Overview

The software industry stands on the brink of an era of dramatic change. We expect the industry to continue the restructuring process already begun, emerging as a much smaller number of horizontally structured firms mostly doing business with each other. As software becomes highly "componentized," the industry will begin to resemble the automotive industry, with many small firms making parts, but only a few large ones assembling them into finished products. Software automation in the form of application generation technology will become the norm as system analysts and other domain specialists become the new application programmers, writing in specification languages. Meanwhile, the more talented of today's application programmers will become system programmers, writing the meta-compilers that will transform specification language codes into Java and C application programs. It is still true that new technologies do not replace old technologies, at least not at first; in their infancy, they merely supplement them. The next four chapters address the transition period during which robust, trustworthy software is still created by current technology and processes as the new technology and its streamlined processes emerge.

Chapter Outline

• The Software Specification Process

• What Is Robust Software?

• Requirements for Software to Be Robust

• Specifying Software Robustness

• Key Points

• Additional Resources

• Internet Exercises

• Review Questions

• Discussion Questions and Projects

• Problems

• Endnotes