SOFTWARE ENGINEERING STANDARDS REVIEW AND PERSPECT

HandbookofSoftwareEngineeringandKnowledgeEngineeringChapt.ID.28Prof.Y.Wang,PhDSOFTWAREENGINEERINGSTANDARDS:REVIEWANDPERSPECTIVESYINGXUWANGProfessorofSoftwareEngineeringDept.ofElectricalandComputerEngineeringUniversityofCalgaryAlberta,CanadaT2N1N4Email:[e-mail]wareengineeringplaysanimportantroleforintegrating,regulating,andoptimizingexistingbestpracticesandfundamentaltheoriesinsoftwaredevelopmentandorganization.Anidiomsaysthatonecan“gainnewknowledgebyreviewingthepast.”Thischapterreviewscurrentsoftwareengineeringandsoftwarequalityrelatedstandardsandthehistoryoftheirdevelopment.Usabilityandopenissuesinapplicationsofthemajorsoftwareengineeringstandardsarediscussed.Futuretrendsandresearchtopicsconsideredsignificantandworthyofbeingexploredaresuggestedinthischapter.1.IntroductionAlongwiththerapidgrowthofthesoftwareindustryinthelastdecades,softwareengineeringhasbeenanincreasinglyimportantdiscipline.Forthemostdynamicandinnovativediscipline,standardizationisanattempttointegrate,regulate,andoptimizeexistingbestpracticesandtheoriesdevelopedinresearchandadoptedintheindustry.SoftwareengineeringstandardizationiscoveredbytheresearchinherenttoISO/IEC/JTC1SoftwareEngineeringSubcommittee(SC7)andISOTechnicalCommittee176(TC176)onqualitymanagementandqualityassurance.MajorsoftwareengineeringstandardsdevelopedinISO/IECJTC1/SC7recentlyareISO/IEC12207(1995)[49]–SoftwareLifeCycleProcesses,andISO/IECTR15504(1999)[51-59]–SoftwareProcessAssessment.Inaddition,ISO/IECCD15288(1999)[50]–SystemLifeCycleProcessesisunderdevelopment.Anumberofinternationalstandardsongenericqualitysystemshavebeendeveloped,suchasISO9126–QualityCharacteristicsandGuidelinesforTheirUse[46],ISO10011–GuidelinesforAuditingQualitySystems[47],andISO10013–GuidelinesforDevelopingQualityManuals[48].AmajorserialstandarddevelopedbyISOTC176isISO9000[34-38].ISO9000hasbeenrecognizedworldwideforestablishingqualitysystems.WithinISO9000,ISO9001[34,39-40]andISO9000-3[42]areapplicabletosoftwarequalitysystemsforcertifyingtheprocesses,productsandserviceswithinasoftwaredevelopmentorganizationaccordingtotheISO9000model.Thischapterreviewsmajorsoftwareengineeringandsoftwarequalitystandards,andphilosophiesbehindthem.Theusabilityofcurrentstandardsinapplicationsisevaluated,HandbookofSoftwareEngineeringandKnowledgeEngineeringChapt.ID.28Prof.Y.Wang,PhD2andopenissuesofthemarediscussedbyusingthebodyofempiricalandtheoreticalstudies[66,83,86,89-94].Perspectivesontrendsandfuturedevelopmentinsoftwareengineeringstandardizationareprovided.2.ABriefHistoryofStandardizationinSoftwareEngineeringTherearetwomainhistoricalthreadsintracingtheemergenceofsoftwareengineeringstandards.Theyaresoftwareengineeringitselfandapplicationsofmanagementscienceinsoftwareengineering.Researchintotheengineeringprocessesandmanagementprinciplesinmanagementsciencesbeganinthe1960s[1,62,63,78,81].Inthe1970sand1980s,managementsciencewaswellestablishedinalmostallbranches.WorthyofparticularnoteareCrosby,JuranandDemingwhodevelopedtheapproachofqualityconformitytorequirementsandspecifications[16,17,63]andproposedanumberofagendasthatmustbecarriedoutinordertodelivertotalquality.Theseconceptshavelargelyinfluencedsoftwareengineeringprocessesandsoftwarequalityassurancetechnology.In1982,theDemingCircle,Plan-Do-Check-Act(PDCA),wasproposed[17]andreceivedmuchattentioninsoftwareprocessmodelingandanalysis.Then,aprojectdesignatedISOTC176in1987todevelopaninternationalstandardforqualitysystems[34-38]wasimplemented.ISO9000seriesofstandardsareapplicabletoawiderangeofengineeringsystems,withISO9001particularlyfocusingonsoftwareengineering[15,34,39,40].Inthesoftwareengineeringsector,studiesonthesoftwareengineeringprocesscanbetracedtoasearlyas1965inWeinwurmandZagorski’swork.However,interestinthesoftwareprocesswasinitiatedinthe1970safterthesocalled“softwarecrisis”[3,14,69].Thesoftwareprocessasarecognizedbranchofsoftwareengineeringwasformedinthe1980sfollowingtheworkofBasili[4],Aron[2],Evans[23],Boehm[7-9],Gilb[26],Humphrey[27-29].Theseworksledtothedevelopmentofthecapabilitymaturitymodel(CMM)[27,70-72]andseveralothermodels,suchastheIEEESoftwareEngineeringStandards[32-33]andBritishStandardBS5750[15]inthelate1980s.Sincethenthesoftwareengineeringprocesshasattractedmuchinterestandrecognitioninsoftwareengineeringresearch,practices,andstandardization.2.1SoftwareEngineeringProcessStandardizationIn1987aSoftwareEngineeringSubcommittee(SC7)wasestablishedbytheISO/IECJointTechnicalCommittee-1(JTC1)inordertorecognizetheimportanceandrequirementsforasetofsoftwareengineeringstandards.Sincethen,adozenworkinggroups(WGs)havebeenfoundedtocoverspecificsoftwareengineeringareassuchas,interalia:•WG7:Lifecyclemanagement•WG8:Supportofsoftwarelifecycleprocesses•WG9:Softwareintegrity•WG10:Softwareprocessassessment•WG11:Softwareengineeringdatadefinitionandrepresentation•WG13:SoftwaremeasurementframeworkHandbookofSoftwareEngineeringandKnowledgeEngineeringChapt.ID.28Prof.Y.Wang,PhD3ThemajoroutputsofISO/IECJTC1/SC7WG8areISO/IEC12207(1995)–SoftwareLifeCycleProces