Affiliations: [a] Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA | [b] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA | [c] Department of Computer Science, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Zekai Demirezen, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: We observed that before initiating software development the objectives are minimally organized and developers introduce comparatively higher organization throughout the design process. To be able to formally capture this observation, a new communication channel representation system for software is developed in three stages a) set-theoretical representation of software design, b) mapping of software design to a communication channel formalism, and c) hierarchical decomposition leading to higher organization. This new representation system provides a better understanding of the software design by introducing a stepwise entropy reduction notion to the design process. Formal representation of hierarchical decomposition of software and entropy-reduction view of software design provides a stronger bridge between established engineering methods and software design, opens up new possibilities in software research, connecting software with information and coding theory.
Keywords: Software design, entropy, communication channel, hierarchical system, organization
