Advances in software engineering and their relations to pattern recognition and image processing

In recent years ‘software engineering’ has emerged as a discipline of programming. It includes the conceptualization, design, implementation, testing and modification of software systems. Related issues are languages, standards, distributed and parallel processing, and total programming environments. The fact that more than 80 percent of system development costs were in software rather than hardware helps one appreciate the importance of any effort to understand and enhance the software production process. Many pattern recognition projects involve fairly large software efforts. It makes sense not only for researchers to make use of the latest software tools and methologies but also to anticipate future changes.