Subject: Comp.software-eng FAQ (Part 1): questions and answers
Supersedes: <questmsg_824638506@qucis.QueensU.CA>
Date: 17 Mar 1996 10:15:11 GMT
References: <faqmsg_827057708@qucis.QueensU.CA>

Last-Modified: 10 Dec 1995

This message gives brief answers to questions that have occurred in
comp.software-eng; in many cases they are also topics many readers would like
NOT to see discussed again soon.  Questions are:
    What's a CASE Tool?
    What's a 'function point'?
    What's the 'spiral model'?
    What is a 'specmark'?
    Where can I find a public-domain tool to compute metrics?
    What metrics are there for object-oriented systems?
    How do I write good C style?
    What is 'Hungarian Notation'?
    Are lines-of-code (LOC) a useful productivity measure?
    Should software professionals be licenced/certified?
    How do I get in touch with the SEI?
    What is the SEI maturity model?
    Where can I get information on API?
    What's a 'bug'?
    Where can I get copies of standards??
    What is 'cleanroom'?



------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What's a CASE Tool?
Date: 27 Oct 1994
Archive file: casemsg (thanks to Scott McGregor <mcgregor@netcom.com> for
inspiring this question)

CASE stands for Computer Aided Software Engineering;  it can be used to mean
any computer-based tool for software planning, development, and evolution.
Various people regularly call the following 'CASE': Structured Analysis (SA),
Structured Design (SD), Editors, Compilers, Debuggers, Edit-Compile-Debug
environments, Code Generators, Documentation Generators, Configuration
Management, Release Management, Project Management, Scheduling, Tracking,
Requirements Tracing, Change Management (CM), Defect Tracking, Structured
Discourse, Documentation editing, Collaboration tools, Access Control,
Integrated Project Support Environments (IPSEs), Intertool message systems,
Reverse Engineering, Metric Analyzers.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What's a 'function point'?
Date: 21 Oct 1995
Archive file: funcpoints

Function points and feature points are methods of estimating the "amount of
functionality" required for a program, and are thus used to estimate project
completion time.  The basic idea involves counting inputs, outputs, and other
features of a description of functionality.  If interested, for a fee you can
join:
    International Function Point Users Group
    5008-28 Pine Creek Drive
    Blendonview Office Park
    Westerville, Ohio  43081-4899
    614-895-7130
    Home page (available using the World-Wide Web via URL http://205.133.101.205/ifpug/home/docs/IFPUGhome.html)


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What's the 'spiral model'?
Date: 27 Oct 1994
Archive file: spiral

 (1)   Barry Boehm, "A Spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement",
       ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes, August 1986.
 (2)   Barry Boehm "A Spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement"
       IEEE Computer, vol.21, #5, May 1988, pp 61-72.

Basically, the idea is incremental development, using the waterfall model for
each step; it's intended to help manage risks.  Don't define in detail the
entire system at first.  The developers should only define the highest
priority features. Define and implement those.  With this knowledge, they
should then go back to define and implement more features in smaller chunks.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What is a 'specmark'?
Date: 27 Oct 1994
Archive file: specmark

The SPECmark is the geometric mean of a series of benchmarks done by the SPEC
group. There are a couple of suites, but in general SPECmark refers to the
results of the first suite.  The suite includes FORTRAN and C codes, mostly
well known codes but slightly hacked versions.
    SPEC
    c/o NCGA
    2722 Merrilee Drive, Suite 200
    Fairfax, VA 22031
    Phone: (703) 698-9600
    FAX:   (703) 560-2752


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Where can I find a public-domain tool to compute metrics?
Date: 17 Jun 1995
Archive file: static.html

The archives contain a collection of metrics tools for C programs at
http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/Software-Engineering/Cmetrics.html.

Volume 20 of newsgroup comp.sources.unix contained a public-domain package
called "metrics", which computes McCabe and Halstead metrics.  There are many
comp.sources.unix archives around the net.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What metrics are there for object-oriented systems?
Date:  6 Sep 1995

Robin Whitty (whittyr@vax.sbu.ac.uk) of South Bank University keeps a
bibliography on OO metrics at
http://www.sbu.ac.uk/~csse/publications/OOMetrics.html, also available via
anonymous FTP to site ftp.sbu.ac.uk as pub/Metrics/OOMetrics.asc.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: How do I write good C style?
Date: 27 Oct 1994

This is answered regularly in the comp.lang.c FAQ.  Try "Recommended C style
and Coding Standards", via anonymous FTP to site archive.cis.ohio-state.edu as
pub/style-guide


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What is 'Hungarian Notation'?
Date: 27 Oct 1994
Archive file: hungarian

A naming convention for C code.  See Charles Simonyi and Martin Heller, "The
Hungarian Revolution", BYTE, Aug. 1991 (vol. 16, no. 8).  There are other
naming conventions;  see, e.g.  "A Guide to Natural Naming", Daniel Keller,
ETH, Projekt-Zentrum IDA, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland. Published in SIGPLAN
Notices, Vol. 25, No. 5, pages 95-102.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Are lines-of-code (LOC) a useful productivity measure?
Date: 27 Oct 1994
Archive file: static.html

Not unless you are very careful.  Capers Jones' book has a detailed and
insightful discussion of Lines of Code, including anomalies, and shows how to
use it sensibly (eg in a single job shop, with a single language, and a
standard company coding style).  It is easy to cook up anomalies where LOC
gives different numbers for code written in different styles, but pathological
cases should get caught in code inspections.  References:
-    T. Capers Jones, Programming Productivity, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1986
-    Capers Jones, Applied Software Measurement: Assuring Productivity and
     Quality, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991, 494 pages ISBN 0-07-032813-7

The appendices of the latter give rules for counting procedural source code,
as well as rules for counting function points and feature points.  The
following study, cited in Boehm's _.S_.o_.f_.t_.w_.a_.r_.e _.E_.n_.g_.i_.n_.e_.e_.r_.i_.n_.g _.E_.c_.o_.n_.o_.m_.i_.c_.s, claims that
anomalies that seriously "fool" the LOC metric show up rarely in real code.
-    R. Nelson _.S_.o_.f_.t_.w_.a_.r_.e _.D_.a_.t_.e _.C_.o_.l_.l_.e_.c_.t_.i_.o_.n _.a_.n_.d _.A_.n_.a_.l_.y_.s_.i_.s _.a_.t _.R_.A_.D_.C, Rome Air
     Development Center, Rome, NY.  1978.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Should software professionals be licenced/certified?
Date: 27 Oct 1994

This is a very controversial and political question.  Generally, certification
is something voluntary, while licencing is regulated by governments.
Certification generally means some agency warrants you meet its standards;
licencing generally means that to claim to practice a certain profession
requires a government licence, often administered through a professional
organization.  In theory both are supposed to help judge if someone is capable
of doing certain jobs.

Licencing isn't currently required for computing professionals;  some people
would like to see some jobs require it, as with established branches of
engineering.  Others don't like government intervention, and/or believe many
people who wouldn't get licenced are perfectly competent.

Computing professionals in the USA have had a certification program for years,
administered by the Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals
(708-299-4227), a meta-organization with representatives from ACM, IEEE-CS,
ADAPSO, ICCA, IACE, AIM, DPMA, AISP, COMMON, ASM, CIPS, and AWC.  There are
three certificates aimed at different broad types of practitioner, and many
areas of specialization.  To keep a certificate requires at least 40 hours of
continuing education each year; credit can also be obtained for self-study,
teaching, publication, etc.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: How do I get in touch with the SEI?
Date:  8 Apr 1995

Try their Web server at <URL:http://www.sei.cmu.edu/>.  For general
information about the SEI, contact the customer relations department of the
Software Engineering Institute at:
    internet:  customer-relations@sei.cmu.edu
    Phone:  (412) 268-5800
A subscriber service is available to U.S. mailing addresses. Subscribers
receive the SEI quarterly newsletter, Bridge; invitations to SEI public
events; and first notification of course offerings and new publications.  To
become a subscriber, contact Customer Relations.

To order an SEI publication, contact NTIS, DTIC, or RAI directly:
    National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
    U.S. Department of Commerce
    Springfield, VA 22161-2103
    Telephone: (703) 487-4600

    Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)
    ATTN: FDRA Cameron Station
    Alexandria, VA 22304-6145
    Telephone: (703) 274-7633

    Research Access Inc. (RAI)
    3400 Forbes Avenue
    Suite 302
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    Telephone: (412) 682-6530
    FAX: (412) 682-6530


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What is the SEI maturity model?
Date: 31 Jan 1992
Originally-From: mcp@sei.cmu.edu (Mark Paulk)
Archive file: maturity

Maturity is not an easy concept to get down to a single paragraph, but
consider this.

Premise:  The quality of a software system is largely governed by the quality
of the process used to develop and maintain the software.  Basics:  The first
step in improving the existing situation is to get management buy-in and
management action to clean up the software management processes (walk the
talk, as TQMers frequently say).  Integration:  The second step is to get
everyone working together as a team.  Measurement:  The third step is to
establish objective ways of understanding status and predict where things are
going in your process.  Continuous improvement:  Understand that this is
building a foundation for continually getting better.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Where can I get information on API?
Date:  8 Apr 1995

API stands for Application Programming Interface.  For a useful subset of
standard APIs that NIST considers relevant to US Federal government needs, you
can look at NIST SP 500-187 "Application Portability Profile" (available using
the World-Wide Web via URL http://nemo.ncsl.nist.gov/app-ose/), or send mail
to mail-server@nemo.ncsl.nist.gov with
    send app-ose/app2.txt
in the body, or contact Barbara Blickenstaff, 301-975-2816.  Many of the open
systems APIs are being developed in the IEEE POSIX groups.  An article in the
Dec. 1991 IEEE Spectrum describes these and related API standards.  IEEE
standards aren't distributed electronically, but both of the documents above
tell how to obtain copies.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What's a 'bug'?
Date: 12 May 1992

You can take your pick:
 (1)   Don't use "bug", use "fault" (an incorrect instruction or definition),
       "failure" (an incorrect result), or "mistake" (a human action leading
       to a failure).  Paraphrased from
           IEEE Standard Computer Dictionary
           Standard 610, ISBN 1-55937-079-3
           Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.
           345 East 47th Street
           New York, NY 10017-2394  USA
           $49.50 (US$) for IEEE members
 (2)   Beizer, in a footnote on page 33 of the second edition of _.S_.o_.f_.t_.w_.a_.r_.e
       _.T_.e_.s_.t_.i_.n_.g _.T_.e_.c_.h_.n_.i_.q_.u_.e_.s says (paraphrased):
           I'm  sticking  with "bug" because everyone knows what it means,
           there are several "standards" for other terms that  are  incon-
           sistent  with  each  other,  the OED says that the conventional
           computer meaning of "bug" is  ancient,  and  short  Anglo-Saxon
           words are preferable to long Norman ones.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Where can I get copies of standards??
Date: 28 Oct 1994

ISO, ANSI, and IEEE standards are usually sold to raise some of the funds
that the various national and international standards bodies (who usually
own the copyright) need to keep afloat; thus they are not normally avail-
able electronically.  Also, the organizations are concerned that electron-
ic copies would make it too easy for people to disseminate doctored ver-
sions of the standards.

ISO standards may be purchased from:
In Canada:
    Standards Council of Canada / Conseil canadien des normes
    1200-45 O'Connor,
    Ottawa K1P 6N7
    Phone: (613) 238-3222
    Fax:   (613) 995-4564
On CD-ROM:
    Omnicom, Inc.
    115 Park St. SE
    Vienna, VA 22180-4607
    1-800-OMNICOM
    Also available through the National Technical Information Service
    (NTIS), 5284 Port Royal Rd., Springfield, VA 22161, (703)
    487-4650.
ANSI and ANSI equivalent ISO standards are available from
    ASQC Quality Press
    Customer Service Department
    P.O. Box 3066
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-3066
    Voice: (800) 248-1946
    FAX:   (414) 272-1734

For ITU (formerly CCITT) standards, see the ITU gopher server, (available us-
ing the World-Wide Web via URL gopher://info.itu.ch)or use their mail server:
mail to itudoc@itu.ch with no subject and the following body:
    START
    HELP
    END
There were once some CCITT standards on-line at the University of Colorado,
but the arrangement to make them available via the Internet was terminated at
the end of 1991.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: What is 'cleanroom'?
Date: 21 Oct 1995

'Cleanroom' is a software process based on mathematical verification of compo-
nents and statistical system-level testing.  Cleanroom Software Engineering,
Inc. (see Web page at http://www.csn.net/~deckm/) keeps a more extensive defi-
nition at http://www.csn.net/~deckm/whatiscr.html, including a bibliography.
-- 
http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/home/dalamb/info.html
