Difference between forward engineering and reverse engineering in software engineering

It is a method of creating or making a product from scratch with the help of the given system requirements. In this, the requirements are provided before the development of the application. Forward engineering process begins with system specification, followed by design and implementation, and culminates in a new system creation.

The crucial difference between the two is that forward engineering starts from a set of designs and develops the product based on those designs. On the other hand, reverse engineering starts from the product itself and attempts to derive the original designs that are embedded in the product.

As such, a forward engineering, the goal is the development of a product or a system, a protocol, a network, an integrated circuit, a software package, or whatever the end product is. Hardware reverse engineering and re-engineering are handy in designs if the original design architectures are unknown, lost, or only partially available.

Equally, software reverse engineering for legacy software systems helps solve incorrect or incomplete documentation. Reverse engineering may also be used in detection and proof of infringement on intellectual property rights.

The task can often be very intricate, depending on the objective. Additionally, there are regulations in most countries that may consider reverse engineering illegal and equivalent to stealing intellectual property. GHB Intellect takes intellectual property ownership very seriously and will not provide reverse engineering services when it is not legally permitted. Forward engineering brings new products to the market that offer unique designs and functions.

Plus, there is little to no risk of an infringement on intellectual property as a new system is created. Forward engineering is of greater risk to a company. Following are the main differences between both of the Engineering. Nitin Sharma. Previous Page Print Page. Next Page. Skip to content. Change Language. Related Articles.

Table of Contents. Improve Article. Save Article. Like Article. Last Updated : 18 Aug, Forward Engineering: Forward Engineering is a method of creating or making an application with the help of the given requirements.

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