Introduction to Requirements Engineering and Management - Requirements Engineering and Management for Software Development Projects - page 10

electrical engineering, construction engineering, chemical engineering, electronics
engineering and so on are all collectively known as engineering.
Engineering is also defined as a process. It is a process of converting the
specifications of customers into such artifacts that are used by artisans to produce
the product that fulfills the customer specifications. The artifacts can be engi-
neering drawings, process documents, parts lists, material specifications and so on.
The artifacts can even be textual documents.
The definition relevant to requirements engineering is the last one that it is a
process. However, requirements engineering does not cover the entire definition. It
only covers the definition partially. The activities included in requirements engi-
neering are:
1. Collecting the requirements from customers
2. Compiling and collating the requirements
3. Establishment of the requirements
4. Ensuring the integrity of the requirements
5. Tracing, tracking and reporting the progress of requirements through the
software development life cycle.
Each of these activities are discussed in detail in the following chapters.
1.7 Topics Proposed to be Covered in this Topic
Having placed both ''Requirements'' and ''Requirements Management'' in their
proper perspective, we are now ready to move forward. We will be learning all the
above topics in greater detail in the subsequent chapters.
This topic aims at consolidating my theoretical knowledge garnered from
reading topics; learning from the knowledgeable seniors; my own experience in
software development; observation of peer projects; and my experience in con-
ducting training programs to the learners of the discipline of requirements man-
agement. This consolidation - it is my fervent hope would aid the learners as a
guide for learning and the experienced professionals in the field as a reference text.
The following topics are covered to be covered in this topic:
1. Introduction to Requirements Management—covered in this chapter
2. Understanding Requirements
3. Elicitation / Gathering Requirements
4. Requirements Analysis and Development
5. Establishment of Requirements
6. Verification and validation of requirements
7. Planning for Requirements Management
8. Change Management in Requirements Management
9. Requirements, Tracing, Tracking and Progress Reporting
10. Metrics & Measurement in Requirements Management