IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3

CHAPTER 13 1 COMPUTING FOUNDATIONS 2

ACRONYMS 3
AOP: Aspect-Oriented Programming
ALU: Arithmetic and Logic Unit
API: Application Programming Interface
ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode
B/S: Browser-Server
C/S: Client-Server
CS: Computer Science
DBMS: Data Base Management System
FPU: Float Point Unit
I/O: Input and Output
ISA: Instruction Set Architecture
ISO: International Organization for
Standardization
ISP: Internet Service Providers
KA: Knowledge Area
LAN: Local Area Network
MUX: Multiplexer
NIC: Network Interface Card
OOP: Object-Oriented Programming
OS: Operating Systems
PDA: Personal Digital Assistant
PDC: Parallel and Distributed Computing
PL: Programming Languages
PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol
RFID: Radio Frequency Identification
SCSI Small Computer System Interface
SQL: Structured Query Language
VPN: Virtual Private Network
WAN: Wide Area Network
Tutodut`ou 4
TheComputingFoundationsKnowledgeArea(KA)is 5
concerned with the computer science foundations 6
that support the design and construction of 7
software products. Moreover, it also includes 8
knowledgeaboutthetransformationofa(software) 9
design into a (software) implementation, the tools 10
used during this process, and the various software 11
developmentmethods. 12
It is generally accepted that software engineering 13
builds on top of computer science. For example, 14
Software Engineering 2004: Curriculum Guidelines 15
for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Software 16
Engineering clearly states, One particularly 17
importantaspectisthatsoftwareengineeringbuilds 18
on computer science and mathematics (italics 19
added). 20
Whilesomemaynotfeelverycomfortablewiththe 21
claimthatsoftwareengineeringbuildsoncomputer 22
science (Frezza) [2], not many will deny the 23
important role computer science plays in the 24
development of software engineering both as a 25
disciplineandasabodyofknowledge.However,the 26
importance of computer science to software 27
engineering is not sufficiently acknowledged within 28
the software industry; thus, this KA guideline is 29
beingwritten. 30
Although the term "Computing Foundations" is not 31
precisely defined and may have different meanings 32
or connotations to different people, most would 33
agree that the scope encompassed by the term 34
includes at least the development and operational 35
environment in which software evolves and 36
executes. Because no software can exist in a 37
vacuumorrunwithoutacomputer,thecoreofsuch 38
an environment is the computer and its various 39
components. To some extent, knowledge about the 40
computer and its underlying principles of hardware 41
and software serves as a framework on which 42
softwareengineeringisanchored.Thus,allsoftware 43
engineers must have good understanding of the 44
ComputingFoundationsKnowledgeArea. 45
The majority of topics discussed in the Computing 46
FoundationsKAarealsotopicsofdiscussioninbasic 47
courses given in computer science undergraduate 48
and graduate programs. Such courses include 49
programming, data structure, algorithms, computer 50
organization, operating systems, compiler, 51
databases, networking, distributed systems, and so 52
forth. Thus, when breaking down topics, it can be 53
temptingtodecomposetheComputingFoundations 54
KA according to these oftenfound divisions in 55
relevantcourses. 56
However, a pure coursebased division of topics 57
suffersseriousdrawbacks.Forone,notallcoursesin 58
computer science are related or equally important 59
to software engineering. Thus, some topics that 60
would otherwise be covered in a computer science 61
course are not covered in this guideline. For 62
example, computer graphicswhile an important 63
course in a computer science degree programis 64
notincludedinthisguideline. 65
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
Second, some topics discussed in this guideline do 66
notexistasstandalonecoursesinundergraduateor 67
graduate computer science programs. 68
Consequently, such topics may not be adequately 69
covered in a pure coursebased breakdown. For 70
example, abstraction is a topic mentioned/covered 71
in several different computer science courses; it is 72
unclear which course abstraction should belong to 73
inacoursebasedbreakdownoftopics. 74
For the aforementioned reasons, we do not use a 75
coursebased division; instead, we break the 76
ComputingFoundationsKAintoseventeendifferent 77
topics. A topics direct usefulness to software 78
engineers is the criterion we used for selecting 79
topics for inclusion in this KA. (Figure 1 depicts the 80
breakdownoftopicsfortheComputingFoundations 81
KA.)Theadvantageofthistopicbasedbreakdownis 82
its foundation on the belief that Computing 83
Foundationsifitistobegraspedfirmlymustbe 84
considered as a collection of logically connected 85
topics undergirding software engineering in general 86
andsoftwareconstructioninparticular. 87
The Computing Foundations KA is relatedclosely to 88
the Software Design, Software Construction, 89
Software Testing, Software Maintenance, Software 90
Quality,andtheMathematicalFoundationsKAs. 91
bll/lDO"\ Ol TOlTCS lOl COHl|TT\0 92
lO|\D/TTO\S 93
The breakdown of topics for the Computing 94
FoundationsKAisshowninFigure1. 95
1. Problem Solving Techniques 96
[3*c3, s4.1, s4.24*c5] 97
The concepts, notions, and terminology introduced 98
hereformanunderlyingbasisforunderstandingthe 99
roleandscopeofproblemsolvingtechniques. 100
1.1DefinitionofProblemSolving 101
Problem solving refers to the thinkingand activities 102
conducted to answer or derive a solution to a 103
problem. There are many ways to approach a 104
problem, andeach way employs different tools and 105
uses different processes. These different ways of 106
approaching problems gradually expand and define 107
themselves and finally give rise to different 108
disciplines. For example, software engineering 109
focuses on solving problems using computers and 110
software. 111
Whiledifferentproblemswarrantdifferentsolutions 112
andmayrequiredifferenttoolsandprocessestobe 113
used, the methodology and techniques used in 114
solvingproblemsdofollowsomegeneralguidelines 115
and can often be generalized as problem solving 116
techniques. For example, a general guideline for 117
solving a generic engineering problem is to use the 118
threestepprocessgivenbelow. 119
z Formulate the real problem 120
z Analyze the problem 121
z Design a solution search strategy 122
1.2FormulatingtheRealProblem 123
Gerard Voland writes, It is important to recognize 124
thataspecificproblemshouldbeformulatedifone 125
istodevelopaspecificsolution[3*p88].Tosolvea 126
problem, one must first define the problem. In 127
softwarejargon,thisdefinitioniscalledtheproblem 128
statement, which explicitly specifies both what the 129
problemandthedesiredoutcomeare. 130
Although there is no specific way of stating a 131
problem, in general a problem should be expressed 132
in such a way as to facilitate the development of 133
solutions for solving it. Some general techniques to 134
help one formulate the real problem include 135
statementrestatement,determiningthesourceand 136
thecause,revisingthestatement,analyzingpresent 137
anddesiredstate,andusingthefresheyeapproach. 138
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
139
Figure1.BreakdownoftopicsfortheComputing 140
FoundationsKA 141
1.3AnalyzetheProblem 142
Once the problem statement is available, the next 143
step is to analyze the problem statement or 144
situationtohelpstructureoursearchforasolution. 145
Four types of analysis include situation analysis, in 146
which the most urgent or critical aspects of a 147
situation are identified first; problem analysis, in 148
which the cause of the problem must be 149
determined;decisionanalysis,inwhichtheaction(s) 150
needed to correct the problem or eliminate its 151
cause must be determined; and potential problem 152
analysis, in which the action(s) needed to prevent 153
any reoccurrences of the problem or the 154
developmentofnewproblemsmustbedetermined. 155
1.4DesignaSolutionSearchStrategy 156
Once the problem analysis is complete, we can 157
focus on structuring a search strategy to find the 158
solution. Voland writes, In most problem solving 159
situations, one should not seek to generate and 160
evaluate every possible solution to a problem 161
[3*p117]. In order to find the best solution, we 162
need to eliminate paths that do not lead to viable 163
solutions, design tasks in a way that provides the 164
most guidance in searching for a solution, and use 165
variousattributesofthefinalsolutionstatetoguide 166
ourchoicesintheproblemsolvingprocess. 167
1.5ProblemSolvingusingPrograms 168
The uniqueness of computer software gives 169
problemsolvingaflavorthatisdistinctfromgeneral 170
engineering problem solving. For example, the 171
techniques employed in solving a programming 172
problemaresomewhatdifferentfromthoseusedin 173
solving a general engineering problem: to solve a 174
problem using computers, we must answer the 175
followingquestions. 176
z How do we figure out what to tell the computer to 177
do? 178
z How do we convert the problem statement into an 179
algorithm? 180
z How do we convert the algorithm into machine 181
instructions? 182
Thefirsttaskinsolvingaproblemusingacomputer 183
is to determine what to tell the computer to do. 184
There may be many ways to tell the story, but all 185
shouldtaketheperspectiveofacomputersuchthat 186
the problem can eventually be solved by the 187
computer. In general, a problem should be 188
expressed in such a way as to facilitate the 189
development of algorithms and data structures for 190
solvingit. 191
The result of the first task is a problem statement. 192
The next step is to convert the problem statement 193
into algorithms that solve the problem. Once an 194
algorithm is found, the final step converts the 195
algorithm into machine instructions that form the 196
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
finalsolution:softwarethatsolvestheproblem. 197
Abstractly speaking, problem solving using a 198
computer can be considered as a process of 199
problem transformationin other words, the step 200
bysteptransformationofaproblemstatementinto 201
a problem solution. To the discipline of software 202
engineering, the ultimate objective of problem 203
solving is to transform a problem expressed in 204
natural language into electrons running around a 205
circuit.Ingeneral,thistransformationcanbebroken 206
intothreephases: 207
z Systematic derivation of algorithms from the 208
problem statement. 209
z Systematic application of algorithms to the 210
problem. 211
z Transformation of algorithms to program code. 212
The conversion of a problem statement into 213
algorithms and algorithms into program codes 214
usually follows a socalled stepwise refinement 215
(a.k.a. systematic decomposition) in which we start 216
with a problem statement, rewrite it as a task, and 217
recursively decompose the task into a few simpler 218
subtasksuntilthetaskissosimplethatsolutionsto 219
itarestraightforward.Therearethreebasicwaysof 220
decomposing:sequential,conditional,anditerative. 221
2. Abstraction 222
[4*s5.2-5.4] 223
Abstractionisanindispensibletechniqueassociated 224
with problem solving. It refers to both the process 225
and result of generalization by reducing the 226
information of a concept, a problem, or an 227
observable phenomenon so that one can focus on 228
thebigpicture.Oneofthemostimportantskillsin 229
anyengineeringundertakingisframingthelevelsof 230
abstractionappropriately. 231
Through abstraction, according to Voland, we 232
view the problem and its possible solution paths 233
fromahigherlevelofconceptualunderstanding.As 234
a result, we may become better prepared to 235
recognize possible relationships between different 236
aspects of the problem and thereby generate more 237
creative design solutions [3*p232]. This is 238
particularly true in computer science in general 239
(such as hardware vs. software) and in software 240
engineering in particular (software requirement vs. 241
softwareconstruction,andsoforth). 242
2.1 Levels of Abstraction 243
When abstracting, we concentrate on one level of the 244
big picture at a time with confidence that we can then 245
connect effectively with levels above and below. 246
Although we focus on one level, abstraction does not 247
mean knowing nothing about the neighboring levels. 248
Abstraction levels do not necessarily correspond to 249
discrete components in reality or in the problem 250
domain, but to well-defined standard interfaces such as 251
programming APIs. The advantages that standard 252
interfaces provide include portability, easier 253
software/hardware integration and wider usage. 254
Usually, the definition or divisions of abstraction levels 255
are arbitrary to some extent; there are often other ways 256
to draw the lines. 257
2.2Encapsulation 258
Encapsulation is a mechanism used to implement 259
abstraction. When we are dealing with one level of 260
abstraction, the information concerning the levels 261
below and above that level is encapsulated. This 262
information can be the concept, problem, or 263
observable phenomenon; or it may be the 264
permissible operations on these relevant entities. 265
Encapsulation usually comes with some degree of 266
information hiding in which some or all of the 267
underlying details are hidden from the level above 268
the interface provided by the abstraction. To an 269
object, information hiding means we don't need to 270
knowthedetailsofhowtheobjectisrepresentedor 271
how the operations on those objects are 272
implemented. 273
2.3Hierarchy 274
When we use abstraction in our problem 275
formulation and solution, we may use different 276
abstractions at different timesin other words, we 277
work on different levels of abstraction as the 278
situation calls. Most of the time, these different 279
levels of abstraction are organized in a hierarchy. 280
This hierarchical structure resembles the 281
organizationalstructuresinhumansocietyandthus 282
facilitates easier understanding by humans. There 283
are many ways to structure a particular hierarchy 284
and the criteria used in determining the specific 285
content of each layer in the hierarchy varies 286
dependingontheindividualsperformingthework. 287
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
Mostofthetime,ahierarchyofabstractionlevelsis 288
sequential, which means that each layer has one 289
andonlyonepredecessor(lower)layerandoneand 290
only one successor (upper) layerexcept the 291
upmost layer (which has no successor) and the 292
bottommost layer (which has no predecessor). 293
Sometimes, the hierarchy is organized in a treelike 294
structure, which means each layer can have more 295
than one predecessor layer but only one successor 296
layer. Occasionally, a hierarchy can have a manyto 297
many structure, in which each layer can have 298
multiple predecessors and successors. At no time, 299
shalltherebeanyloopinahierarchy. 300
A hierarchy often forms naturally in task 301
decomposition. Often, a task analysis can be 302
decomposed in a hierarchical fashion, starting with 303
the larger tasks and goals of the organization and 304
breaking each of them down into smaller subtasks 305
that can again be further subdivided This 306
continuousdivisionoftasksintosmalleroneswould 307
produceahierarchicalstructureoftaskssubtasks. 308
3. Programming Fundamentals 309
[4*c6-19] 310
Programming (often called coding) is composed of 311
the methodologies or activities for creating 312
computer programs that perform a desired 313
function. It is an indispensible part in software 314
construction. In general, programming can be 315
considered as the process of designing, writing, 316
testing, debugging, and maintaining the source 317
code. This source code is written in some 318
programminglanguage. 319
The process of writing source code often requires 320
expertiseinmanydifferentsubjectareasincluding 321
knowledge of the application domain, appropriate 322
data structures, specialized algorithms, various 323
language constructs, good programming 324
techniques,andsoftwareengineering. 325
3.1TheProgrammingProcess 326
Programming involves design, writing, testing, 327
debugging, and maintenance. Design is the 328
conception or invention of a scheme for turning a 329
customer requirement for computer software into 330
operational software. It is the activity that links 331
application requirement to coding and debugging. 332
Writing is the actual coding of the design in an 333
appropriate programming language. Testing is the 334
activity to verify that the code one writes actually 335
does what it is supposed to do. Debugging is the 336
activity to find and fix bugs (errors) in the source 337
code (or design). Maintenance is the activity to 338
update, correct, and enhance existing programs. 339
Each of these activities is a huge topic and often 340
warrants the explanation of an entire Knowledge 341
AreaintheSWEBOKGuideandmanybooks. 342
3.2ProgrammingParadigms 343
Programming is highly creative and thus somewhat 344
personal. Different people often write different 345
programs for the same requirements. This diversity 346
of programming causes much difficulty in the 347
construction and maintenance of large complex 348
software. Various programming paradigms have 349
been developed over the years to put some 350
standardization into this highly creative and 351
personalactivity.Whenoneprograms,heorshecan 352
use one of many programming paradigms to write 353
the code. The major types of programming 354
paradigmsarediscussedbelow. 355
Unstructured Programming: In unstructured 356
programming, a programmer follows his/her hunch 357
to write the code in whatever way he/she likes as 358
long as the function is operational. Often, the 359
practice is to write code to fulfill a specific utility 360
without regard to anything else. Programs written 361
this way exhibit no particular structurethus the 362
name unstructured programming. Unstructured 363
programming is also sometimes called ad hoc 364
programming. 365
Structured/Procedural Programming: Programs are 366
structured as procedures (or functions) with each 367
procedure performing a specific task. Standard 368
interfaces exist between procedures to facilitate 369
correct and smooth calling operations of the 370
programs. Under structured programming, 371
programmersoftenfollowestablishedprotocolsand 372
rules of thumb when writing code. These protocols 373
and rules can be numerous and cover almost the 374
entire scope of programmingranging from the 375
simplest issue (such as how to name variables, 376
functions, procedures, and so forth) to more 377
complex issues (such as how to structure an 378
interface,howtouseexceptions,andsoforth). 379
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ObjectOriented Programming: While procedural 380
programming organizes programs around 381
procedures, objectoriented programming (OOP) 382
organize a program around socalled objects, which 383
areabstractdatastructuresthatcombinebothdata 384
andmethodsusedtoaccessormanipulatethedata. 385
The primary features of OOP are that objects 386
representing various abstract and concrete entities 387
are created and these objects interact with each 388
othertocollectivelyfulfillthedesiredfunctions. 389
AspectOriented Programming: Aspectoriented 390
programming (AOP) is a programming paradigm 391
that is built on top of OOP. AOP aims to isolate 392
secondary or supporting functions from the main 393
program's business logic by focusing on the so 394
called cross sections (concerns) of the objects. The 395
primary motivation for AOP is to resolve the so 396
calledobjecttanglingandscatteringassociatedwith 397
OOP, in which the interactions among objects 398
become very complex. The essence of AOP is the 399
greatly emphasized separation of concerns, which 400
separatesnoncorefunctionalconcernsorlogicinto 401
variousaspects. 402
3.3DefensiveProgramming 403
Intheconstructionoflargecomplexsoftware,many 404
people work as a team with each person being 405
responsible for part of the software. Because 406
different people have different styles in writing 407
programs,itisimperativethatpeoplewritecodein 408
such a way as to avoid conflicts or problems with 409
codewrittenbyotherpeople.Thisthinkingleadsto 410
the emergence of the socalled defensive 411
programming. 412
Abstractlyspeaking,defensiveprogrammingismore 413
a programming attitude than a style. It takes 414
responsibility for protecting ones own code even 415
when someone else is not doing his/her work 416
properly. The main idea is that if someone does 417
something badsuch as provide a bad inputthe 418
codedoesnotbreak.Inapracticalsense,defensive 419
programming can be seen as a collection of 420
programming techniques that, when used, produce 421
more robust programs. Techniques for defensive 422
programming include assertions, errorhandling, 423
exception, and barricades. Defensive programming 424
oftenproduceshigherqualitycode. 425
4. Programming Language Basics 426
[6*c6] 427
Using computers to solve problems involves 428
programmingwriting and organizing instructions 429
telling the computer what to do at each step. 430
Programs must be written in some programming 431
language with which and through which we 432
describe necessary computations. In other words, 433
we use the facilities provided by a programming 434
languagetodescribeproblems,developalgorithms, 435
and reason about problem solutions. To write any 436
program, one must understand at least one 437
programminglanguage. 438
4.1ProgrammingLanguageOverview 439
A programming language is designed to express 440
computations that can be performed by a computer. In 441
a practical sense, a programming language is a notation 442
for writing programs and thus should be able to express 443
most data structures and algorithms. Some, but not all, 444
people restrict the term "programming language" to 445
those languages that can express all possible 446
algorithms. 447
Not all languages have the same importance and 448
popularity. The most popular ones are often defined by 449
a specification document established by a well-known 450
and respected organization. For example, the C 451
programming language is specified by an ISO standard 452
named . Other languages, such as Perl 453
and Python, do not enjoy such treatment and often have 454
a dominant implementation that is used as a reference. 455
4.2 Syntax and Semantics of Programming Languages 456
Just like natural languages, many programming 457
languages have some form of written specification of 458
their syntax (form) and semantics (meaning). Such 459
specifications include, for example, specific 460
requirements for the definition of variables and 461
constants (in other words, declaration and types) and 462
format requirements for the instructions themselves. 463
In general, a programming language supports such 464
constructs as variables, data types, constants, literals, 465
assignment statements, control statements, procedures, 466
functions, and comments. The syntax and semantics of 467
each construct must be clearly specified. 468
4.3LowLevelProgrammingLanguages 469
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
Programming language can be classified into two 470
classes: lowlevel languages and highlevel 471
languages. Lowlevel languages can be understood 472
by a computer with no or minimal assistance and 473
typically include machine languages and assembly 474
languages.Amachinelanguageusesonesandzeros 475
to represent instructions and variables, and is 476
directlyunderstandablebyacomputer.Anassembly 477
language contains the same instructions as a 478
machinelanguagebuttheinstructionsandvariables 479
have symbolic names that are easier for humans to 480
remember. 481
Assembly languages cannot be directly understood 482
by a computer and must be translated into a 483
machine language by a utility program called an 484
assembler. There often exists a correspondence 485
between the instructions of an assembly language 486
and a machine language, and the translation from 487
assembly code to machine code is straightforward. 488
For example, add r1, r2, r3 is an assembly 489
instructionforaddingthecontentofregisterr2and 490
r3 and storing the sum into register r1. This 491
instruction can be easily translated into machine 492
code 0001001010000011 (assume the operation 493
codeforadditionis0001.) 494
One common trait shared by these two types of 495
languageistheircloseassociationwiththespecifics 496
ofatypeofcomputerorinstructionsetarchitecture 497
(ISA). 498
4.4HighLevelProgrammingLanguages 499
A high-level programming language has a strong 500
abstraction from the details of the computers ISA. In 501
comparison to low-level programming languages, it 502
often uses natural-language elements and is thus much 503
easier for humans to understand. Such languages allow 504
symbolic naming of variables, provide expressiveness, 505
and enable abstraction of the underlying hardware. For 506
example, while each microprocessor has its own ISA, 507
code written in a high-level programming language is 508
usually portable between many different hardware 509
platforms. For this reason, most programmers use 510
and most software are written in high-level 511
programming languages. Examples of high-level 512
programming languages include C, C++, C#, and 513
Java, 514
4.5 Declarative vs. Imperative Programming 515
Languages 516
Most programming languages (high-level or low-level) 517
allow programmers to specify the individual 518
instructions that a computer is to execute. Such 519
programming languages are called imperative 520
programming languages because one has to specify 521
every step clearly to the computer. But some 522
programming languages allow programmers to only 523
describe the function to be performed without 524
specifying the exact instruction sequences to be 525
executed. Such programming languages are called 526
declarative programming languages. Declarative 527
languages are high-level languages. The actual 528
implementation of the computation written in such a 529
language is hidden from the programmers and thus is 530
not a concern for them. 531
The key point to note is that declarative programming 532
only describes what the program should accomplish 533
without describing how to accomplish it. For this 534
reason, many people believe declarative programming 535
facilitates easier software development. Declarative 536
programming languages include Lisp and Prolog, while 537
imperative programming languages include C, C++, 538
and JAVA. 539
5. Debugging Tools and Techniques 540
[4*c23] 541
Once a program is coded, the next step is 542
debugging,whichisamethodicalprocessoffinding 543
and reducing the number of bugs or errors in a 544
program. The purpose of debugging is to find out 545
whyaprogramdoesntwork.Exceptforverysimple 546
programs,debuggingisalwaysnecessary. 547
5.1TypesofErrors 548
Usually, a program does not work because it 549
contains bugs or errors that can be either syntactic 550
errors,logicalerrors,ordataerrors. 551
Syntax errors are typing errors that result in illegal 552
operations. This type of error only applies to high 553
level programming languages and not to machine 554
languages. In a machine language, any bit pattern 555
corresponds to some legal instruction. In highlevel 556
programming languages, syntax errors are often 557
caught during the compilation or translation from 558
the highlevel language into machine code. For 559
example, in the C/C++ programming language, the 560
statement 123=constant; contains a syntax error 561
that will be caught by the compiler during 562
compilation. 563
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Logic errors are semantic errors that result in 564
incorrect computations or program behaviors. Your 565
program is legal, but wrong! So the results do not 566
matchtheproblemstatementoruserexpectations. 567
For example, in the C/C++ programming language, 568
the inline function int f(int x) {return f(x1);} for 569
computingfactorialx!islegalbutlogicallyincorrect. 570
This type of error cannot be caught by a compiler 571
during compilation and is often discovered through 572
tracingtheexecutionoftheprogram. 573
Data errors are input errors that result either in 574
input data that is different from what the program 575
expects or in the processing of wrong data. This 576
type of error can be discovered by testing the 577
programwithawidevarietyofinputs. 578
5.2DebuggingTechniques 579
Debugging involves many activities and can be static, 580
dynamic, or post-mortem. Static debugging usually 581
takes the form of code review, while dynamic 582
debugging usually takes the form of tracing and is 583
closely associated with testing. Post-mortem debugging 584
is the act of debugging the core dump (memory dump) 585
of a process. Core dumps are often generated after a 586
process has terminated due to an unhandled exception. 587
All three techniques are used at various stages of 588
program development, but (to most programmers) 589
dynamic debugging is the norm. 590
The main activity of dynamic debugging is tracing, 591
which is executing the program one piece at a time, 592
examining the contents of registers and memory, in 593
order to examine the results at each step. There are 594
three ways to trace a program. 595
z Single-stepping: execute one instruction at a time 596
to make sure each instruction is executed 597
correctly. This method is tedious but useful in 598
verifying each step of a program. 599
z Breakpoints: tell the program to stop executing 600
when it reaches a specific instruction. This 601
technique lets one quickly execute selected code 602
sequences to get a high-level overview of the 603
execution behavior. 604
z Watch points: tell the program to stop when a 605
register or memory location changes or when it 606
equals to a specific value. This technique is useful 607
when one doesnt know where or when a value is 608
changed and when this value change likely causes 609
the error. 610
5.3DebuggingTools 611
Debugging can be complex, difficult, and tedious. Like 612
programming, debugging is also highly creative 613
(sometimes more creative than programming). Thus 614
some help from tools is in order. For dynamic 615
debugging, debuggers are widely used and enable the 616
programmer to monitor the execution of a program, 617
stop the execution, re-start the execution, set 618
breakpoints, change values in memory, and even, in 619
some cases, go back in time. 620
For static debugging, there are many so-called static 621
code analysis tools, which look for a specific set of 622
known problems within the source code. Both 623
commercial and free tools exist in various languages. 624
These tools can be extremely useful when checking 625
very large source trees, where it is impractical to do 626
code walkthroughs. The UNIX lint program is an early 627
example. 628
6. Data Structure and Representation 629
[7*s2.1-2.6] 630
Programsworkondata.Butdatamustbeexpressed 631
and organized within computers before being 632
processed by programs. This organization and 633
expression of data for programs use is the subject 634
of data structure and representation. Simply put, a 635
data structure tries to store and organize data in a 636
computer in such a way that the data can be used 637
efficiently. There are many types of data structures 638
andeachtypeofstructureissuitableforsomekinds 639
of applications. For example, B/B+ trees are well 640
suited for implementing massive file systems and 641
databases. 642
6.1DataStructureOverview 643
Data structures are computer representations of data. 644
Data structures are used in almost every program. In a 645
sense, no meaningful program can be constructed 646
without the use of some sort of data structure. Some 647
design methods and programming languages even 648
organize an entire software system around data 649
structures. Fundamentally, data structures are 650
abstractions defined on a collection of data and its 651
associated operations. 652
Often, data structures are designed for improving 653
program or algorithm efficiency. Examples of such 654
data structures include stacks, queues, and heaps. At 655
other times, data structures are used for conceptual 656
unity (abstract data type), such as the name and address 657
of a person. Often, a data structure can determine 658
whether a program runs in a few seconds or in a few 659
hours or even a few days. 660
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
From the perspective of physical and logical ordering, 661
a data structure is either linear or non-linear. Other 662
perspectives give rise to different classifications that 663
include homogeneous vs. heterogeneous, static vs. 664
dynamic, persistent vs. transit, external vs. internal, 665
primitive vs. aggregate, recursive vs. non-recursive; 666
passive vs. active; and stateful vs. stateless structures. 667
6.2 Types of Data Structure 668
As mentioned above, different perspectives can be used 669
to classify data structures. However, the predominate 670
perspective used in classification centers on physical 671
and logical ordering between data items. This 672
classification divides data structures into linear and 673
non-linear structures. Linear structures organize data 674
items in a single dimension in which each data entry 675
has one (physical or logical) predecessor and one 676
successor with the exception of the first and last entry. 677
The first entry has no predecessor and the last entry has 678
no successor. Non-linear structures organize data items 679
in two or more dimensions, in which case one entry can 680
have multiple predecessors and successors. Examples 681
of linear structures include lists, stacks, and queues. 682
Examples of non-linear structures include heaps, hash 683
tables, and trees (such as binary trees, balance trees, B- 684
trees, and so forth). 685
Another type of data structure that is often encountered 686
in programming is the so-called compound structure. A 687
compound data structure builds on top of other (more 688
primitive) data structures and, in some way, can be 689
viewed as the same structure as the underlying 690
structure. Examples of compound structures include 691
sets, graphs, and partitions. For example, a partition 692
can be viewed as a set of sets. 693
6.3OperationsonDataStructures 694
All data structures support some operations that 695
produce a specific structure and ordering, or 696
retrieve from the structure relevant data, or store 697
data into the structure. Basic operations supported 698
byalldatastructuresinclude: 699
z Build an initial structure (or initialize the 700
structure). 701
z Insert a data entry into the structure. 702
z Retrieve a data entry from the structure. 703
z Remove a data entry from the structure. 704
Some data structure also support additional 705
operations: 706
z Find a particular element in the structure. 707
z Sort all elements according to some ordering. 708
z Traverse all elements in some specific order. 709
z Reorganize or rebalance the structure. 710
Different structures support different operations 711
with different efficiencies. The difference between 712
operationefficiencycanbesignificant.Forexample, 713
it is easy to retrieve the last item inserted into a 714
stack,butfindingaparticularelementwithinastack 715
isratherslowandtedious. 716
7. Algorithms and Complexity 717
[7* s1.1-1.3, s3.3-3.6, s4.1-4.8, s5.1-5.7, s6.1-6.3, 718
s7.1-7.6, s11.1, s12.1] 719
Programs are not random pieces of code: they are 720
meticulously written to perform userexpected 721
actions. The guide one uses to compose programs 722
are algorithms, which organize various functions 723
intoaseriesofstepsandtakeintoconsiderationthe 724
application domain, the solution strategy, and the 725
data structures being used. An algorithm can be 726
verysimpleorverycomplex. 727
7.1OverviewofAlgorithms 728
Abstractly speaking, algorithms guide the 729
operations of computers and consist of an abstract 730
sequence of actions composed to solve a problem. 731
Alternative definitions include but are not limited 732
to: 733
z An algorithm is any well-defined computational 734
procedure that takes some value or set of values 735
as input and produces some value or set of values 736
as output. 737
z An algorithm is a sequence of computational steps 738
that transform the input into the output. 739
z An algorithm is a tool for solving a well-specified 740
computation problem. 741
Of course, different definitions are favored by 742
different people. Though there is no universally 743
accepted definition, some agreement exists that an 744
algorithm needs to be correct, finite (in other 745
words,terminateeventually),andunambiguous. 746
7.2AttributesofAlgorithms 747
The attributes of algorithms are many and often 748
include modularity, correctness, maintainability, 749
functionality, robustness, userfriendliness, 750
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
programmer time, simplicity, and extensibility. But 751
the most important attribute is the socalled 752
performance or efficiency, by which we mean 753
both time and resourceusage efficiency while 754
emphasizing the time axis. To some degree, 755
efficiency determines if an algorithm is feasible or 756
impractical. For example, an algorithm that takes 757
one hundred years to terminate is virtually useless 758
andisevenconsideredincorrect. 759
7.3AlgorithmicAnalysis 760
Analysis of algorithms is the theoretical study of 761
computerprogram performance and resource 762
usage; it determines the goodness of an algorithm. 763
Such analysis usually abstracts away the particular 764
detailsofaspecificcomputerandfocusesontheso 765
calledasymptotic,machineindependentanalysis. 766
There are three basic types of analysis. In worst 767
caseanalysis,onedeterminesthemaximumtimeor 768
resourcesrequiredbythealgorithmonanyinputof 769
sizen.Inaveragecaseanalysis,onedeterminesthe 770
expected time or resources required by the 771
algorithm over all inputs of size n; in performing 772
averagecase analysis, one often needs to make 773
assumptionsonthestatisticaldistributionofinputs. 774
The third type of analysis is the socalled bestcase 775
analysis, in which one determines the minimum 776
time or resources required by the algorithm on any 777
input of size n. Among the three types of analysis, 778
averagecaseanalysisisthemostusefulbutalsothe 779
mostdifficulttoperform. 780
Besides the basic analysis methods, there are also 781
theamortizedanalysis,inwhichonedeterminesthe 782
maximum time required by an algorithm over a 783
sequence of operations; and the competitive 784
analysis, in which one determines the relative 785
performance merit of an algorithm against the 786
optimalalgorithm(whichmaynotbeknown)inthe 787
samecategory(forthesameoperations). 788
7.4AlgorithmicDesignStrategies 789
The design of algorithms generally follows one of 790
the following strategies: brute force, divide and 791
conquer, dynamic programming, and greedy 792
selection. The brute force strategy is actually a no 793
strategy. It exhaustively tries every possible way to 794
tackle a problem. If a problem has a solution, this 795
strategy is guaranteed to find it; however, the time 796
expense may be too high. The divide and conquer 797
strategy improves on the brute force strategy by 798
dividing a big problem into smaller, homogeneous 799
problems. It solves the big problem by recursively 800
solving the smaller problems and combing the 801
solutions to the smaller problems to form the 802
solution to the big problem. The underlying 803
assumption for divide and conquer is that smaller 804
problemsareeasiertosolve. 805
The dynamic programming strategy improves on 806
the divide and conquer strategy by recognizing that 807
someofthesubproblemsproducedbydivisionmay 808
be the same and thus avoids solving the same 809
problems again and again. This elimination of 810
redundant subproblems can dramatically improve 811
efficiency. 812
The greedy selection strategy further improves on 813
dynamicprogrammingbyrecognizingthatnotallof 814
the subproblems contribute to the solution of the 815
big problem. By eliminating all but one sub 816
problem,thegreedyselectionstrategyachievesthe 817
highest efficiency among all algorithm design 818
strategies.Sometimestheuseofrandomizationcan 819
improve on the greedy selection strategy by 820
eliminating the complexity in determining the 821
greedy choice through coin flipping or 822
randomization. 823
7.5AlgorithmicAnalysisStrategies 824
The analysis strategies of algorithms include basic 825
counting analysis, in which one actually counts the 826
number of steps an algorithm takes to complete its 827
task; asymptotic analysis, in which one only 828
considers the order of magnitude of the number of 829
steps an algorithm takes to complete its task; 830
probabilistic analysis, in which one makes use of 831
probabilities in analyzing the average performance 832
of an algorithm; amortized analysis, in which one 833
uses the methods of aggregation, potential, and 834
accounting to analyze the worst performance of an 835
algorithm on a sequence of operations; and 836
competitive analysis, in which one uses methods 837
such as potential and accounting to analyze the 838
relativeperformanceofanalgorithmtotheoptimal 839
algorithm. 840
For complex problems and algorithms, one may 841
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
need to use a combination of the aforementioned 842
analysisstrategies. 843
8. Basic Concept of a System 844
[8*c2] 845
Ian Summerville writes that a system is a 846
purposeful collection of interrelated components 847
that work together to achieve some objective 848
[8*p21]. A system can be very simple and include 849
only a few components, like an ink pen, or rather 850
complex, like an aircraft. Depending on whether 851
humans are part of the system, systems can be 852
divided into technical computerbased systems and 853
sociotechnical systems, with the former excluding 854
the human factor and the latter including the 855
human factor. Examples of technical, computer 856
based systems include televisions, mobile phones, 857
andmostpersonalcomputersoftware.Examplesof 858
sociotechnical systems include manned space 859
vehicles, chips embedded inside a human, and so 860
forth. 861
8.1EmergentSystemProperties 862
A system is more than simply the sum of its parts. 863
Thus, the properties of a system are not simply the 864
sum of the properties of its components. Instead, a 865
systemoftenexhibitspropertiesthatareproperties 866
of the system as a whole. These properties are 867
called emergent properties because they emerge 868
only once the system components have been 869
integrated [8*p23]. Emergent system properties 870
can be either functional or nonfunctional. 871
Functional properties describe the functions that 872
can be achieved by the system. For example, an 873
aircrafts functional properties include flotation on 874
air, carrying people or cargo, and use as a weapon 875
of mass destruction. Nonfunctional properties 876
relate to the behavior of the system in its 877
operational environment and can include such 878
things as weight, volume, reliability, security, 879
usability,etc.[8*p23]. 880
8.2SystemEngineering 881
System engineering is the activity of specifying, 882
designing, implementing, validating, deploying, and 883
maintaining systems. The phases of system 884
engineering vary depending on the system being 885
builtbut,ingeneral,includerequirementdefinition, 886
system design, subsystem development, system 887
integration, system installation, system evolution, 888
andsystemdecommissioning. 889
Many practical guidelines have been produced in 890
thepasttoaidpeopleinperformingtheactivitiesof 891
each phase. For example, system design can be 892
brokenintosmallertasksofrequirementdefinition, 893
identification of subsystems, assignment of 894
requirements to subsystems, specification of sub 895
system functionality, definition of subsystem 896
interfaces,andsoforth. 897
8.3OverviewofaComputerSystem 898
Among all the systems, one that is obviously 899
relevant to the software engineering community is 900
thecomputersystem.Acomputerisamachinethat 901
executes programs or software. It consists of a 902
purposeful collection of mechanical, electrical, and 903
electronic components with each component 904
performing a preset function. Jointly, these 905
components are able to perform the computations 906
thataregivenbyaprogram. 907
Abstractly speaking, a computer receives some 908
input, stores and manipulates some data, and 909
provides some output. The most distinct feature of 910
a computer is its ability to store and execute 911
sequences of instructions called programs. An 912
interesting phenomenon concerning the computer 913
is the universal equivalence in functionality. 914
According to Turing, all computers with a certain 915
minimumcapabilityareequivalentintheirabilityto 916
perform computation tasks. In other words, given 917
enough time and memory, all computersranging 918
fromanetbooktoasupercomputerarecapableof 919
computing exactly the same things, irrespective of 920
speed,size,cost,oranythingelse. 921
Most computer systems have a structure that is 922
known as the von Neumann model, which 923
consists of five components: a memory for storing 924
instructions and data, a processing unit for 925
performing arithmetic and logical operations, a 926
control unit for sequencing and interpreting 927
instructions, input for getting external information 928
into the memory, and output for producing results 929
for the user. The basic components of a computer 930
system based on the von Neumann model is 931
depictedinFigure2. 932
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
933
Figure2.Basiccomponentsofacomputersystem 934
basedonthevonNeumannmodel 935
9. Computer Organization 936
[9*c1-c4] 937
From the perspective of a computer, a wide 938
semantic gap exists between its intended behavior 939
and the workings of the underlying electronic 940
devices that actually do the work within the 941
computer. This gap is bridged through computer 942
organization, which meshes various electrical, 943
electronic, and mechanical devices into one device 944
that forms a computer. The objects that computer 945
organization deals with are the devices, 946
connections, and controls. The abstraction built in 947
computerorganizationisthecomputer. 948
9.1ComputerOrganizationOverview 949
A computer generally consists of a CPU, memory, 950
input devices, and output devices. Abstractly 951
speaking, the organization of a computer can be 952
divided into four levels (Figure 3). The macro 953
architecture level is the formal specification of all 954
thefunctionsaparticularmachinecancarryoutand 955
is known as the instruction set architecture (ISA). 956
The micro architecture level is the implementation 957
of the ISA in a specific CPUin other words, the 958
way in which the ISAs specifications are actually 959
carriedout.Thelogiccircuitslevelisthelevelwhere 960
each functional component of the micro 961
architecture is built up of circuits that make 962
decisionsbasedonsimplerules.Thedeviceslevelis 963
the level where, finally, each logic circuit is actually 964
built of electronic devices such as complementary 965
metaloxide semiconductors (CMOS), nchannel 966
metal oxide semiconductors (NMOS), or gallium 967
arsenide(GaAs)transistors,andsoforth. 968
Macro Architecture Level (ISA)
Micro Architecture Level
Logic Circuits Level
Devices Level
Figure3.Machinearchitecturelevels 969
Eachlevelprovidesanabstractiontothelevelabove 970
and is dependent on the level below. To a 971
programmer, the most important abstraction is the 972
ISA, which specifies such things as the native data 973
types,instructions,registers,addressingmodes,the 974
memory architecture, interrupt and exception 975
handling, and the external I/Os. Overall, the ISA 976
specifies theability of a computer andwhat can be 977
doneonthecomputerwithprogramming. 978
9.2 Digital Systems 979
Atthelowestlevel,computationsarecarriedoutby 980
the electrical and electronic devices within a 981
computer. These electrical/electronic devices 982
operateinoneoftwomodes:onandoff.Whenwe 983
encode the on and off state with digital one and 984
zero, respectively, a computer becomes a digital 985
system. Everythingincluding instruction and 986
datais expressed or encoded using digital zeros 987
and ones. For example, decimal value 6 can be 988
encoded as 110, the addition instruction may be 989
encodedas0001,andsoforth. 990
9.3 Digital Logic 991
Obviously,logicsareneededtomanipulatedataand 992
to control the operation of computers. This logic, 993
which is behind a computers proper function, is 994
called digital logic because it deals with the 995
operations of digital zeros and ones. Digital logic 996
specifies the rules both for building various digital 997
devices from the simplest elements (such as 998
transistors) and for governing the operation of 999
digital devices. For example, digital logic spells out 1000
what the value will be if a zero and one is ANDed, 1001
ORed, or exclusively ORedtogether. It also specifies 1002
how to build decoders, multiplexers (MUX), 1003
memory, and adders that are used to assemble the 1004
computer. 1005
9.4ComputerExpressionofData 1006
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
As mentioned before, a computer expresses data 1007
with electrical signals or digital zero and one. Since 1008
there are only two different digits used in data 1009
expression, such a system is called a binary 1010
expression system. Due to the inherent nature of a 1011
binary system, the maximum numerical value 1012
expressible by an nbits binary code is 2
n
1. 1013
Specifically, binary number a
n
a
n1
a
1
a
0
corresponds 1014
toa
n
2
n
+a
n1
2
n1
++a
1
2
1
+a
0
2
0
.Thus,thenumerical 1015
value of the binary expression of 1011 is 1016
18+0x4+1x2+11=11. To express a nonnumerical 1017
value, we need to decide the number of zeros and 1018
onestouseandtheorderinwhichthosezerosand 1019
onesarearranged. 1020
Of course, there are different ways to do the 1021
encoding, and this gives rise to different data 1022
expressionschemesandsubschemes.Forexample, 1023
integers can be expressed in the form of unsigned, 1024
ones complement, or twos complement. For 1025
characters, there are ASCII, Unicode, and IBMs 1026
EBCDICstandards.Forfloatingpointnumbers,there 1027
areIEEE754FP1,2,and3standards. 1028
9.5TheCentralProcessingUnit(CPU) 1029
The central processing unit is the place where 1030
instructions (or programs) are actually executed. 1031
The execution usually takes several steps, including 1032
fetching the program instruction, decoding the 1033
instruction, fetching operands, performing 1034
arithmetic and logical operations on the operands, 1035
and storing the result. The main components of a 1036
CPUconsistofregisterswhereinstructionsanddata 1037
are often read from and written to, the arithmetic 1038
and logic unit (ALU) that performs the actual 1039
arithmetic (such as addition, subtraction, 1040
multiplication,anddivision)andlogic(suchasAND, 1041
OR, shift, and so forth) operations, the control unit 1042
that is responsible for producing proper signals to 1043
control the operations, and various (data, address, 1044
and control) buses that link the components 1045
together and transport data to and from these 1046
components. 1047
9.6MemorySystemOrganization 1048
Memory is the storage unit of a computer. It 1049
concerns the assembling of a largescale memory 1050
system from smaller and singledigit storage units. 1051
The main topics covered by memory system 1052
architectureincludethefollowing: 1053
z Memory cells and chips 1054
z Memory boards and modules 1055
z Memory hierarchy and cache 1056
z Memory as a sub-system of the computer 1057
Memory cells and chips deal with singledigital 1058
storageandtheassemblingofsingledigitunitsinto 1059
onedimensional memory arrays as well as the 1060
assembling of onedimensional storage arrays into 1061
multidimensional storage memory chips. Memory 1062
boards and modules concern the assembling of 1063
memorychipsintomemorysystems,withthefocus 1064
being on the organization, operation, and 1065
management of the individual chips in the system. 1066
Memory hierarchy and cache are used to support 1067
efficient memory operations. Memory as a sub 1068
system deals with the interface between the 1069
memorysystemandotherpartsofthecomputer. 1070
9.7 Input and Output (I/O) 1071
A computer is useless without I/O. Common input 1072
devices include the keyboard and mouse; common 1073
output devices include the disk, the screen, the 1074
printer, and speakers. Different I/O devices operate 1075
at different data rates and reliabilities. How 1076
computers connect and manage various input and 1077
output devices to facilitate the interaction between 1078
computers and humans (or other computers) is the 1079
focusoftopicsinI/O.Themainissuesthatmustbe 1080
resolved in input and output are the ways I/O can 1081
andshouldbeperformed. 1082
In general, I/O is performed at both hardware and 1083
software levels. Hardware I/O can be performed in 1084
anyofthreeways.DedicatedI/OdedicatestheCPU 1085
to the actual input and output operations during 1086
I/O; memorymapped I/O treats I/O operations as 1087
memory operations; and hybrid I/O combines 1088
dedicatedI/OandmemorymappedI/Ointoasingle 1089
holisticI/Ooperationmode. 1090
Coincidentally, software I/O can also be performed 1091
inoneofthreeways.ProgrammedI/OletstheCPU 1092
wait while the I/O device is doing I/O; interrupt 1093
driven I/O lets the CPUs handling of I/O be driven 1094
bytheI/Odevice;anddirectmemoryaccess(DMA) 1095
lets I/O be handled by a secondary CPU embedded 1096
in a socalled DMA device (or channel). (Except 1097
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
during the initial setup, the main CPU is not 1098
disturbedduringaDMAI/Ooperation.) 1099
Regardless of the types of I/O scheme being used, 1100
the main issues involved in I/O include I/O 1101
addressing (which deals with the issue of how to 1102
identify the I/O device for a specific I/O operation), 1103
synchronization (which deals with the issue of how 1104
to make the CPU and I/O device work in harmony 1105
during I/O), and error detection and correction 1106
(which deals with the occurrence of transmission 1107
errors). 1108
10. Compiler Basics 1109
[6*s6.4 9*s8.4] 1110
10.1CompilerOverview 1111
To be understood by a computer, programs written 1112
in highlevel programming languages must be 1113
translatedintothespecificmachinelanguageofthe 1114
computer under consideration. This translation is 1115
usually performed by a piece of software called a 1116
compiler. This process of translation from a high 1117
level language to a machine language is called 1118
compilation(or,sometimes,interpretation). 1119
The primary tasks of a compiler may include 1120
preprocessing, lexical analysis, parsing, semantic 1121
analysis, code generation, and code optimization. 1122
Program faults caused by incorrect compiler 1123
behaviorcanbeverydifficulttotrackdown.Forthis 1124
reason, compiler implementers invest a lot of time 1125
ensuringthecorrectnessoftheirsoftware. 1126
10.2 Interpretation and Compilation 1127
There are two ways to translate a program written 1128
in a higherlevel language into machine code: 1129
interpretation and compilation. Interpretation 1130
translates the source code one piece at a time into 1131
machinelanguage,executesitonthespot,andthen 1132
goes back for another piece. Both the highlevel 1133
language source code and the interpreter are 1134
requiredeverytimetheprogramisrun. 1135
Compilation translates the highlevellanguage 1136
source code into an entire machinelanguage 1137
program (an executable image) by a programcalled 1138
a compiler. After compilation, only the executable 1139
image is needed to run the program. Most 1140
applicationsoftwareissoldinthisform. 1141
10.3 The Compilation Process 1142
Compilation is a complex task. Most compilers 1143
divide the compilation process into many phases. A 1144
typicalbreakdownisasfollows: 1145
z Lexical Analysis 1146
z Syntax Analysis or Parsing 1147
z Semantic Analysis 1148
z Code Generation 1149
Lexicalanalysispartitionstheinputtext(thesource 1150
code), which is a sequence of characters, into 1151
separate comments, which are to be ignored in 1152
subsequent actions, and basic symbols, which have 1153
lexical meanings. These basic symbols must 1154
correspond to some terminal symbols of the 1155
grammaroftheparticularprogramminglanguage. 1156
Syntaxanalysisisbasedontheresultsofthelexical 1157
analysis and discovers the structure in the program 1158
and determines whether or not a text conforms to 1159
an expected format. "Is this a textually correct C++ 1160
program?" or "Is this entry textually correct?" are 1161
typical questions that can be answered by syntax 1162
analysis. Syntax analysis determines if the source 1163
code of a program is correct and converts it into a 1164
more structured representation (parse tree) for 1165
semanticanalysisortransformation. 1166
Semanticanalysisaddssemanticinformationtothe 1167
parsetreebuiltduringthesyntaxanalysisandbuilds 1168
the symbol table. It performs various semantic 1169
checks that include type checking, object binding 1170
(associating variable and function references with 1171
theirdefinitions),anddefiniteassignment(requiring 1172
all local variables to be initialized before use). If 1173
mistakes are found, the incorrect programs are 1174
rejected. 1175
Once semantic analysis is complete, the phase of 1176
code generation begins and transforms the 1177
intermediate code produced in the previous phases 1178
into the native machine language of the computer 1179
under consideration. This involves resource and 1180
storagedecisionssuchasdecidingwhichvariables 1181
to fit into registers and memory and the selection 1182
andschedulingofappropriatemachineinstructions, 1183
alongwiththeirassociatedaddressingmodes. 1184
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
It is often possible to combine multiple phases into 1185
one pass over the code in a compiler 1186
implementation. Some compilers also have a 1187
preprocessing phase at the beginning or after the 1188
lexical analysis that does necessary housekeeping 1189
work, such as processing the program instructions 1190
for the compiler (directives). Some compilers 1191
provide an optional optimization phase at the end 1192
oftheentirecompilationtooptimizethecode(such 1193
as the rearrangement of instruction sequence) for 1194
efficiency and other desirable objectives requested 1195
bytheusers. 1196
11. Operating Systems Basics 1197
[6*c3] 1198
Every system of meaningful complexity needs to be 1199
managed. A computer, as a rather complex 1200
electricalmechanical system, needs its own 1201
manager for managing the resources and activities 1202
occurringonit.Thatmanageriscalledanoperating 1203
system(OS). 1204
11.1 Operating Systems Overview 1205
Operating systems manage and beautify computers 1206
such that they can be correctly and easily used by 1207
humans. Conceptually, an operating system is a 1208
computer program that manages the hardware 1209
resourcesandmakesiteasiertousebyapplications 1210
by presenting nice abstractions. This nice 1211
abstraction is often called the virtual machine and 1212
includes such things as processes, virtual memory, 1213
and file systems. An OS hides the complexity of the 1214
underlying hardware and is found on almost any 1215
moderncomputer. 1216
The principal roles played by OSs are management 1217
and illusion. Management refers to the OSs 1218
management (allocation and recovery) of physical 1219
resources among multiple competing 1220
users/applications/tasks. Illusion refers to the nice 1221
abstractionstheOSprovides. 1222
11.2TasksofanOperatingSystem 1223
The tasks of an operating system differ significantly 1224
depending on the machine and time of its invention. 1225
However, modern operating systems have come to 1226
agreement as to the tasks that must be performed by an 1227
OS. These tasks include CPU management, memory 1228
management, disk management (file system), I/O 1229
device management, and security and protection. Each 1230
OS task manages one type of physical resource. 1231
Specifically, CPU management deals with the 1232
allocation and releases of the CPU among competing 1233
programs (called processes/threads in OS jargon), 1234
including the operating system itself. The main 1235
abstraction provided by CPU management is the 1236
process/thread model. Memory management deals with 1237
the allocation and release of memory space among 1238
competing processes, and the main abstraction 1239
provided by memory management is virtual memory. 1240
Disk management deals with the sharing of magnetic 1241
disks among multiple programs/users and its main 1242
abstraction is file system. I/O device management deals 1243
with the allocation and releases of various I/O devices 1244
among competing processes. Security and protection 1245
deal with the protection of computer resources from 1246
illegal use. 1247
11.3OperatingSystemAbstractions 1248
The arsenal of OSs is abstraction. Corresponding to the 1249
five physical tasks, OSs use five abstractions: 1250
process/thread, virtual memory, file systems, 1251
input/output, and protection domains. The overall OS 1252
abstraction is the virtual machine. 1253
For each task area of OS, there is both a physical 1254
reality and a conceptual abstraction. The physical 1255
reality refers to the hardware resource under 1256
management; the conceptual abstraction refers to 1257
theinterfacetheOSpresentstotheusers/programs 1258
above.Forexample,inthethreadmodeloftheOS, 1259
thephysicalrealityistheCPUandtheabstractionis 1260
multiple CPUs. Thus, a user doesnt have to worry 1261
aboutsharingtheCPUwithotherswhenworkingon 1262
the abstraction provided by an OS. In the virtual 1263
memoryabstractionofanOS,thephysicalrealityis 1264
the physical RAM or ROM (whatever), the 1265
abstraction is multiple unlimited memory space. 1266
Thus, a user doesnt have to worry about sharing 1267
physical memory with others or about limited 1268
physicalmemorysize. 1269
11.4OperatingSystemsClassification 1270
Different operating systems can have different 1271
functionality implementation. In the early days of 1272
thecomputerera,operatingsystemswererelatively 1273
simple. As time goes on, the complexity and 1274
sophistication of operating systems increases 1275
significantly.Fromahistoricalperspective,operating 1276
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
systemcanbeclassifiedasoneofthefollowing. 1277
z Batching OS: organizes and processes work in 1278
batches. Examples of such OSs include IBMs 1279
FMS, IBSYS, and University of Michigans 1280
UMES. 1281
z Multi-programmed batching OS: adds multi-task 1282
capability into earlier simple batching OSs. An 1283
example of such an OS is IBMs OS/360. 1284
z Time-sharing OS: adds multi-task and interactive 1285
capabilities into the OS. Examples of such OSs 1286
include UNIX, Linux, and NT. 1287
z Real-time OS: adds timing predictability into the 1288
OS by scheduling individual tasks according to 1289
each tasks completion deadlines. Examples of 1290
such OS include VxWorks (WindRiver) and 1291
DART (EMC). 1292
z Distributed OS: adds the capability of managing a 1293
network of computers into the OS. 1294
z Embedded OS: has limited functionality and is 1295
used for embedded systems such as cars and 1296
PDAs. Examples of such OSs include Palm OS, 1297
Windows CE, and TOPPER. 1298
Alternatively, an OS can be classified by its 1299
applicable target machine/environment into the 1300
following. 1301
z Mainframe OS: runs on the mainframe computers 1302
and include OS/360, OS/390, AS/400, MVS, and 1303
VM. 1304
z Server OS: runs on workstations or servers and 1305
includes such systems as UNIX, Windows, Linux, 1306
and VMS. 1307
z Multi-computer OS: runs on multiple computers 1308
and include such examples as Novell Netware. 1309
z Personal computers OS: runs on personal 1310
computers and include such examples as DOS, 1311
Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. 1312
The most popular modern operating systems today 1313
include Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Linux, and Mac 1314
OSX. 1315
12. Database Basics and Data Management 1316
[6*c9] 1317
A database consists of an organized collection of data 1318
for one or more uses. In a sense, a database is a 1319
generalization and expansion of data structures. But the 1320
difference is that a database is usually external to 1321
individual programs and permanent in existence 1322
compared to data structures. Databases are used when 1323
the data volume is large or logical relations between 1324
data items are important. The factors considered in 1325
database design include performance, concurrency, 1326
integrity, and recovery from hardware failures. 1327
12.1EntityandSchema 1328
The things a database tries to model and store are 1329
called entities. Entities can be realworld objects 1330
such as persons, cars, houses, and so forth,. or 1331
abstract concepts such as human, salary, names, 1332
and so forth. An entity can be primitive such as a 1333
name or composite (such as an employee that 1334
consists of a name, identification number, salary, 1335
address,andsoforth). 1336
The single most important concept in a database is 1337
the socalled schema, which is a description of the 1338
entire database structure from which all other 1339
database activities are built. A schema defines the 1340
relationships between the various entities that 1341
compose a database. For example, a schema for a 1342
company payroll system would consist of such 1343
things as employee ID, name, salary rate, address, 1344
and so forth. Database software maintains the 1345
databaseaccordingtotheschema. 1346
Another important concept in database is the so-called 1347
database models that describe the type of relationship 1348
among various entities. The commonly used models 1349
include relational, network, and object models. 1350
12.2 Database Management Systems (DBMS) 1351
The software that manages the database is called 1352
thedatabasemanagementsystem(DBMS).ADBMS 1353
controls the creation, maintenance, and use of the 1354
databaseandisusuallycategorizedaccordingtothe 1355
database model it supportssuch as the relational, 1356
network, or objectmodel.For example,a relational 1357
databasemanagementsystem(RDBMS)implements 1358
featuresoftherelationalmodel.Anobjectdatabase 1359
managementsystem (ODBMS) implements features 1360
oftheobjectmodel. 1361
12.3DatabaseQueryLanguage 1362
Users/applicationsinteractwithadatabasethrough 1363
a database query language, which is a specialized 1364
programming language tailored to database use. 1365
The database model tends to determine the query 1366
languagesthatareavailabletoaccessthedatabase. 1367
One commonly used query language for the 1368
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
relational database is the structured query 1369
language, more commonly abbreviated as SQL. A 1370
commonquerylanguageforobjectdatabasesisthe 1371
object query language (abbreviated as OQL), 1372
although not all vendors implement this. An 1373
exampleofanSQLquerymaylooklike: 1374
SELECTComponent_No,Quantity 1375
FROMCOMPONENT 1376
WHEREItem_No=100 1377
TheabovequeryselectsalltheComponent_Noand 1378
its corresponding quantity from a database table 1379
called COMPONENT, where the Item_No equals to 1380
100. 1381
12.4TasksofDBMSPackages 1382
ADBMSsystemprovidesthefollowingcapabilities: 1383
z Database development is used to define and 1384
organize the content, relationships, and structure 1385
of the data needed to build a database. 1386
z Database interrogation is used for accessing the 1387
data in a database for information retrieval and 1388
report generation. End users can selectively 1389
retrieve and display information and produce 1390
printed reports. This is the operation that most 1391
users know about databases. 1392
z Database Maintenance is used to add, delete, 1393
update, correct, and protect the data in a database. 1394
z Application Development is used to develop 1395
prototypes of data entry screens, queries, forms, 1396
reports, tables, and labels for a prototyped 1397
application. It also refers to the use of 4GL (or 4th 1398
Generation Language) or application generators to 1399
develop or generate program code. 1400
12.5DataManagement 1401
A database must manage the data stored in it. This 1402
management includes both organization and 1403
storage. 1404
The organization of the actual data in a database 1405
depends on the database model. In a relational 1406
model, data are organized as tables with different 1407
tables representing different entities or relations 1408
among a set of entities. The storage of data deals 1409
with the storage of these database tables on disks. 1410
The common ways for achieving this is to use files. 1411
Sequential, indexed, and hash files are all used in 1412
this purpose with different file structures providing 1413
differentaccessperformanceandconvenience. 1414
12.6DataMining 1415
One often has to know what to look for before 1416
querying a database. This type of access does not 1417
make full use of the vast amount of information 1418
stored in the database, and in fact reduces the 1419
database into a collection of discrete records that 1420
are not related with each other. To take full 1421
advantageofadatabase,onecanperformstatistical 1422
analysis and pattern discovery on the content of a 1423
database using a technique called data mining. 1424
Suchoperationscanbeusedtosupportanumberof 1425
business activities that include, but are not limited 1426
to,marketing,frauddetection,andtrendanalysis. 1427
Numerous ways for performing data mining have 1428
been invented in the past decade and include such 1429
common techniques as class description, class 1430
discrimination,clusteranalysis,associationanalysis, 1431
andoutlieranalysis. 1432
13. Network Communication Basics 1433
[9*c12] 1434
A computer network connects a collection of 1435
computers and allows users of different computers 1436
to share resources with other users. A network 1437
facilitates the communications between all the 1438
connectedcomputersandmaygivetheillusionofa 1439
single, omnipotent computer. Every computer or 1440
device connected to a network is called a network 1441
node. 1442
Anumberofcomputingparadigmshaveemergedto 1443
benefitfromthefunctionsandcapabilitiesprovided 1444
by computer networks. These paradigms include 1445
distributed computing, grid computing, Internet 1446
computing,andcloudcomputing. 1447
13.1TypesofNetwork 1448
Computer networks are not all the same and may 1449
be classified according to a wide variety of 1450
characteristics, including the networks connection 1451
method, wired technologies, wireless technologies, 1452
scale, network topology, functions, and speed. But 1453
theclassificationthatisfamiliartomostisbasedon 1454
thescaleofnetworking. 1455
z Personal Area Network/Home Network is a 1456
computer network used for communication 1457
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
among computer(s) and different information 1458
technological devices close to one person. The 1459
devices connected to such a network may include 1460
PCs, faxes, PDAs, and TVs. This is the base on 1461
which the Internet of Things is built. 1462
z Local Area Network (LAN) connects computers 1463
and devices in a limited geographical area, such 1464
as a school campus, computer laboratory, office 1465
building, or closely positioned group of buildings. 1466
z Campus Network is a computer network made up 1467
of an interconnection of local area networks 1468
(LANs) within a limited geographical area. 1469
z Wide area network (WAN) is a computer network 1470
that covers a large geographic area, such as a city 1471
or country or even across intercontinental 1472
distances. A WAN limited to a city is sometimes 1473
called a Metropolitan Area Network. 1474
z Internet is the global network that connects 1475
computers located in many (perhaps all) 1476
countries. 1477
Other classifications may divide networks into 1478
control networks, storage networks, virtual private 1479
networks (VPN), wireless networks, pointtopoint 1480
networks,andInternetofThings. 1481
13.2BasicNetworkComponents 1482
All networks are made up of the same basic hardware 1483
components, including computers, network interface 1484
cards (NICs), bridges, hubs, switches, and routers. All 1485
these components are called nodes in the jargon of 1486
networking. Each component performs a distinctive 1487
function that is essential for the packaging, connection, 1488
transmission, amplification, controlling, unpacking, 1489
and interpretation of the data. For example, a repeater 1490
amplifies the signals, a switch performs many-to-many 1491
connections, a hub performs one-to-many connections, 1492
an interface card is attached to the computer and 1493
performs data packing and transmission, a bridge 1494
connects one network with another, and a router is a 1495
computer itself and performs data analysis and flow 1496
control to regulate the data from the network. 1497
The functions performed by various network 1498
components correspond to the functions specified by 1499
one or more levels of the seven-layer OSI networking 1500
model depicted in Figure 4. 1501
13.3NetworkingProtocolsandStandards 1502
Computers talk with each other using protocols, 1503
which specify the format and regulations used to 1504
pack and unpack data. To facilitate easier 1505
communication and better structure, network 1506
protocolsaredividedintodifferentlayerswitheach 1507
layer dealing with one aspect of the 1508
communication. For example, the physical layers 1509
deal with the physical connection between the 1510
partiesthataretocommunicate,thedatalinklayer 1511
deals with the raw data transmission and flow 1512
control, and the network layer deals with the 1513
packing and unpacking of data into a particular 1514
format that is understandable by the relevant 1515
parties. The most commonly used OSI networking 1516
model organizes network protocols into seven 1517
layers,asdepictedinFigure4. 1518
Figure 4. The seven-layer OSI networking model 1519
Application Layer
Presentation Layer
Session Layer
Transport Layer
Network Layer
Data link Layer
Physical Layer
One thing to note is that not all network protocols 1520
implementalllayersoftheOSImodel.Forexample, 1521
the TCP/IP protocol implements neither the 1522
presentationlayernorthesessionlayer. 1523
Therecanbemorethanoneprotocolforeachlayer. 1524
Forexample,UDPandIPbothworkonthenetwork 1525
layer. Physical layer protocols include token ring, 1526
Ethernet, fast Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet, and 1527
wireless. Data link layer protocols include frame 1528
relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and 1529
PointtoPoint Protocol (PPP). Application layer 1530
protocols include Fibre channel, Small Computer 1531
System Interface (SCSI), and Bluetooth. For each 1532
layeroreveneachindividualprotocol,theremaybe 1533
standards established by national or international 1534
organizations to guide the design and development 1535
ofthecorrespondingprotocols. 1536
13.4TheInternet 1537
The Internet is a global system of interconnected 1538
governmental, academic, corporate, public, and 1539
private computer networks. Most people gain 1540
access to the Internet through the service of so 1541
called Internet service providers (ISP). The ISP 1542
maintains one or more switching centers called a 1543
point of presence, which is often known to users 1544
through their domain names such 1545
as.com,.gov,.org,.net,and.cn. 1546
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
13.5InternetofThings 1547
The Internet of Things refers to the networking of 1548
everyday objectssuch as cars, cell phones, PDAs, 1549
TVs, refrigerators, and even buildingsusing wired 1550
or wireless networking technologies. The function 1551
andpurposeofInternetofThingsistointerconnect 1552
allthingstofacilitateautonomousandbetterliving. 1553
Technologies used in the Internet of Things include 1554
RFID, wireless and wired networking, sensor 1555
technology, and much software of course. As the 1556
paradigm of Internet of Things is still shaping up, 1557
many works are needed for Internet of Things to 1558
actuallygainwidespreadacceptance. 1559
13.6VirtualPrivateNetwork(VPN) 1560
A Virtual Private Network is a computer network in 1561
which some or all of the links between the nodes 1562
arecarriedbyopenconnectionsorvirtualcircuitsin 1563
some larger network (for example, the Internet). 1564
VPNs are most often used to separate the traffic of 1565
differentusercommunitiesandoftenprovidebetter 1566
securitytousers. 1567
14. Parallel and Distributed Computing 1568
[9*c9] 1569
Parallel computing is a computing paradigm that 1570
emerges with the development of multi-functional units 1571
within a computer. The main objective of parallel 1572
computing is to execute several tasks simultaneously 1573
on different functional units and thus improve 1574
throughput or response or both. With the emergence of 1575
computer networks, parallel computing has also taken 1576
on a new perspective in which the parallelism occurs 1577
on a greater scale. Distributed computing, on the other 1578
hand, is a computing paradigm that emerges with the 1579
development of computer networks. Its main objective 1580
is to either make use of multiple computers in the 1581
network to accomplish things otherwise not possible 1582
within a single computer or improve computation 1583
efficiency by harnessing the power of multiple 1584
computers. 1585
14.1 Parallel and Distributed Computing Overview 1586
Traditionally, parallel computing investigates ways to 1587
maximize concurrency (the simultaneous execution of 1588
multiple tasks) within the boundary of a computer. 1589
Distributed computing studies distributed systems, 1590
which consists of multiple autonomous computers that 1591
communicate through a computer network. 1592
Alternatively, distributed computing can also refer to 1593
the use of distributed systems to solve computational or 1594
transactional problems. In the former definition, 1595
distributed computing investigates the protocols, 1596
mechanisms, and strategies that provide the foundation 1597
for distributed computation; in the latter definition, 1598
distributed computing studies the ways of dividing a 1599
problem into many tasks and assigning such tasks to 1600
various computers involved in the computation. 1601
Fundamentally, distributed computing is another 1602
form of parallel computing, albeit on a grander 1603
scale.Indistributedcomputing,thefunctionalunits 1604
are not ALU, FPU, or separate cores, but individual 1605
computers. For this reason, some people regard 1606
distributedcomputingasbeingthesameasparallel 1607
computing. Because both distributed and parallel 1608
computing involve some form of concurrency, they 1609
arebothalsocalledconcurrentcomputing. 1610
14.2 Difference between Parallel and Distributed 1611
Computing 1612
Though parallel and distributed computing 1613
resemble each other on the surface, there is a 1614
subtle but real distinction between them: parallel 1615
computing does not necessarily refer to the 1616
execution of programs on different computers 1617
instead, they can be run on different processors 1618
within a single computer. In fact, consensus among 1619
computing professionals limits the scope of parallel 1620
computing to the case where a shared memory is 1621
used by all processors involved in the computing, 1622
while distributed computing refers to computations 1623
where private memory exists for each processor 1624
involvedinthecomputations. 1625
Thus,itispossibletoclassifyconcurrentsystemsas 1626
being "parallel" or "distributed" based on the 1627
existence or nonexistence of shared memory 1628
among all the processors. Thus, parallel computing 1629
deals with computations within a single computer; 1630
distributed computing deals with computations 1631
within a set of computers. According to this view, 1632
multicore computing is a form of parallel 1633
computing. 1634
14.3ParallelandDistributedComputingModels 1635
Since multiple computers/processors/cores are 1636
involved in distributed/parallel computing, some 1637
coordination among the involved parties is 1638
necessarytoensurecorrectbehaviorofthesystem. 1639
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
Different ways of coordination give rise to different 1640
computing models. The most common models in 1641
this regard are the shared memory (parallel) model 1642
andthemessagepassing(distributed)model. 1643
In a shared memory (parallel) model, all computers 1644
have access to a shared memory. The algorithm 1645
designerchoosestheprogramforexecutionbyeach 1646
computer. Access to the memory can be 1647
synchronous or asynchronous, and must be 1648
coordinated such that coherency is maintained. 1649
Different access models have been invented for 1650
suchapurpose. 1651
In a messagepassing (distributed) model, all 1652
computersrunthesameprogram.Thesystemmust 1653
work correctly regardless of the structure of the 1654
network. This model can be further classified into 1655
clientserver (CS), browserserver (BS), and many 1656
layers (ML) models. In the CS model, the server 1657
provides services and the client requests services 1658
from the server. In the socalled BS model, the 1659
server provides services and the client is the 1660
browser. In the ML model, each layer provides 1661
services to the layer immediately above it and 1662
requestsservicesfromthelayerimmediatelybelow 1663
it. In fact, the ML model can be seen as a chain of 1664
clientserver models. Often, the layers between the 1665
bottommost layer and the topmost layer are called 1666
middleware, which is a distinct subject of study in 1667
itsownright. 1668
14.4 Main Issues in Distributed Computing 1669
Coordination among all the components in a 1670
distributed computing environment is often 1671
complex and timeconsuming. As the number of 1672
cores/CPUs/computers increases, the complexity of 1673
distributed computing also increases. Among the 1674
many issues faced, memory coherency and 1675
consensus among all computers are the most 1676
difficult ones. Many computation paradigms have 1677
been invented to solve these problems and are the 1678
main discussion issues in distributed/parallel 1679
computing. 1680
15. Basic User Human Factors 1681
[4*c8, 5*c5] 1682
Software is developed to meet human desires or 1683
needs. Thus, all software design and development 1684
must take into consideration humanuser factors 1685
suchashowpeopleusesoftware,howpeopleview 1686
software, and what humans expect from software. 1687
There are numerous factors in the humanmachine 1688
interaction, but the basic humanuser factors 1689
considered here include input/output, the handling 1690
of error messages, and the robustness of the 1691
softwareingeneral. 1692
15.1InputandOutput 1693
Input and output are the interfaces between users 1694
andsoftware.Softwareisuselesswithoutinputand 1695
output. Humans design software to process some 1696
input and produce desirable output. All software 1697
engineers must consider input and output as an 1698
integral part of the software product they engineer 1699
ordevelop. Issuesconsideredforinputinclude(but 1700
arenotlimitedto): 1701
z What input is required? 1702
z How is the input passed from users to computers? 1703
z What is the most convenient way for users to 1704
enter input? 1705
z What format does the computer require of the 1706
input data? 1707
For output, we need to consider what the users 1708
wishtosee: 1709
z In what format would users like to see output? 1710
z What is the most pleasing way to display output? 1711
Furthermore,ifthepartyreceivingtheoutputisnot 1712
human but another computer or control system, 1713
then we need to consider the output type and 1714
format that the software should produce to ensure 1715
properdatafeedintoanothersystem. 1716
There are many rules of thumb for developers to 1717
follow to produce good input/output for a system. 1718
These rules of thumb include simple and natural 1719
dialogue, speaking users language, minimizing user 1720
memoryload,andconsistency. 1721
15.2ErrorMessages 1722
Itisunderstandablethatsoftwarecontainsbugsand 1723
failsfromtimetotime.Butusersshouldbenotified 1724
if there is anything that impedes the smooth 1725
execution of the program. Nothing is more 1726
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
frustrating than an unexpected termination or 1727
behavioral deviation of software without any 1728
warning or explanation. To be user friendly, the 1729
software should report all error conditions to the 1730
users or upperlevel applications so that some 1731
measure can be taken to rectify the situation or to 1732
exit gracefully. There are several guidelines that 1733
definewhatconstitutesagooderrormessage:error 1734
messagesshouldbeclear,tothepoint,andtimely. 1735
First, error messages should clearly explain what is 1736
happening so that users know what is going on in 1737
thesystem.Second,errormessagesshouldpinpoint 1738
the cause of the error, if at all possible, so that 1739
proper actions can be taken. Third, error messages 1740
should be displayed right when the error condition 1741
occurs. According to Jakob Nielsen, Good error 1742
messagesshouldbeexpressedinplainlanguage(no 1743
codes), precisely indicate the problem, and 1744
constructivelysuggestasolution[5*p20]. 1745
15.3SoftwareRobustness 1746
Softwarerobustnessreferstotheabilityofsoftware 1747
to tolerate erroneous inputs. Software is said to be 1748
robust if it continues to function even when 1749
erroneousinputsaregiven.Thus,itisunacceptable 1750
for software to simply crash when encountering an 1751
input problem as this breaks the abstraction and 1752
may cause unexpected consequences, such as the 1753
loss of valuable data. Software that exhibits such 1754
behaviorisconsideredtolackrobustness. 1755
Nielsen gives a simpler (though not very accurate) 1756
description of software robustness: The software 1757
shouldhavealowerrorrate,sothatusersmakefew 1758
errors during the use of the system and so that if 1759
they do make errors they can easily recover from 1760
them. Further, catastrophic errors must not occur 1761
[5*p26]. 1762
There are many ways to evaluate the robustness of 1763
software and just as many ways to make software 1764
more robust. For example, to improve robustness, 1765
one should always check the validity of the inputs 1766
and return values before progressing further; one 1767
should always throw an exception when something 1768
unexpected occurs, and one should never quit a 1769
program without first giving users/applications a 1770
chancetocorrectthecondition.. 1771
16. Basic Developer Human Factors 1772
[4*c31-32] 1773
Developerhumanfactorsrefertotheconsiderations 1774
of human factors taken when developing software. 1775
Softwareisdevelopedbyhumans,readbyhumans, 1776
and maintained by humans. If anything is wrong, 1777
humans are responsible for correcting those 1778
wrongs. Thus, it is essential to write software in a 1779
way that is easily understandable by humans or, at 1780
the very least, by other software developers. A 1781
program that is easy to read and understand 1782
exhibitsasocalledreadability. 1783
The means to ensure that software meet this 1784
objective are numerous and range from proper 1785
architecture at the macro level to the particular 1786
coding style and variable usage at the micro level. 1787
But the two prominent factors are structure (or 1788
programlayouts)andcomments(documentation). 1789
16.1Structure 1790
Most people prefer structure to chaos. It is human 1791
nature to prefer a wellstructured program to 1792
randomly organized sections of code. Structure not 1793
only looks good but also makes programs easier to 1794
understand and maintain. It is said that a well 1795
structured program is selfexplanatory. But if a 1796
program is poorly structured, then no amount of 1797
explanation or comments is sufficient to make it 1798
understandable.Thewaystoorganizeaprogramare 1799
numerous and range from the proper use of white 1800
space, indentation, and parentheses to nice 1801
arrangements of groupings, blank lines, and braces. 1802
Whateverstyleonechooses,itshouldbeconsistent 1803
acrosstheentireprogram. 1804
16.2Comments 1805
To most people, programming is coding. These 1806
people do not realize that programming also 1807
includes writing comments and that comments are 1808
an integral part of programming. True, comments 1809
are not used by the computer and certainly do not 1810
constitute final instructions for the computer, but 1811
they improve the readability of the programs by 1812
explaining the meaning and logic of the statements 1813
or sections of code. It should be remembered that 1814
programs are not only meant for computers, they 1815
arealsoread,written,andmodifiedbyhumans. 1816
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
The types of comments include repeat of the code, 1817
explanation of the code, marker of the code, 1818
summary of the code, description of the codes 1819
intent, and information that cannot possibly be 1820
expressedbythecodeitself.Thebestcommentsare 1821
selfdocumentingcode.Ifthecodeiswritteninsuch 1822
a clear and precise manner that its meaning is self 1823
proclaimed,thennocommentisneeded.Butthisis 1824
easier said than done. Most programs are not self 1825
explanatory and are often hard to read and 1826
understandifnocommentsaregiven. 1827
Here are some general guidelines for writing good 1828
comments: 1829
z Comments should be consistent across the entire 1830
software. 1831
z Each function should be associated with 1832
comments that explain the purpose of the function 1833
and its role in the overall software. 1834
z Within a function, comments should be given for 1835
each logical section of coding to explain the 1836
meaning and purpose (intention) of the section. 1837
z Comments are seldom required for individual 1838
statements. If a statement needs comments, one 1839
should reconsider the statement. 1840
17. Secure Coding 1841
[10*c29] 1842
Due to increasing malicious activities targeted at 1843
computer systems, security has become a significant 1844
issue in the development of software systems. In 1845
addition to the usual correctness and reliability, 1846
software developers must also pay attention to the 1847
security of the software they develop. Secure coding is 1848
one of the ways to ensure security. 1849
17.1TwoAspectsofSecureCoding 1850
Secure coding means different things for different 1851
people. It can mean the way a specific function is 1852
coded,suchthatthecodingitselfissecure,oritcan 1853
meanthecodingofsecurityintosoftwaresystems. 1854
Most people entangle the two together without 1855
distinction. One reason for such entanglement is 1856
that it is not clear how one can make sure that a 1857
specific coding is secure. For example, in C 1858
programminglanguage,theexpressionofi<<1(shift 1859
the value of variable i to the left by 1 bit) and 2*i 1860
(multiplythevalueofvariableibyconstant2)mean 1861
the same thing semantically, but do they have the 1862
same security ramification? Due to this lack of 1863
understanding,securecodinginitscurrentstateof 1864
existencemostly refers to the second aspect 1865
mentioned above: the coding of security into 1866
softwaresystem. 1867
17.2CodingSecurityintoSoftware 1868
A generally accepted view concerning software 1869
security is that it is much better to design security 1870
into software than to patch it in after software is 1871
developed. To design security into software, one 1872
must take into consideration most, if not every, 1873
stage of the software development life cycle. In 1874
particular, secure coding involves requirement 1875
security, design security, and implementation 1876
security, which are described in the next few 1877
sections. 1878
17.3RequirementSecurity 1879
Requirement security deals with the clarification 1880
and specification of security policy and objectives 1881
into software requirements, which lays the 1882
foundation for all future security consideration in 1883
the software development process. Factors to 1884
consider in this phase include requirements and 1885
threats. The former refers to the specific functions 1886
that arerequired for the sake of security; the latter 1887
refers to the possible ways that the security of 1888
softwareisthreatened. 1889
17.4DesignSecurity 1890
Design security deals with the construction of 1891
software modules that fit together to meet the 1892
security objective specified in the security 1893
requirements. This step clarifies the details of 1894
security considerations and develops the specific 1895
steps for implementation. Factors considered may 1896
include frameworks and access modes that set up 1897
the overall security monitoring/enforcement 1898
strategies, as well as the individual policy 1899
enforcementmechanisms. 1900
17.5ImplementationSecurity 1901
Implementationsecurityisdirectlyrelatedtocoding 1902
and is the most relevant to secure coding among 1903
the three phases of coding security into software. 1904
All secure requirements and designs are useless if 1905
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
the implementation is not secure. Implementation 1906
securityconcernsitselfwiththequestionofhowto 1907
write actual codes for specific situations such that 1908
securityconsiderationsaretakencareof. 1909
Implementation security can be achieved by 1910
following some recommended rules. A few such 1911
rulesfollow[10*pp880910]: 1912
z Structure the process so that all sections requiring 1913
extra privileges are modules. The modules should 1914
be as small as possible and should perform only 1915
those tasks that require those privileges. 1916
z Ensure that any assumptions in the program are 1917
validated. If this is not possible, document them 1918
for the installers and maintainers so they know the 1919
assumptions that attackers will try to invalidate. 1920
z Ensure that the program does not share objects in 1921
memory with any other program. 1922
z The error status of every function must be 1923
checked. Do not try to recover unless neither the 1924
cause of the error nor its effects affect any 1925
security considerations. The program should 1926
restore the state of the system to the state it had 1927
before the process began, and then terminate. 1928
[1] The Joint Task Force on Computing 1929
Curricula, et al., "Software Engineering 1930
2004: Curriculum Guidelines for 1931
Undergraduate Degree Programs in 1932
SoftwareEngineering,"2004. 1933
[2] S. T. Frezza, "Computer Science: Is It Really 1934
the Scientific Foundation for Software 1935
Engineering,"Computer,vol.43,no.8(Aug. 1936
2010),pp.98101. 1937
[3*] G. Voland, Engineering by Design, 2nd ed. 1938
UpperSaddleRiver,NJ:PrenticeHall,2003. 1939
[4*] S. McConnell, Code Complete, 2nd ed. 1940
Redmond,WA:MicrosoftPress,2004. 1941
[5*] J. Nielsen, Usability Engineering, 1st ed. 1942
Boston:MorganKaufmann,1993. 1943
[6*] J. G. Brookshear, Computer Science: An 1944
Overview, 10th ed. Boston: Addison 1945
Wesley,2008. 1946
[7*] E. Horowitz, et al., Computer Algorithms, 1947
2nded.Summit,NJ:SiliconPress,2007. 1948
[8*] I. Sommerville, Software Engineering, 8th 1949
ed.NewYork:AddisonWesley,2006. 1950
[9*] L. Null and J. Lobur, The Essentials of 1951
Computer Organization and Architecture, 1952
2nd ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett 1953
Publishers,2006. 1954
[10*] M. Bishop, Computer Security: Art and 1955
Science.Boston:AddisonWesley,2002. 1956
1957
1958
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
Matrix of Topics vs. References for the Computing Foundations KA 1959
1960
[1*] [2*] [3*] [4*] [5*] [6*] [7*] [8*]
1. Problem Solving Techniques c3, s4.1-4.2 -- 35
pp
1.1 Definition of Problem Solving s3.1
1.2 Formulating the Real Problem s3.2
1.3 Analyze the Problem s3.3
1.4 Design a Solution Search Strategy s4.2
1.5 Problem Solving using Programs c5
2. Abstraction s5.2-5.4 -- 41
pp

2.1 Levels of Abstraction s5.2-5.3
2.2 Encapsulation s5.3
2.3 Hierarchy s5.2
3. Programming Fundamentals c6-19 -- 338
pp

3.1 The Programming Process c6-c19
3.2 Programming Paradigms c6-c19
3.3 Defensive Programming c8
4. Programming Language Basics c6 -- 60
pp

4.1 Programming Language Overview s6.1
4.2 Syntax and Semantics of Programming
Language
S6.2
4.3 Low Level Programming Language s6.5-6.7
4.4 High Level Programing Language s6.5-6.7
4.5 Declarative vs. Imperative Programming
Language
s6.5-6.7
5. Debugging Tools and Techniques c23 -- 28 pp
5.1 Types of Errors s23.1
5.2 Debugging Techniques: s23.2
5.3 Debugging Tools s23.5
6. Data Structure and Representation s2.1-2.6 -- 47 pp
6.1 Data Structure Overview s2.1-2.6
6.2 Types of Data Structure s2.1-2.6
6.3 Operations on Data Structures s2.1-2.6
7. Algorithms and Complexity s1.1-1.3, s3.3-3.6, s4.1-
4.8, s5.1-5.7, s6.1-6.3,
s7.1-7.6, s11.1, s12.1 --

IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
254 pp
7.1 Overview of Algorithms s1.1-1.2
7.2 Attributes of Algorithms s1.3
7.3 Algorithmic Analysis s1.3
7.4 Algorithmic Design Strategies s3.3-3.6, s4.1-4.8, s5.1-
5.7, s6.1-6.3, s7.1-7.6,
s11.1, s12.1

7.5 Algorithmic Analysis Strategies s3.3-3.6, s4.1-4.8, s5.1-
5.7, s6.1-6.3, s7.1-7.6,
s11.1, s12.1

8. Basic Concept of A System c2-- 21
pp

8.1 Emergent System Properties s2.1
8.2 System Engineering s2.2
8.3 Overview of a Computer System
9. Computer Organization c1-4 -- 96
pp

9.1 Computer Organization Overview s1.1-1.2
9.2 Digital Systems c3
9.3 Digital Logic c3
9.3 Computer Expression of Data c2
9.4 The Central Processing Unit (CPU) s4.1-4.2
9.5 Memory System Organization s4.6
9.6 Input and Output (I/O) s4.5
10. Compiler Basics s6.4 s8.4 -- 11 pp
10.1 Compiler Overview s8.4
10.2 Interpretation and Compilation s8.4-8.5
10.3 The Compilation Process s6.4 s8.4
11. Operating Systems Basics c3 -- 26
pp

11.1 Operating Systems Overview s3.2
11.2 Tasks of Operating System s3.3
11.3 Operating System Abstractions s3.2
11.4 Operating Systems Classification s3.1
12. Database Basics and Data Management c9 -- 44
pp

12.1 Entity and Schema s9.1
12.2 Database Management Systems (DBMS) s9.1
12.3 Database Query Language s9.2
12.4 Tasks of DBMS Packages s9.2
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
12.5 Data Management s9.5
12.6 Data Mining s9.6
13. Network Communication Basics c12 -- 70 pp
13.1 Types of Network s12.2-12.3
13.2 Basic Network Components s12.6
13.3Networking Protocols and Standards s12.4-12.5
13.4 The Internet
13.5Internet of Things s12.8
13.6 Virtual Private Network
14. Parallel and Distributed Computing c9 -- 65 pp
14.1 Parallel and Distributed Computing
Overview
s9.4.1-9.4.3
14.2 Difference between Parallel and
Distributed Computing
s9.4.4-9.4.5
14.3 Parallel and Distributed Computing
Models
s9.4.4-9.4.5
14.4 Main Issues in Distributed Comp.
15. Basic User Human Factors c8 28 pp c5 50 pp
15.1 Input and Output s5.1, s5.3
15.2 Error Messages s5.2, s5.8
15.3 Software Robustness s5.5-5.6
16. Basic Developer Human Factors c31-32 -- 90
pp

16.1 Structure c31
16.2 Comments c32
17. Secure Coding c29 -- 55
pp

17.1 Two Aspects of Secure Coding s29.1
17.2 Coding Security into Software s29.4
17.3 Requirement Security s29.2
17.4 Design Security s29.3
17.5 Implementation Security s29.5
Total Pages Referenced in the Computing Foundations KA 1367 pages
1961
Recommended references for the Knowledge Area 1962
[1*] M. Bishop, Computer Security: Art and Science. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2002. 1963
[2*] J. G. Brookshear, Computer Science: An Overview, 10th ed. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2008. 1964
[3*] E. Horowitz, et al., Computer Algorithms, 2nd ed. Summit, NJ: Silicon Press, 2007. 1965
[4*] S. McConnell, Code Complete, 2nd ed. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 2004. 1966
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
[5*] J. Nielsen, Usability Engineering, 1st ed. Boston: Morgan Kaufmann, 1993. 1967
[6*] L. Null and J. Lobur, The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture, 2nd ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2006. 1968
[7*] I. Sommerville, Software Engineering, 8th ed. New York: Addison-Wesley, 2006. 1969
[8*] G. Voland, Engineering by Design, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003. 1970
1971
IEEE SWEBOK Guide V3
Further Readings List for the Computing Foundations KA [17] 1972
1973
1. A.V.Aho,R.Sethi,andJ.Ullman,Compilers:Principles,Techniques,andTools,AddisonWesley,2006. 1974
Reason for inclusion: The book is considered by many as one of the primary sources for knowledge on 1975
compiler and its construction. It provides more indepth discussion on compiler, in general, and the 1976
compilationprocess,inparticular. 1977
1978
2. T.H.Cormen,etal.,IntroductiontoAlgorithm,3rded.,TheMITPress,2009. 1979
Reason for inclusion: The book is considered by many as one of the primary sources for knowledge on 1980
algorithms and is used by many universities as either a textbook or a reference book. It is brought in to 1981
provideanalternativevieworperspectiveonalgorithms. 1982
1983
3. ACM SIGPLAN Education Board, "Why Undergraduates Should Learn the Principles of Programming 1984
Languages,"2010. 1985
Reasonforinclusion:ThispaperiscitedintheKAdescription. 1986
1987
4. S.T. Frezza, "Computer Science: Is It Really the Scientific Foundation for Software Engineering?" Computer, 1988
IEEECSPress,vol.43,no.8,Aug.2010,pp.98101. 1989
Reasonforinclusion:ThispaperiscitedintheKAdescription. 1990
1991
5. Graduate Software Engineering 2009, "Curriculum Guidelines for Graduate Degree Programs in Software 1992
Engineering,"Aug.2010,www.gswe2009.org. 1993
Reasonforinclusion:TheseguidelinesarecitedintheKAdescription. 1994
1995
6. A.Silberschatz,P.B.Galvin,andG.Gagne,OperatingSystemConcepts,8thed.,Wiley,2008. 1996
Reasonforinclusion:ThisisacommonlyusedtextbookinmanyAmericanunviersitiesinanoperatingsystems 1997
course. It provides more indepth discussion on operating systems basics and is already included in the 1998
consolidatedreferencelistforKAsotherthantheComputingFoundationsKA. 1999
2000
7. The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula, IEEE Computer Society, and Association for Computing 2001
Machinery, "Software Engineering 2004: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in 2002
SoftwareEngineering,"2004. 2003
Reasonforinclusion:TheseguidelinesarecitedintheKAdescription. 2004
2005