would be required to achieve the deadline as it currently
exists.  The following comment is appropriate:

"I think we may have a problem with the delivery date for the XYZ controller software. I've given each of you an abbreviated breakdown of production rates for past projects and an estimate that we've done a number of different ways. You'll note that I've assumed a 20 percent improvement in past production
rates, but we still get a delivery date that's 14 calendar months rather than 9 months away."

4. Offer the incremental development strategy as an alternative: “We have a few options, and I'd like you to make a decision based on them. First, we can increase the budget and bring on additional resources so that we'll have a shot at getting this job done in nine months. But understand that this will increase risk of poor quality due to the tight timeline.3 Second, we can remove a number of the software functions and capabilities that you're requesting. This will make the preliminary version of the product somewhat less functional, but we can announce all functionality and then deliver over the 14 month period. Third, we can dispense with reality and wish the project complete in nine months. We'll wind up with nothing that can be delivered to a customer. The third option, I hope you'll agree, is unacceptable. Past history and our best estimates say that it is unrealistic and a recipe for disaster."

There will be some grumbling, but if solid estimates based on good historical data are presented, it's likely that negotiated versions of option 1 or 2 will be chosen. The unrealistic deadline evaporates.

Basic Principles

Fred Brooks, the well-known author of The Mythical Man-Month , was once asked how software projects fall behind schedule. His response was as simple as it was profound: "One day at a time."

The reality of a technical project (whether it involves building a hydroelectric plant or developing an operating system) is that hundreds of small tasks must occur to accomplish a larger goal. Some of these tasks lie outside the mainstream and may be completed without worry about impact on project completion date. Other tasks lie on the "critical” path. If these "critical" tasks fall behind schedule, the completion date of the entire project is put into jeopardy.

The project manager’s objective is to define all project tasks, build a network that depicts their interdependencies, identify the tasks that are critical within the network, and then track their progress to ensure that delay is recognized "one day at a time." To accomplish this, the manager must have a schedule that has been defined at a degree of resolution that enables the manager to monitor progress and control the project.

Software project scheduling is an activity that distributes estimated effort across the planned project duration by allocating the effort to specific software engineering tasks.It is important to note, however, that the schedule evolves over time. During early stages of project planning, a macroscopic schedule is developed. This type of schedule identifies all major software engineering activities and the product functions to which they are applied. As the project gets under way, each entry on the macroscopic schedule is refined into a detailed schedule. Here, specific software tasks (required to accomplish an activity) are identified and scheduled.

Scheduling for software engineering projects can be viewed from two rather different perspectives. In the first, an end-date for release of a computer-based system has already (and irrevocably) been established. The software organization is constrained to distribute effort within the prescribed time frame. The second view of software scheduling assumes that rough chronological bounds have been discussed but that the end-date is set by the software engineering organization. Effort is distributed to make best use of resources and an end-date is defined after careful analysis of the software. Unfortunately, the first situation is encountered far more frequently than the second.
Like all other areas of software engineering, a number of basic principles guide
software project scheduling:

Compartmentalization. The project must be compartmentalized into a number of manageable activities and tasks. To accomplish compartmentalization, both the product and the process are decomposed.

Interdependency. The interdependency of each compartmentalized activity or task must be determined. Some tasks must occur in sequence while others can occur in parallel. Some activities cannot commence until the work product produced by another is available. Other activities can occur independently.

Time allocation. Each task to be scheduled must be allocated some number of work units (e.g., person-days of effort). In addition, each task must be assigned a start date and a completion date that are a function of the interdependencies and whether work will be conducted on a full-time or part-time
basis.

Effort validation. Every project has a defined number of staff members. As time allocation occurs, the project manager must ensure that no more than the allocated number of people have been scheduled at any given time. For example, consider a project that has three assigned staff members (e.g., 3 person-days are available per day of assigned effort). On a given day, seven concurrent tasks must be accomplished. Each task requires 0.50 person days of effort. More effort has been allocated than there are people to do the work.

Defined responsibilities. Every task that is scheduled should be assigned  to a specific team member.
Defined outcomes. Every task that is scheduled should have a defined outcome. For software projects, the outcome is normally a work product (e.g., the design of a module) or a part of a work product. Work products are often combined in deliverables.

Defined milestones. Every task or group of tasks should be associated with a project milestone. A milestone is accomplished when one or more work products has been reviewed for quality and has been approved.

Each of these principles is applied as the project schedule evolves.
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