Requirements Engineering

Updated 22 Jul 2026

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def
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  the process of establishing the services that a customer requires from a system and the constraints under which it operates and is developed
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  a systematic process for defining, documenting, and maintaining software requirements
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  bridges the gap from system requirements into software design and construction
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  the foundation of the entire software development lifecycle
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when it occurs
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  begins during the communication activity of the software process
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  continues into the modeling and construction activities
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what it examines
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  the context of the software work to be performed
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  the specific needs that design and construction must address
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  the priorities guiding the order in which work is completed
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  the information, function, and behavior that profoundly shape the resultant design
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goals
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  ensure the system developed meets user needs
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  bridge communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders
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  reduce the risk of costly errors in development
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characteristics of good requirements
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  clear and unambiguous
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  correct
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  understandable
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  verifiable
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  complete
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  consistent (no contradictions)
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  traceable
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core activities (Sommerville, 2015)
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  Requirements Elicitation — inception, discovery, elaboration, negotiation
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  Requirements Analysis
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  Requirements Specification
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  Requirements Validation
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  Requirements Management
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in practice
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  the process varies widely depending on application domain, people, and organization
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  activities are interleaved, not purely sequential - elicitation, analysis, specification, and validation often loop back into each other
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agile perspective
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  many agile methods argue that detailed upfront requirements are wasteful since they change too fast
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  agile teams often use incremental requirements engineering and express requirements as user stories
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  practical for business systems but problematic for safety-critical systems or multi-team development
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related

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Requirements Engineering

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