ABSTRACT
To simplify and disambiguate our subsequent discussion, let us accept the fact that a requirement is an intrinsic property of an entity, either in the form of a business or a person. Requirements are not attributes of software documents. People and corporate entities have requirements or needs. In the development of a new software system, we seek to meet the needs of a person with this felt need or requirement. In the context of this book, the notion of a requirement is different from the standard use of the term in the literature. It is our thesis that a requirement is a property of an entity, corporate or corporeal. We interact with the entity to develop an abstract machine, the operational model that will best fulfill the user’s requirements. The documentation surrounding the operational machine that we develop in response to the user’s requirements is known as the operational specification. The customer’s requirements are fulfilled in the operational specification.
