Sommerville-Software-Engineering-10ed

772 Glossary
software process
The activities and processes that are involved in developing and evolving a software
system.
software product line
See application family.
spiral model
A model of a development process where the process is represented as a spiral,
with each round of the spiral incorporating the different stages in the process. As
you move from one round of the spiral to another, you repeat all of the stages of
the process.
state diagram
A UML diagram type that shows the states of a system and the events that trigger a
transition from one state to another.
static analysis
Tool-based analysis of a program’s source code to discover errors and anomalies.
Anomalies, such as successive assignments to a variable with no intermediate use
may be indicators of programming errors.
structured method
A method of software design that defines the system models that should be developed,
the rules and guidelines that should apply to these models and a process to be
followed in developing the design.
Structured Query Language (SQL)
A standard language used for relational database programming.
Subversion
A widely-used, open source version control and system building tool that is available
on a range of platforms.
Swiss cheese model
A model of system defenses against operator failure or cyberattack that takes vulnerabilities
in these defenses into account.
system
A system is a purposeful collection of interrelated components, of different kinds,
which work together to deliver a set of services to the system owner and users.
system building
The process of compiling the components or units that make up a system and linking
these with other components to create an executable program. System building
is normally automated so that recompilation is minimized. This automation may be
built in to the language processing system (as in Java) or may involve software
tools to support system building.
systems engineering
A process that is concerned with specifying a system, integrating its components
and testing that the system meets its requirements. System engineering is concerned