Reading D (due Wed March 16)
PDFs of the readings can be downloaded from a private website to which students have access. Please recall the submission instructions.
- Carl A. Gunter, Elsa L. Gunter, Michael Jackson, and Pamela Zave. A Reference Model for Requirements and Specifications. IEEE Software: Volume 17, Issue 3, May 2000, Pages: 37-43.
- David Lorge Parnas.
Requirements Documentation: A Systematic Approach. Slides
from a talk given Feb 2003.
(Only read the first 30 slides.) - Michael Jackson, "Specifications", from Software Requirements And Specifications, Addison-Wesley Addison Wesley Professional, 1995.
- Michael Jackson, "Designations", from Software Requirements And Specifications, Addison-Wesley Addison Wesley Professional, 1995.
- Michael Jackson, "Narrow Bridge", from Software Requirements And Specifications, Addison-Wesley Addison Wesley Professional, 1995.
- Safety Recommendations A-05-03 through -07. National Transportation Safety Board. Washington, DC 20594. March 08, 2005.
Study Questions D
Be concise, clear, and thoughtful; a paragraph or two should suffice. Insight will be rewarded. Contention is encouraged.
- How does Parnas's four variable model differ from the approach used by Gunter et. al.?
- According to Gunter et. al., what is the difference between specifications and requirements? How would you classify the NTSB report?
- Michael Jackson introduces the notion of a designation, which relates the world with an abstraction, and distinguishes it from a definition, which relates different parts of the abstraction. Give an example not derived from Lewis Carroll, and talk through it using his terminology.
- Discuss some ideas from the readings that reflect the concerns given in the NTSB report.