BY MACKINI HENRY
Software Crisis can also be referred to as a term used in the early days of ‘Software Engineering’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_crisis). Software Engineering is the developing of software that is able to meet the requirements of end users. Although software crisis is a term used in software engineering, it is said that the problems a user faces with certain software are the crisis. Some of these problems are ineffectiveness, high cost, poor quality and late implementation of the software.
If software is ineffective it means that the requirements of the user are not met. The software then is of no use or value to the user as it does not solve the problems the user was facing before. Ineffective software is sometimes the result of the complexity of the software. This means that the software is too complicated and the user might not be able to understand it. Moreover it may not perform the specific tasks of the user.
The high cost for software is a crisis as the users might not be able to acquire the software which enables them to perform their specific tasks. Some software is sometimes worth less than their performance ability. This means that the software has fewer features than what the user had to pay for it. The high cost of poor quality software is not the only problem, but also the high cost of the most effective software. In most cases, users have to pay more money in order to acquire high performance software.
Poor quality is another type of software crisis. Some software that is not user- friendly can be considered as poor quality software, as the user is unable to communicate efficiently with the software. User friendly in this case can mean the features the software has such as Graphical User Interface (GUI), which enhances the pictorial aspect of the software. If the software is difficult to understand, it can also be classified as poor quality software. This is to say that the software did not solve the problem faced by the user and so is unusable.
The estimated time for the implementation of software can also be classified as a software crisis. When an estimated time is given, it may not be an accurate time for the implementation of the software. Sometimes, when software has too many different features, the process of creating that software can be time consuming. Even though time management is important when considering the completion of the software, sometimes the programmer might have to extend the estimated time given in order to complete the software so that it can function properly and effectively. This extension of the estimated time sometimes results in the late delivery of the software as well as unfinished software being implemented.
Therefore, software crisis can be summed up as just a simple late delivery, a high cost, ineffectiveness as well as poor quality of software.
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BY JORDON JOHNSON
The Software Crisis
According to the Wikipedia encyclopedia, the software crisis is a term used to describe the impact of rapid increase in computer power and the complexity of the problems which could be tackled. It refers to the difficulty of writing correct, understandable and verifiable computer programs.
Due to the immature of the software engineering profession, certain issues became a result of the software crisis, some of which include: software of low quality being produced, software being inefficient, software not meeting the required needs and projects running over-time and over-budget. Most software projects do not follow a formal process, as a result of this, we produce software that is poorly designed and documented. This makes it difficult for programmers to maintain as they do not know what effect a change might have on the entire system.
Even though the software crisis is said to be the early days it is still with us today, as we have very little skilled programmers and much software that is desperately needed. Some real life software crises today that can be improved or created are: medical diagnosis system, school system and the traffic system. When arriving at, it ought to be that a computerized system is in place to capture the time you arrived and left, the classes you were present for, the days you were absent and the extra-curricular activity you attend. This system should present a weekly report. Implementing software as such would increase efficiency and productivity, as students would have more time for learning, teachers would no longer have to conform to the manual system. A computerized systems should also be in place to analyze a patient’s symptoms, test results and medical history in order to direct the doctor to the correct tests to perform or provide suggested diagnosis. Finally, a traffic system should be implemented to find the fastest possible way to a destination. An improvement of the GPS technology.
Engineers must work extremely hard if they want to develop software of the highest quality. They must have a realistic project plan and find creative means of developing software even though it is said that there is no “perfect project plan” as glitches are most likely to occur. A problem facing them is the constraint of software technology by hardware technology. Since hardware develops at a much faster pace than software, developers are constantly trying to catch up and take advantage of hardware improvements.
There is a shortage of software in today’s society that could solve real world problems. The number of skilled engineers needs to be increased in order to increase productivity, efficiency and capacity of software today. Fortunately there is an awareness of the software crisis, and it has inspired a worldwide movement towards process improvements. Software industry leaders are beginning to see that following formal software process consistently leads to better quality products, more efficient teams and individual, reduced cost and better morale.
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BY JAMELIA LEWIS
Software Crisis
Software Crisis is a concept use to describe the effects of the fast improvement in the level of powering that a computer possesses and complexity of the problems that can be approach. In other words, it refers to the complication involved in creating a program that is error free, vivid and verifiable. The roots of the software crisis are the complexity of the programs, the expectations from whom ever wishes for the program to be written and change as it relates to the world of technology.
In the process in developing software, there is a known factor that delays the process, that is, conflicting requirements. For example, while users demand a large number of features, customers generally want to minimize the amount they must pay for the software and the time required for its development.
The major cause of software crisis is the fact that the magnitude of the machines is more powerful. Back then computers weren’t so abundant so programming was mild but as the computers increase so does the importance of programming. The causes of the software crisis were linked to the overall complexity of the software process and the relative immaturity of software engineering as a profession.
The crisis manifested itself in several ways such as projects running over-budget, projects running over-time, Software was very inefficient, software was of low quality, software often did not meet requirements, projects were unmanageable and code difficult to maintain, software was never delivered. Various processes and methodologies have been developed over the last few decades to "tame" the software crisis, with varying degrees of success. However, it is widely agreed that there is no "silver bullet" ― that is, no single approach which will prevent project overruns and failures in all cases. In general, software projects which are large, complicated, poorly-specified, and involve unfamiliar aspects, are still particularly vulnerable to large, unanticipated problems.
Software engineering was brought about by the so-called software crisis of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, which identified many of the problems of software development. Many software projects ran over budget and schedule. Some projects caused property damage. A few projects caused loss of life . The software crisis was originally defined in terms of productivity, but evolved to emphasize quality. Some used the term software crisis to refer to their inability to hire enough qualified programmers.
To sum up what I’ve just wrote, basically to me I think software crisis is the problems that arise when considering to write programs or develop software.
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