Evaluating Project Decisions in Software Engineering: Managing Decisions
- 1.1 Chapter Objectives
- 1.2 Context
- 1.3 Decision Model for Software Engineering
- 1.4 Summary
1.1 Chapter Objectives
This chapter introduces concepts about evaluating decisions for software development projects and other software engineering efforts. This chapter will help you understand the purpose, rationale, and application of a model for evaluating decisions. Succeeding chapters will illustrate how to apply the model to decisions being made to manage various aspects of software projects and to handle problems faced by the stakeholders in case scenarios. Managing decisions involves identifying a problem to be solved, formulating and evaluating alternative solutions to the problem, selecting among the alternative solutions, and executing the decision or implementing the solution. The model discussed in this chapter applies to the following phases: identifying the problem, formulating and evaluating alternative solutions, and selecting among alternative solutions or decision. The case studies in the succeeding chapters focus on these phases but may also include the execution aspect of managing decisions.