UGC NET Computer Science Software Engineering Syllabus

Software Engineering syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Software Engineering in UGC NET Computer Science, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Software Process Models

   10 topics

   • Software Process
   • Generic Process Model – Framework Activity
   • Task Set and Process Patterns
   • Process Lifecycle
   • Prescriptive Process Models
   • Project Management
   • Component Based Development
   • Aspect-Oriented Software Development
   • Formal Methods
   • Agile Process Models
     • Extreme Programming (XP)
     • Adaptive Software Development
     • Scrum
     • Dynamic System Development Model
     • Feature Driven Development
     • Crystal
     • Web Engineering
2. 2

   Software Requirements

   6 topics

   • Functional and Non-Functional Requirements
   • Eliciting Requirements
   • Developing Use Cases
   • Requirement Analysis and Modeling
   • Requirements Review
   • Software Requirement and Specification (SRS) Document
3. 3

   Software Design

   13 topics

   • Abstraction
   • Architecture
   • Patterns
   • Separation of Concerns
   • Modularity
   • Information Hiding
   • Functional Independence
   • Cohesion and Coupling
   • Object-Oriented Design
   • Data Design
   • Architectural Design
   • User Interface Design
   • Component Level Design
4. 4

   Software Quality

   8 topics

   • McCall’s Quality Factors
   • ISO 9126 Quality Factors
   • Quality Control
   • Quality Assurance
   • Risk Management
   • Risk Mitigation
   • Monitoring and Management (RMMM)
   • Software Reliability
5. 5

   Estimation and Scheduling of Software Projects

   7 topics

   • Software Sizing
   • LOC and FP based Estimations
   • Estimating Cost and Effort
   • Estimation Models
   • Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO)
   • Project Scheduling and Staffing
   • Time-line Charts
6. 6

   Software Testing

   11 topics

   • Verification and Validation
   • Error, Fault, Bug and Failure
   • Unit and Integration Testing
   • White-box and Black-box Testing
   • Basis Path Testing
   • Control Structure Testing
   • Deriving Test Cases
   • Alpha and Beta Testing
   • Regression Testing
   • Performance Testing
   • Stress Testing
7. 7

   Software Configuration Management

   4 topics

   • Change Control and Version Control
   • Software Reuse
   • Software Re-engineering
   • Reverse Engineering

Software Engineering flashcards for UGC NET Computer Science

20 of 60 cards from the Software Engineering deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is a software process?

   A structured set of activities, actions, and tasks required to develop high-quality software. The five generic framework activities are communication, planning, modeling, construction, and deployment.

2. Name the five framework activities of the generic process model.

   Communication, Planning, Modeling, Construction, and Deployment. These are supplemented by umbrella activities that span the whole process.

3. What are umbrella activities in a software process? Give examples.

   Activities that apply throughout the process, independent of any single framework activity. Examples: project tracking/control, risk management, quality assurance, configuration management, technical reviews, measurement, and reusability management.

4. Differentiate a task set from a process pattern.

   A task set is the actual collection of work tasks, milestones, and deliverables needed to accomplish a software action for a project. A process pattern is a reusable template describing a process-related problem, its context, and a proven solution.

5. What is the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?

   The sequence of phases a software product passes through: requirements, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Maintenance typically consumes the largest share of total effort.

6. List the major prescriptive process models.

   Waterfall (linear sequential), Incremental, RAD, and Evolutionary models (Prototyping, Spiral, Concurrent). They are 'prescriptive' because they prescribe a set of process elements and an orderly workflow.

7. What is the key characteristic and limitation of the Waterfall model?

   A linear sequential model where each phase must complete before the next begins. Limitation: it does not handle changing requirements well and a working product appears only late in the cycle.

8. Describe the Spiral model and its driving concept.

   An evolutionary, risk-driven model combining iterative prototyping with the systematic aspects of the waterfall. Each loop (cycle) addresses risk analysis before proceeding, and the product is refined through successive spirals.

9. What is the RAD model and its typical timeframe?

   Rapid Application Development: an incremental model emphasizing a very short development cycle using component-based construction. Each function is built by a team and integrated, typically within a 60-90 day window.

10. What is Component-Based Development (CBD)?

    A process that emphasizes building software by assembling pre-built, reusable software components (COTS or in-house) rather than coding everything from scratch, promoting reuse and faster assembly.

11. What problem does Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD) address?

    It modularizes crosscutting concerns (such as logging, security, transactions) that span multiple modules, capturing them as separate units called aspects to reduce code tangling and scattering.

12. What are Formal Methods in software engineering?

    Mathematically rigorous techniques for specifying, developing, and verifying software using formal notations (e.g., Z, VDM). They enable removal of ambiguity, inconsistency, and incompleteness, supporting proof of correctness.

13. State the four values of the Agile Manifesto.

    Individuals and interactions over processes and tools; working software over comprehensive documentation; customer collaboration over contract negotiation; responding to change over following a plan.

14. What are the key roles and artifacts in Scrum?

    Roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team. Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment. Work is done in fixed-length Sprints with daily stand-ups and a sprint review/retrospective.

15. Name the core practices of Extreme Programming (XP).

    Pair programming, test-driven development, continuous integration, refactoring, small/frequent releases, simple design, collective code ownership, and an on-site customer.

16. Differentiate functional from non-functional requirements.

    Functional requirements describe what the system must do (specific behaviors/functions). Non-functional requirements describe quality attributes/constraints—performance, reliability, security, usability, scalability.

17. What is requirements elicitation and name common techniques.

    The process of gathering requirements from stakeholders. Techniques: interviews, questionnaires, brainstorming, FAST (Facilitated Application Specification Technique), QFD (Quality Function Deployment), use cases, and prototyping.

18. What is a use case and what are its essential elements?

    A description of how an actor interacts with the system to achieve a goal. Elements: actors, preconditions, main (basic) flow, alternative flows/exceptions, and postconditions.

19. Name the analysis models produced during requirements modeling.

    Scenario-based (use cases, activity diagrams), class-based (class diagrams), behavioral (state and sequence diagrams), and flow-oriented (data flow diagrams) models.

20. What is the purpose of a requirements review?

    A validation activity to ensure requirements are correct, complete, consistent, unambiguous, feasible, and testable before design begins, catching errors early when they are cheap to fix.

See more Software Engineering flashcards →

Planning Software Engineering for UGC NET Computer Science

Software Engineering (UGC NET Computer Science) FAQ