SoftwareEngineeringDDA

Software engineering, as stated in class by Professor Ackley is something that is done by people. The wikipedia article found herestates that more concretely that software engineering, " is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches". With this concrete definition in mind, anyone with some sort of knowledge concerning the field of Computer Science will be able to see some very interesting advantages and disadvantages that are present in this definition. First off, using this definition of software engineering we can see that it provides a framework and a sort of guideline that someone venturing into software should follow. We can see that it sets up a situation in which the developer of an application is able to have certain things that he or she can quantifiably strive for during the creation of their program. All of which, if implemented correctly will result in a product that is not only stable but also has the potential to be modified, expanded and enhanced later on down the road. The draw back to this definition is that it has the potential to become somewhat overwhelming when looked at closely and the magnitude of this undertaking becomes clear. This may lead the developer to stray away from more elegant programming practices and neglect to follow this definition at all. Therefore, it is important for the individual embarking on the quest that is software engineering to be determined, motivated and focused on the end goal and make sure that the application holds up to the standards outlined in the definition of software engineering.