Software Engineering Terms - I

IMPLEMENTATION ELEMENTS

A specific software component created to fulfill a specific function defined in the

functional and system design documents.

IMPLEMENTATION STAGE

A stage in the software development lifecycle during which a software product is created

from the design specifications and testing is performed on the individual software units

produced. Also referred to as the programming stage.

INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT

A software development technique where multiple small software development lifecycles

are used to develop the overall software product in a modular fashion.

INDEX

A specialized data structure used to facilitate rapid access to individual database records

or groups of records.

INFORMATION

Data that has been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to humans.

INFORMATION SYSTEM

Interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate

information to support decision-making, coordination, control, analysis, and/or

visualization in an organization.

INHERITANCE

A feature of object-oriented programming where a specific class of objects receives the

features of a more general class.

INITIAL DATA LOAD

When a new database application is first brought online, certain sets of data are

preloaded to support operations. In some cases, a large amount of data is transferred

from one or more legacy systems that the new database application is replacing. The

initial data load figure is calculated as the sum of all records in operational and support

data areas on day zero of the applications production lifecycle. This figure is used as a

baseline for estimating development effort, server hardware requirements and network

loads.

INNER QUERY

Synonym for sub query.

INSERTION POINT

The position of the cursor within a block of text.

INSPECTION

Also termed desk checking. A quality assurance technique that relies on visual

examination of developed products (usually source code or design documentation) to

detect errors, violation of development standards, and other problems.

INSTALLATION STAGE

A software lifecycle stage that consists of the testing, training, and conversion efforts

necessary to place the developed software application into production.

INTEGRITY

The degree to which a software component or application prevents unauthorized access

to, or modification of, programs or data.

INTEGER

A whole number, usually limited to a range of -32,000 to +32,000.

INTERFACE

A formal connection point defined between two independent applications for the purpose

of data exchange.

INTERFACE TESTING

A testing technique that evaluates whether software components pass data and control

correctly to one another.

INTERSECTION

A group of data elements included in two or more tables as part of a Join operation.