A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW™

Chapter 3. Software Design Principles

Before looking at the technical aspects of what makes a good software application we should establish what we think constitutes good software.

A good software application should:

• Enable small changes in users' needs to be accommodated by small changes in the code

• Be delivered on time and on budget

• Function mostly to expectations

• Be easy to use

• Be maintainable

• Perform well

• Fail gracefully

• Be secure

• Work reliably

Why is Software Complex?

	. . . software seems like malleable stuff, most programs are actually intricate plexuses of brittle logic through which data of only the right kind may pass.[1]
	--W. Waytt Gibbs, “Software's Chronic Crisis”

Software can be thought of as a machine that has many states, with these states ...