Home »
Software Engineering
What is a Software and a Software Process?
In this tutorial, we will learn what is a software, and a software process in software engineering?
By Monika Sharma Last updated : April 04, 2023
What is a software?
Software is a set of instructions which instructs the computer for performing different operations. Software is nothing else but a general name for computer programs.
A computer without software is just an empty box which is not capable of performing any functions because the hardware needs the software so that it can perform certain tasks. So, as the soul is to the human body, the software is to the computer (Though unlike human beings computer can have multiple software in it).
What is a software process?
The software process, as the name suggests is the process that follows while developing any software. The complete routine: from the idea of the software to its completion till its retirement is called the Software process. The whole Software Engineering deals with the Software Process itself. Because if we can enhance the software process in terms of quality and by reducing the time and cost required to complete it, our final product will also be more efficient in all aspects.
The Software Process is concerned with every part of the software: the idea of the software, the requirements of the project, the skills of its developers, production time, total cost, etc. So, if we can improve our Software Process, the quality of our final product will also be improved automatically. But it is not an easy task to improve the Software Process. This is due to the following reasons,
Why is it difficult to improve software process?
- Not Enough Time:
The developers and the other software developing team do not have enough time for analyzing all the aspects of the project. So, instead of discussing and planning the project idea, they directly jump onto the designing and coding phase.
- Lack of Knowledge:
A software may require the knowledge of several fields. But even though the developers may not have the sufficient knowledge and skills for building the project, still they start doing it and later on face problems which in most of the cases leads to cancellation of the project in its halfway.
- Wrong Motivations:
The Wrong motivations also sometimes results in starting of the project without any discussions and planning and later the project being canceled.
- Insufficient commitment:
As there lack of knowledge and skills among the software developers, they are not able to commit before making any module of the project. So, in the early phase, we are not sure whether we will get that particular module or not.