Software Engineering

1. 
Convey to stakeholders the characteristics of the product.
2. 
Prove the achievement of challenging engineering and design characteristics, 
such as performance, interoperability, user input acceptability, and usability.
3. 
Evaluate competing design alternatives from a variety of engineering trades, 
such as cost-benefit analysis, feasibility, supportability, and resource utilization.
4. 
Provide engineering representations (drawings, diagrams, executable models) of 
the product design configuration, interfaces, behaviors, and integration and test 
procedures.
5. 
Support user training and education on the proper use or exploitation of the 
product.
6. 
Express a process definition in support of process analysis, design, and 
evaluation.
Engineering models take many forms and may be constructed in a number of 
materials and media formats, such as paper, clay, wood, spreadsheets, drawings, 
diagrams, and CAD/CAM/CAE-based computer representations. Engineering sim-
ulations are dynamic models that are used to evaluate design characteristics under 
operational and environmental conditions.
3 
Dependability
 refers to the trustworthiness of a product to perform suitably under a variety of oper-
ational environments. It is a term that is better suited for software-based products than reliability, 
availability, and maintainability, which apply to hardware-based products.
4 
Department of Defense Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Glossary, DoD 5000.59-M, 
U.S. Department of Defense, 1998.

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