CSC436

Instructor: Doug Lea
Class: T-Th 9:35
Office/Lab hours. Normally T-W-Th 11-12:30, but send mail at any time with questions or to set up online meeting

Overview

Basic concepts of software requirements engineering, safety, and security engineering. Focus will be on types of requirements and requirements artifacts, modeling of consistent requirements in the static-structural, functional, and behavioral perspective of system description, documenting solution-neutral and solution-oriented requirements, differences between natural language requirements and model-based requirements, requirements quality, as well as ambiguity.

Associated materials may be found on the csc436 Google Drive folder. Many rely heavily on those developed by Bastian Tenbergen and planned to become parts of a textbook for this course.

Topics

Requirements engineering activities and artifacts
Structured natural language requirements and alternatives
Requirements elicitation processes and tools
Safety and security requirements and hazard analyses
Specifying structure, function, state, interaction
Component-based requirements and APIs
Validation and implementation

Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will demonstrate ability to:

[Design.] Demonstrate in-depth understanding of the different types of requirements and types of requirements artifacts; elicitation of requirements for hypothetical systems under development; document requirements in various specification formats, specifically diagrammatic representations and an IEEE830-1998 / IEEE29148-2011-compliant system requirements specification throughout several, iterative milestones; document requirements at various levels of abstraction.
[Analysis.] Differentiate requirements that are adequate for the operational purpose of some system from “poor” requirements; conduct relevant analyses to detect and correct defects in requirements impairing the safety, security, and functional adequacy of a hypothetical system under development; think abstractly about system functionality and its impact on development.
[Development.] Articulate the advantages and disadvantages of solution choices given a problem scope; Conduct elicitation techniques to elicit requirements for a given solution choice given the context of development; articulate engineering results to developers, managers, and other stakeholders.

Textbook

There are no required texts. The following texts are recommended.

Rupp, Pohl: Requirements Engineering Fundamentals. Rocky Nook, 2011. ISBN 978-1937538774
Pohl: Requirements Engineering: Fundamentals, Principles, Techniques. Springer, 2010. ISBN 978-3642125775
Wiegers, Beatty: Software Requirements, 3rd Ed. Pearson, 2013. ISBN 978-0735679665

Requirements

Subject to minor change: (All submissions are via Google Drive.)

Two Exams (40%)

One during finals week

Six Assignment worksheets (30%)

For practice in developing requirements

Three Project milestones (30%)

Milestone 1 (due March 25): SRS, Hazards (functional safety analysis), Kaos goals/dependencies, primary scenarios (use cases and/or sequence charts)
Milestone 2 (due April 29): UML structure, function, and state specifications, and APIs for at least 4 components
Final (due May 15) Full Report with summary of AI-assisted evaluation of requirements and implementability, including generated prototypes for at least 2 components.

Campus references

See the CS and College course policies and resources.

If you have a disabling condition, which may interfere with your ability to successfully complete this course, please contact the Office of Disability Services.

SUNY Oswego is committed to Intellectual Integrity. Any form of intellectual dishonesty is a serious concern and therefore prohibited. The full policy can be found at http://www.oswego.edu/integrity

Clery Act /Title IX Reporting: SUNY Oswego is committed to enhancing the safety and security of the campus for all its members. In support of this, faculty may be required to report their knowledge of certain crimes or harassment. Upon receipt of a report of harassment or discrimination based on sex, gender, pregnancy and/or related conditions, or familial status, all employees have a responsibility to report to the Title IX Coordinator. For more information about Title IX protections, go to https://ww1.oswego.edu/title-ix/ or contact the Title IX Coordinator, 407 Culkin Hall, 315-312-5604, titleix@oswego.edu, or schedule a meeting here: tinyurl.com/MeetWithLisaE. For more information about the Clery Act and campus reporting, go to the University Police annual report: https://www.oswego.edu/police/annual-report.