Creating Software Engineers - A Systemic View Dr. F.C. Kohli

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Welcome...
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Creating Software Engineers - A Systemic
ViewDr. F.C. Kohli
CSEE T 2002, Feb 27,2002 Cincinnati, USA
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Agenda

• The Engineering of Software
• Core competencies for a Software Engineer
• Initial Education Continuous Learning
• Systemic view of creating Software Engineers
• Knowledge Portal
• Role of Professional bodies
• Education for a taxonomy of IT careers
• Conclusions

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Engineering

• Profession in which knowledge of Physical
  Natural Sciences gained by
• Study,Experience Practice
• is applied with judgement to develop ways to
  utilize economically
• the materials forces of nature
• for the benefit of mankind.
• .. Engineering Council for Professional
  Development

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Why Engineering in Software Development?

• Software development involves
• Disciplined problem solving
• Analysis of problem
• Product specification
• Identification of Component Interfaces /
  Sub-assemblies
• Process and Project Management Skills
• Prototypes
• Reuse
• As many programmers learn skills on the job, an
  engineering mindset brings a process discipline

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Software and Software Engineering

• Software Engineering is a systematic approach to
  the development, operation, maintenance and
  retirement of software IEEE.
• Software is the modelling and implementation of
  the
• philosophy,
• methodology and
• knowledge
• of accomplishing a task into computer codes.

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5 Ps of Software Engineering

• Product (Software)
• Problem (Domain)
• Process (Development Process)
• Project (Project Management)
• People (Team)

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Dynamics of Software Development

• We need to have an integrated perspective on
  software development (including both management
  functions like planning, controlling and
  staffing, as well as software production
  activities like designing, coding, testing, etc.)
  Abdel-Hamid Madnick, 89
• Software project management system is far more
  complex conglomerate of interdependent variables
• Ref. T.K. Abdel-Hamid and Stuart E. Madnick,
  Lessons Learned from Modeling of Dynamics of
  Software Development Communications of the ACM,
  Vol. 32, No. 12, 1989, pp.1426-1455

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3 Core Competencies of a Software Engineer

• Systems Engineering
• Software Engineering
• Concurrent Engineering

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Core Competencies

• Systems Engineering
• Recognize and handle complexity in consulting
  assignments
• Perceive systems as a network of inter related
  subsystems
• Probe beyond and behind the obvious during
  problem diagnosis / discovery phases
• Understand the needs and constraints of all
  stakeholders in the system
• Get better understanding of the domain leading to
  lasting solutions rather than quick fixes
• Treat quantitative and qualitative models with
  equal respect (perceptions are as important as
  hard data in societal applications)
• Aligning Business and Information systems
  architectures

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Core Competencies (contd)

• Software Engineering
• Application of scientific knowledge in the design
  and construction of computer programs and the
  associated documentation
• Concurrent Engineering
• involves the interaction of diverse group of
  individuals who may be scattered over a wide
  geographic range
• takes advantage of shared information
• allows simultaneous focus on different phases of
  the software development life cycle.

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Software Engineering Education

• Creation of intellectual assets
• Choice of raw material
• Process of converting the raw material into
  usable assets
• Guarding against obsolescence
• Matching business needs and individuals
  aspirations
• Learning through experience sharing

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Induction - Continuing Education
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TCS Induction Training Model

• Input
• Predominantly Engineers from heterogeneous
  disciplines
• Concepts - Skill - Attitude Triad
• Engineering Process
• Core Competencies
• Mini-case implementation
• Core fundamentals of Computer Science
• Technologies
• Life skills
• Learning to Learn paradigm
• Feedback measuring effectiveness of training

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SE Education - A Curriculum

• SE Module
• Systems Concurrent Engineering
• Requirements Modeling
• Software Design (Structured and OOAD)
• Static and Dynamic Testing
• Software Quality
• Project (mini-case) implementation
• Computer Science foundations
• Computer Architecture / Operating Systems
• Discrete Mathematics / Data Structures and
  Algorithms
• DB Network Technology
• Life Skills
• Communication / Team Work / Presentation skills

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Creating Software Engineers

• Current Scenario
• IT Education
• Immature Discipline
• Non consensus on Body of Knowledge
• Delay in building infrastructure, general
  technical education, quality faculty, relevant
  curriculum and getting accreditation
• Industry
• Manpower requirement based mainly on short-term
  revenue targets
• Delays in technology absorption
• Deployment of HR with skill mismatch

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Creating Software Engineers - A Systemic View
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General Education IT Education - linkage

• Mindset developed in General Education has to be
  ported to IT education
• Abstraction capability
• Instrumentation, Measurement Empirical
  formulation
• Modeling Behavior extrapolation
• Inspection Quality Control
• Elegance of Design
• User friendly Interfaces
• Safety considerations
• Aesthetics Patterns
• Brevity Clarity of communication

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Knowledge Portal - An Education Transversal Grid
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Knowledge Portal

• Content Authoring
• Content Creation
• Content Delivery
• Content Monitoring / Updation
• Issues
• An active facilitation by experts (Hand holding)
• Evaluation and Feedback
• Mentoring
• Industrys experiences
• Professional Bodys input
• Accreditation / Recognition

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Creating a Learning Environment

• Abstract Industry experience and pass it to
  Academia
• Right faculty at right time through e-Learning
  mode
• Relevant curriculum

Knowledge Management
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Role of Professional Body

• Technology watch
• Influencing Policy
• Arbiter between Academia and Industry

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Role match across various Work Levels
Application Assistants Diploma holders / Secondary / Associate Degree holders
Entry Level Programmers Bachelors in Arts / Science / Commerce / Humanities / Maths
System Integrators (Hardware / Software Maintenance) System Integration / Systems Training
Software Engineers (Product Development / Requirement Specification) Bachelors in Engineering / Graduate in Management
Managers / Project Leaders Bachelors in Engineering / Graduate in Management
Research and Education Masters in Engineering / Ph.Ds
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Conclusion

• Knowledge Portal to facilitate e-Learning
  acceptance of the e-mode of learning by all
• Professional Bodies to play a more proactive
  role
• Industry to abstract experiences into knowledge
  capsules
• Art and Science of Living
• Body of Knowledge in IT relevant to different
  educational streams

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Thank you