Software-Engineering

One of 4D Engineering's major strengths lies in the company's unique capacity for combining technical and scientific expertise with modern software development and management techniques. A broad array of methods and standards allows us to integrate our resources into the the existing development processes of our clients.

4DE uses different models for the life cycle and development process as a function of the scale and complexity of a project. These include classic models such as the V model or modified waterfall models as well as incremental and evolutionary phase models.

In addition to conventional design techniques, 4D Engineering also uses object-oriented design methods with the UML modeling language.

4D Engineering understands software development as a part of the complete engineering process being embedded in the project management, configuration management and quality management. Beyond the classical methods, also modern techniques for risk/chance analysis, controlling or assessment are applied. These processes are supported by structures for the resource and knowledge management. To increase the efficiency and match increasing quality demands, all processes are permanently controlled and improved.

For a faster project start, 4D Engineerings customers rely on established internal document and development standards. One of our strengths moreover lies in the regular adaptation of various project- and customer-specific standards. Especially included are here the standards relevant to the industry (RTCA DO-178 B, OSEK, ...), but also the general standards for development processes (e.g. ISO 12207), documentation or quality management. A certification according to ISO 9001 is currently in preparation.

For the management of complex software projects, depending on the project size and requirements, 4D Engineering applies various models for the life cycle and development process. Here, classical models such as the V-model or modified waterfall models as well as incremental and evolutionary phase models are applied.

By using modern tools and the application of professional techniques with baselining, version planning or change management, 4D Engineering is able to accompany its customers up to the maintenance phase of a software project.

The entire development process is supported by a company-wide technical infrastructure for an efficient handling of the projects. Among others, also a well-equipped test laboratory counts to it.

Beyond the application of classical design techniques, also in the development of real-time applications, 4D Engineering increasingly sets a focal point on object-oriented design methods by using UML. 4D Engineering has far-reaching experience in the application of CASE-tools such as RoseRT or Rhapsody.

Especially in the field of dedicated real-time systems such as VxWorks, QNX and OSE, but also in the field of standard platforms such as Linux/RT-Linux, Windows NT and several Unix variants, 4D Engineering has extensive experience. 4D Engineering employees mainly develop in C and C++, but they are also skilled in most of the other typical languages and assemblers in the technical field.

For design and implementation, 4D Engineering relies on graphical development tools such as e.g. integrated cross environments and GUI-builders. Especially for the real-time area, 4D Engineering also developed an own framework, which provides object-oriented services for inter-task communication, process data management, scheduling and logging.

For project realization, 4D Engineering implements interdisciplinary teams, which are individually arranged due to the requirements and which combine technical-scientific know-how with modern software engineering. Consequent and advanced training ensures that 4D Engineering keeps its team fit for the sophisticated requirements of a very dynamic market segment. By means of a professional project management, which is proved by the in-time handling of larger software projects, it is possible to keep the planned time and cost frame.