Description of BS ISO/IEC TR 12182:1998 1999

The scope of this Technical Report is the categories of software (including relevant software development products and data) that are produced by software engineering processes. It describes a categorization scheme for software that encompasses different points of view and significant characteristics and attributes that describe and define software and software categories.

1.1 Field of application

The field of application of the Categorization of Software includes software engineering and its associated standards, software, data, and methodologies.

1.2 Audience and purpose

This Technical Report is primarily directed towards several audiences: the software engineering community; the users of software engineering standards, specifically those developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7; and developers of software engineering standards, primarily SC 7.

The purpose or usage of the Categorization of Software is the identifying of software categories, identifying of applicable software engineering standards for software, and determining the relationship of software tasks, processes, or products to software engineering standards.

The use of the Categorization of Software is defined as the generation of a justifiable entry for each of the views specified in Clause 7 for the given software product or in a mapping of a software engineering standard. In some circumstances a null entry is appropriate.

It often occurs that the software engineering processes, and the products of those processes, apply to the procurement or development of certain kinds of software. For example, ISO 6592 applies to large application systems and ISO 9127 applies to packaged software. This Technical Report provides a categorization scheme to assist in (1) the understanding of the area of application of a standard or software, (2) the identification and selection of standards applicable to a software application, and (3) the positioning of new standards.

1.3 Limitations

Since software engineering is a fast changing field, the categorization outlined herein can only be a conceptual scheme. Users, therefore, should use judgement when applying it to applications. The categorization scheme in this Technical Report is empirical in nature. Its formulation is not based on well-defined user needs. The scheme has not been validated in field trials.

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