1. Completely, from scratch, de novo; or
2. To be evolved from an existing system that is good; or
3. To be evolved from an existing system that is not good

(Other than with its virtual machine)

1. Only with people; or
2. Only with other systems (embedded); or
3. Both with people and other systems

1. A well-understood context; or
2. A novel context

1. Well (this is less common—why?); or
2. Not well—they are novel or poorly-understood

1. It will have {few, some, many, very many} {lines of code, modules, classes}; and
2. It has {few, many} requirements; and
3. It uses {few, many} other software packages; and
4. It is needed in {a big hurry, no particular hurry}

1. Its failure will have little consequence; or
2. Its failure will have consequences but can be worked around; or
3. Its failure will stop other work and there is no workaround; or
4. Its failure will cause large financial liability; or
5. Its failure will cause injury or loss of life

1. A corporation; or
2. A non-business organization; or
3. A private individual; or
4. Volunteers

1. A client who is paying; or
2. A client who is not paying; or
3. The customers of a competing product; or
4. Hypothetical customers who do not yet realize they need it; or
5. The developers themselves; or
6. The developers themselves, and people like them

1. The clients (the people it is being developed for); and
2. Non-clients who will benefit by its operation; and
3. Non-clients who will be injured by its operation; and
4. Non-clients who will have to pay (in money, time, inconvenience, lost opportunities, lost privacy, …) in order for the system to work; and
5. Hackers, misusers, free riders; and
6. The developers themselves; and
7. The operators and maintainers