Book Image

The Complete Edition - Software Engineering for Real-Time Systems

By : Jim Cooling
Book Image

The Complete Edition - Software Engineering for Real-Time Systems

By: Jim Cooling

Overview of this book

From air traffic control systems to network multimedia systems, real-time systems are everywhere. The correctness of the real-time system depends on the physical instant and the logical results of the computations. This book provides an elaborate introduction to software engineering for real-time systems, including a range of activities and methods required to produce a great real-time system. The book kicks off by describing real-time systems, their applications, and their impact on software design. You will learn the concepts of software and program design, as well as the different types of programming, software errors, and software life cycles, and how a multitasking structure benefits a system design. Moving ahead, you will learn why diagrams and diagramming plays a critical role in the software development process. You will practice documenting code-related work using Unified Modeling Language (UML), and analyze and test source code in both host and target systems to understand why performance is a key design-driver in applications. Next, you will develop a design strategy to overcome critical and fault-tolerant systems, and learn the importance of documentation in system design. By the end of this book, you will have sound knowledge and skills for developing real-time embedded systems.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Preface
15
Glossary of terms

6. Diagramming – an Introduction

In the early days of computers, diagramming didn't figure as an important topic in the design process. Further, the only pictorial method used was that of the flowchart. At that time, there was little distinction between programming and design (or, for that matter, between programmers and designers). The design and development process usually went as follows:

  • Programmers thought about the problem to be solved
  • They wrote lines of code to solve it
  • The code was tested and modified until it was correct (or appeared to be so)
  • The source code was released as the system documentation

Sometimes, in a token gesture to appease senior management (or the customer), a system flowchart was produced. Whether it represented what went on in the program is another matter.

In recent years, a revolution has taken place concerning the use of diagramming for software. Practically all modern software tools use diagrams as an...