Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
Introduction to Computer Science

Thought Provokers

Introduction to Computer ScienceThought Provokers

Thought Provokers

1 .
Consider our start-up company that is 100% committed to leveraging innovative technologies as a business growth facilitator. Describe how it can best use software security engineering to create products or services that can generate business. Give precise examples and explain how the start-up would be able to scale the resulting business (i.e., keep sustaining the cost of doing business while increasing its number of customers).
2 .
In the health-care industry, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that electronic billing and the sharing of client information cannot be done without proper software support. Software plays a crucial role here because it enables electronic communication, and it lowers expenses in comparison to information exchange in traditional paper form. Other than health care, what are other industry examples that have changed drastically in the past decade as a result of applying software as a part of the solutions they offer? Note that the automotive industry was already mentioned in the chapter.
3 .
Virtual reality is a technology that has gotten a lot of attention recently. With companies like Microsoft promoting Mixed Reality and Meta (the company previously known as Facebook) promoting their Metaverse, VR has big companies behind it. Virtual reality, however, has been promoted in the past by game companies such as Nintendo but ended up fading away. Will virtual reality fade away again? What will make virtual reality a success? What impact do software engineers have on its success?
4 .
As the project leader for the software engineering of the new features of next year’s car model, you have been tasked to deliver the lane departure system, additional navigational features on the dashboard computer screen, and a heads-up display system that shows the speed and any warnings displayed onto the windshield. When the product was demoed, the user of the system indicates that they also want to include navigational aids from the navigational system onto the windshield heads-up display. When the navigation system is providing directions, the heads-display on the windshield should show an arrow when getting close to a turn. This functionality was not a part of the original requirements, but rather is a change to the scope of the project. What do you do? What impact will this have on the process and SDLC models being used for the project? Further imagine the new functionality is critical for safety and could potentially prevent accidents. Would your approach change?
5 .
Consider our start-up company that is 100% committed to leveraging innovative technologies as a business growth facilitator. Describe how it can best use software process model selection and refinement to create products or services that can generate business. Give precise examples and explain how the start-up would be able to scale the resulting business (i.e., keep sustaining the cost of doing business while increasing its number of customers)?
6 .
Consider our start-up company that is 100% committed to leveraging innovative technologies as a business growth facilitator. Describe how it can best use the open world software approach to create products or services that can generate business. Give precise examples and explain how the start-up would be able to scale the resulting business (i.e., keep sustaining the cost of doing business while increasing its number of customers).
7 .
It is common for software engineers to help determine requirements for a project. What are potential issues that can arise from having software engineers make decisions on requirements?
8 .
What are the ramifications of releasing software that has issues? How could this impact customers? How could it impact the software engineers who worked on the project? Consider the features discussed at the beginning of this chapter for software in the automotive industry. What would the impact be of errors in software for features such as lane departure system, cruise control, navigation, or augmented heads-up displays?
PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-computer-science/pages/1-introduction

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-computer-science/pages/1-introduction

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Apr 23, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.