The Software Engineer

1
The Software Engineers Job
2
What Is Software Engineering

• The job of the software engineer is to deliver
  high-quality software products at agreed cost and
  schedule.
• To do an effective job they need to
• plan their work,
• do their work according to this plan,
• and strive to produce the highest quality
  products.

3
Why Is Good Engineering Important?

• Historically, few software organizations have
  reliably met their cost and schedule commitments.
• This has given the field of software engineering
  a bad name.
• Poor software has caused companies to fail, space
  missions to fail, and even people to die.

4
The Personal Software Process

• Designed to help software engineers to do good
  work.
• Shows how to apply advanced engineering methods
  to daily tasks.
• Provides detailed estimating and planning methods
  and ways to track progress against plans.
• Explains how processes can guide work.

5
The Discipline of High-Quality Work

• The discipline of the Personal Software Process
  (PSP) provides a structured framework for
  developing the personal skills and methods needed
  by software engineers.
• In many other fields, such as chemistry,
  medicine, music, etc., professionals spend
  considerable time in learning and practicing the
  skills needed in their jobs it should be no
  different for software engineers.

6
The Importance of High-Quality Work

• Even if you work on only a small part of a larger
  system, quality problems in your part can cause
  the whole system to fail.
• To produce quality software systems, every
  engineer on the project must do quality work.
• If you consistently produce high-quality
  software, you and your products will be highly
  valued by your employers and your customers.

7
How to Improve the Quality of Your Work

• The secret is to change the process you are using
  to become more effective.
• The hard part is often figuring out what to
  change.
• You must evaluate (measure) the process you are
  using, including the quality of the result.
• This often highlights the steps that need
  changing.
• Once changes have been made, the effectiveness of
  the new process must be measured to quantify the
  improvement.

8
The Improvement Process
Define the quality goal
Measure product quality
Understand the process
Adjust the process
Use the adjusted process
Recycle and continue improving
Measure the results
Compare the results with the goal
9
Example Course Tasks

• Engineer______________________
  Date_________________

Task Frequency Time (minutes)
Attend classes M,W 250/week
Read textbook Weekly 180/week
Homework Weekly 240/week
Write programs Weekly 420/week
Prepare for Exams Twice a semester 300/semester
Review notes During homework Included above