Software Engineering

Abstract

This chapter looks at software development, management, and typical applications. Common operating systems and the techniques required for selecting the appropriate programming language for a project or task are described. Features common to all programming languages are examined, as well as the software life cycle: both the steps within it and models of implementation. Several types of programming are described, including procedural, object-oriented, functional, real-time, and embedded. Next, software quality is considered, followed by an examination of databases, both simple and structured, including normalization and the manipulation of data using Structured Query Language. The second half of the chapter describes some typical applications (plus some sample packages) within clinical computing: image processing, finite element analysis, artificial intelligence, expert systems, equipment management databases, and device tracking systems. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.