List of software engineering topics

Core topics

Programming languages
Databases
- Hierarchical databases
- Relational databases
- Object databases
- SQL
Graphical user interfaces
Programming tools
- Configuration management or source code management
  - Make
  - CVS
  - RCS
- Editors
  - text editors
  - program editors
  - word processors
Library
- Software components
Design languages
- UML
Patterns and Anti-patterns document many common programming and project management techniques.
Processes and Methodologies
- Heavyweight
  - Cleanroom
  - CMM and CMMI
  - ISO 9000 and ISO 9001
  - Rational Unified Process RUP
  - Six Sigma
- Agile
Platformss. As platforms have become more powerful, tools have become available on less expensive platforms and more widely available.
- Cray supercomputers
- IBM mainframes
- Linux
- Mac OS/Mac OS X
- UNIX
- Wintel PCs
Practices
- Refactoring
- Software inspections
- Pair programming
- Software reuse
Other tools
- Decision tables

The following applications either influenced software engineering or vice versa.

John Backus: Fortran, first optimizing compiler
Kent Beck: Refactoring, Extreme programming (pair programming, test driven development).
Tim Berners-Lee: World wide web
Barry Boehm: Software economics, COCOMO, Spiral model.
Grady Booch: Object-oriented design, UML.
Fred Brooks: Managed System 360 and OS 360. Wrote The Mythical Man-Month and "No Silver Bullet".
Edsger Dijkstra: Author of A Discipline of Programming
Michael Fagan: Software inspection.
Tom Gilb: Evolutionary processes.
Grace Hopper: First compiler (Mark 1), COBOL.
Watts S. Humphrey: Capability Maturity Model, headed (founded?) the Software Engineering Institute.
Jean Ichbiah: Ada
Bill Joy: Berkeley Unix, VI, Java.
Brian Kernighan: C and Unix.
Donald Knuth : Author of The Art of Computer Programming
Bertrand Meyer: Design by Contract, Eiffel programming language.
Peter G. Neumann: Computer risks, ACM Sigsoft.
David Parnas: Module design, social responsibility, professionalism.
Jef Raskin: Developed original Macintosh GUI
Dennis Ritchie: C and Unix.
Winston W. Royce: Waterfall model.
Linus Torvalds: Linux kernel.
Will Tracz: Reuse, ACM Software Engineering Notes.
Richard Stallman: Founder of the Free Software Foundation
Gerald Weinberg: Wrote The Psychology of Computer Programming.
Ed Yourdon: Structured programming, wrote The Decline and Fall of the American Programmer.

The Mythical Man-Month, by Fred Brooks: Written at UNC describing what Brooks learned from IBM's OS 360 project.
The Capability Maturity Model, by Watts Humphrey. Written for the Software Engineering Institute, emphasizing management. Humphreys was a VP at IBM.
The Psychology of Computer Programming, by Gerald Weinberg. Written as an independent consultant, partly about his IBM years.
Decline and Fall of the American Programmer by Ed Yourdon.
Object-oriented Analysis and Design by Grady Booch.
Design Patterns by Gang of Four.
Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler, Kent Beck, John Brant, William Opdyke and Don Roberts
Peopleware, by Tom DeMarco.
Principles of Software Engineering Management by Tom Gilb.

Development Life cycle phase
- Requirements gathering
- Requirements analysis
- Software architecture
- Computer programming
- Testing, focuses on detecting (preventing?) bugs
  - Black box testing
  - White box testing
  - Clear box testing
- Quality assurance, ensures compliance with process. It is a misnomer because it is not about quality and it is not about testing. (Move)
Release Development stage
- Alpha
- Beta
- Gold master
- 1.0
Product Life cycle phase
- Inception
- First development
- Maintenance
- Obsolesence

These are the things that must be developed for many projects.

Application
Database
Documentation and Software documentation, for each role (user, administrator, manager, buyer)
Maintenace policy
Installers
Migration, upgrade from previous versions and competitor's installations
Training materials, for each role (user, administrator, manager, buyer)
Support CSG
Marketing and sales materials
- White papers
- Comparisons with competitor products

Skilled software engineers know much computer science research and practice.

Algorithms, these are well-studied and understood methods for solving specific problems.
Data structures
Computability, some problems cannot be solved
- Halting problem
Complexity, some problems are inherently unsolvable because of the time required
- NP completeness
- Computational complexity theory
Discrete mathematics
Proof of correctness