Analysis of Software Engineering from An Engineering Perspective
Alain Abran, Kenza Meridji · Espace ÉTS (ETS) · 2006
Walter G. Vincenti, in his book What engineers know and how they know it, has proposed a taxonomy of engineering knowledge. Software Engineering, as a discipline, is certainly not yet as mature as other engineering disciplines, and some authors have even challenged the notion that Software Engineering is indeed engineering. To investigate this issue, Vincenti’s categories of engineering knowledge are used to analyze the SWEBOK (Software Engineering Body of Knowledge) Guide from an engineering perspective. This paper presents an overview of the Vincent’si categories of engineering knowledge, followed by an analysis of the engineering design concept in Vincenti vs. the design concept in the SWEBOK Guide: this highlights in particular the fact that Vincenti’s engineering design concept is not limited to the design phase knowledge area in the SWEBOK Guide, but that it pervades many of the SWEBOK knowledge areas. Finally, the SWEBOK Software Quality knowledge area is selected as a case study, and analyzed using Vincenti’s classification of engineering knowledge.