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248 PART THREE CONVENTIONAL METHODS FOR SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

FIGURE 10.1
The system Business or
engineering product domain
hierarchy World view

Domain of interest

Domain view
System element

Element view

Detailed view

The role of the system engineer is to define the elements for a specific computer-
based system in the context of the overall hierarchy of systems (macro elements). In
the sections that follow, we examine the tasks that constitute computer system engi-
neering.

10.2 THE SYSTEM ENGINEERING HIERARCHY
Regardless of its domain of focus, system engineering encompasses a collection of
top-down and bottom-up methods to navigate the hierarchy illustrated in Figure 10.1.
The system engineering process usually begins with a “world view.” That is, the entire
business or product domain is examined to ensure that the proper business or tech-
nology context can be established. The world view is refined to focus more fully on
specific domain of interest. Within a specific domain, the need for targeted system
elements (e.g., data, software, hardware, people) is analyzed. Finally, the analysis,