The basis for successful RE is a common understanding of the terms used. The CPRE Glossary covers the core terms of Requirements Engineering—it is the central reference work across all CPRE modules and levels! The RE@Agile Glossary supplements the CPRE Glossary with terms for Requirements Engineering in an agile environment.
The glossaries are also available in various languages for download.
The CPRE Glossary: An overview of the most important Requirements Engineering terms
Please note that the definitions of terms in the glossaries are deliberately in English only in order to exclude any ambiguities or scope for interpretation that may result from translations.
The ↑process of confirming that an ↑item (a ↑system , a ↑work product or a part thereof) matches its ↑stakeholders’ needs.
In RE, validation is the process of confirming that the documented ↑requirements match their ↑stakeholders’ needs; in other words: whether the right requirements have been specified.
1. The degree to which a ↑system can be changed or customized.
2. In product lines: The ↑features that can differ among the members of the ↑product line .
One of the possible forms that an ↑item (e.g., a ↑requirement ) may have.
A point in a ↑product line where an element of the product line (typically a variable or a ↑feature ) can be chosen from a set of ↑variants .
The degree to which the fulfillment of a ↑requirement by an implemented ↑system can be verified.
Such ↑verification can be performed, for example by defining ↑acceptance test cases, measurements or ↑inspection procedures.
The process of confirming that an ↑item (a system, a work product, or a part thereof) fulfills its ↑specification .
Requirements verification is the process of confirming that the ↑requirements have been documented properly and satisfy the ↑quality criteria for requirements; in other words, whether the requirements have been specified right.
An occurrence of an ↑item which exists in multiple, time-ordered occurrences where each occurrence has been created by modifying one of its previous occurrences.
An excerpt from a ↑work product , containing only those parts one is currently interested in.
A view can abstract or aggregate parts of the work product.
A certain perspective on the ↑requirements of a ↑system .
Typical viewpoints are perspectives that a ↑stakeholder or stakeholder group has (for example, an end user’s perspective or an operator’s perspective). However, there can also be topical viewpoints such as a security viewpoint.