Software Engineering

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CHAPTER 7 
Understanding Software Requirements
function. This expertise will alleviate the ambiguity associated with interpreting 
stakeholder needs.
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  Changing stakeholder needs and expectations as the software development 
effort progresses. This represents an evolution associated with the understand-
ing and clarity of stakeholder needs as it affects the software product. Continual 
changes in product requirements will impair the ability of the project team to 
stabilize the software specifications and progress with software implementation.
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  Underestimating the scope of effort involved with the incorporation of new or 
modification of old software functionality and features. Each change must be 
comprehensively examined to address the impact of incorporating the change 
into the product architecture, associated documentation, and technical plans.
Every change to project scope will have a varying level of impact on the 
planned software development effort. An objective of software engineering is to 
prepare the product architecture in a manner that can be implemented and tested 
within project cost and schedule parameters. Changes late in the project timeta-
ble, after preliminary design review (PDR) or critical design review (CDR), will 
require revisions to the software specifications, software architecture, and test plans 
and procedures. Changes to project scope must account for the total project effort 
needed to revise the specifications, architecture design documentation, and techni-
cal plans. Otherwise, the project will be challenged to exceed the anticipated work 
reflected in the work packages. The act of incorporating changes in scope also 
impacts the project by derailing technical progress to address the effort necessary 
to adjust the software architecture, reprogram and reallocate resources, and update 
project and technical plans to reflect the incorporation of the change.