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Requirements Analysis and System Design: Developing Information Systems with UML - Softcover

 
9780201709445: Requirements Analysis and System Design: Developing Information Systems with UML
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The development of a software system takes place in three iterative and incremental phases - analysis, design and implementation. This book describes the methods and techniques used for analysis and design, with implementation issues addressed to the extent to which they must be considered in the design. The text concentrates on object-oriented software development, using the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The book uses the teach-by-example principle - all concepts are exemplified and the running case studies present integrated solutions.

The focus of the book is on developing large-scale, client/server, multi-tier object-oriented information systems. The client is a workstation with a GUI and the server manages a database. The client, server and middle-tier processes communicate via object messaging. The server database can be relational, object-relational or purely object-oriented. The book identifies ways to:
* integrate analysis and design models;
* harness the complexity of large system models;
* improve software architectures;
* promote layered structuring of objects;
* understand consequences of reckless modeling;
* conduct testing and manage change;
* build maintainable and scalable systems.

The book can be used for undergraduate courses in computer science or information systems such as systems analysis, systems design, software engineering, databases and object technology, as well as being a valuable resource for software projects. The book has also been written for professionals developing business information systems, such as IT managers, application developers, consultants, analysts, designers, programmers, testers, software engineers, systems integrators and educators. The text is accompanied by a comprehensive website that contains a wealth of additional material for instructors, students and professionals.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:
Leszek Maciaszek is Associate Professor of Computing at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Originally from Poland, Professor Maciaszek has worked as a researcher, consultant and educator in various countries around the world, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Macao, Malaysia, Thailand, and Kuwait. He moved to Australia in 1985. He has extensive consulting and training experience, frequently to large international companies. His research has been in databases, object-oriented technology, software engineering and the development of large-scale business information systems. He has authored close to 100 publications including the book Database Design and Implementation (Prentice Hall, 1990).
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Outline of the book

The development of an information system (IS) - from its inception to the first release to stakeholders comprises three iterative and incremental phases: analysis, design, and implementation. This book describes the methods and techniques used in the first two phases. The implementation issues are only addressed to the extent to which they need to be considered in the design phase. Testing and change management are addressed in the final chapter.

The text concentrates on object-oriented software development. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is used to capture modeling artifacts. Emphasis is placed on the development by elaboration where the same modeling language (UML) is used throughout the development lifecycle. Analysts, designers, and programmers 'speak' the same language, although perhaps use the dialects (profiles) of the language fitting their individual needs.

The early applications of object technology targeted graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and focused on the speed of developing new systems and the speed of program execution. In this book, I emphasize the application of object technology in IS development. The challenge is the large volume of data, complex data structures, shared access to information by many concurrent users, transaction processing, changing requirements, etc. The main advantage of object technology in IS environments is in facilitating software maintenance and scalability.

Developing information systems is synonymous with doing analysis and design 'in-the-large'. No IS project can succeed without following strict development processes and without understanding the underlying software architectures. The development is large-scale, object-oriented, iterative and incremental. The software architecture is based on a client/server solution, where the client is a workstation with GUI and the server stores a database. Client and server run in separate processes and communicate via object messaging. A server database can be relational, object-relational, or purely object-oriented.

The book proposes a detailed approach to analysis and design of information systems with UML. The book identifies ways to:

  1. harness the complexity of large system models;
  2. improve software architectures;
  3. facilitate software readability, maintainability and scalability;
  4. promote layered structuring of objects;
  5. handle component integration;
  6. improve modeling of collaboration between GUI and persistent database objects, etc.

Distinguishing features

This book has a number of features which, when combined, create a unique offering. The 'teach-by-example' approach is the cornerstone of the text. The main discussion is based on examples and a guided tutorial drawn from five application domains University Enrollment, Video Store, Contact Management, Telemarketing, and Online Shopping. The examples are independent. They build up into case studies that can be extended or diversified through questions formulated at the end of most chapters (Exercise Questions). Some exercises refer to a sixth application domain — Advertising Expenditure Measurement.

To facilitate self-education, the guided tutorial (Online Shopping) and the case studies are formulated using the question-and-answer principle. A separate section at the beginning of the book, 'Book Activity Diagrams' offers diagrams that link the question-and-answer steps used in the tutorial and in the case studies. The book activity diagrams can serve as an alternative table of contents for examples scattered in the text.

The book discusses principles, methods and techniques of good analysis and good design. Special attention is paid to the design phase. Design is not treated as a straightforward transformation from analysis. The book acknowledges the difficulties and intricacies of large-scale object-oriented client/server system development. In many ways, the book takes a fresh look at the 'design-in-the-large,' at iterative and incremental development of large systems, and at capabilities and limitations of tools and methods in large software production.

A unique character of the book comes from a balanced blend of practical explanation and theoretical insight. A major premise is to avoid unnecessary over-complication, but without the loss of rigor. The book 'speaks' from experience. Topics that are not relevant to industry or that are only of research interest have been excluded.

The book is on the 'cutting-edge' of information technology. It uses the latest standard in system modeling — UML. It addresses the latest developments in database technology, including object-relational databases. In this context, the Internet-driven shift from 'thick-clients' (i.e. large desktop computers) back to server-based computing is acknowledged. The analysis and design principles discussed in the text apply equally well to conventional client/server solutions and to modern component-based distributed applications.

Software development is not amenable to 'black-white,' 'true-false,' 'zero-one' solutions. Good software solutions come from good business analysts and system designers/programmers, not from blindly applied algorithms. A policy of the book is to warn the reader about potential difficulties that the advocated approach cannot entirely resolve. In consequence it is hoped that readers will apply their acquired knowledge with care and will not assume unrealistic expectations of the ease with which the approach can be applied (and thereby, possibly, fail more dramatically).

In summary, the distinguishing features of the book are:

  1. The book relates the theories to reality — in the form of practical problems and limitations, which will have to be addressed when applying the approach 'in the field.'
  2. The book gives special attention to the design phase. Design is not treated as a straightforward transformation from analysis and it acknowledges the difficulties and intricacies of large-scale client/server system development.
  3. A wealth of nontrivial examples and exercises with all solutions are included in the book or the supplementary materials. The Instructor's Manual is not an afterthought — it has been written concurrently with the text and is meticulous.

Intended readership

In tune with the growing demand for university courses to be more relevant to industry practice, this textbook is aimed at students and practitioners alike. This has been a difficult task but, it is hoped, it has been successfully achieved. To ensure a lasting educational benefit, the implementation aspects of software development are discussed in non-vendor-specific terms (although commercial CASE tools have been used in illustrations and solutions).

The book is aimed at computer science and information systems curricula. As it contains both 'high-level' system modeling topics and 'low-level' user interface and database design issues, the book should be attractive to courses in system analysis, system design, software engineering, databases, object technology, and to software project courses that require students to develop a system following the development lifecycle: from requirements determination to GUI and database implementation. The book is designed for a one-semester course, but it can potentially be used over two one-semester courses — one on requirements analysis and the other on system design.

For the practitioners' audience, the presented theories are related to realities. Most problem statements, examples and exercises are drawn from the consulting practice of the author. We have adopted a policy of warning the reader of potential difficulties or limitations with advocated approaches. The following categories of practitioners are likely to benefit most from the book: business and system analysts, designers, programmers, system architects, project leaders and managers, reviewers, testers, technical writers, and industry trainers.

Organization of the book

The book provides comprehensive coverage of object-oriented analysis and design of information systems. The material is presented in an order consistent with modern development processes. The book consists of ten chapters. The coverage is balanced between analysis and design. The first five chapters address the analysis issues and the last five design and related considerations.

Readers with varying amounts of background knowledge should be able to accommodate the text. Two chapters in the book are dedicated to an explanation of the underpinnings of analysis and design. The remaining chapters assume that the reader understands these underpinnings. The reader has a choice of studying the 'underpinnings' chapters in detail or of using them for review only.

The book has several features to improve its clarity and to break the monotony of the text, in particular:

  • Sections are small.
  • Example and problem statements are placed in frames to distinguish them from the rest of the text. A graphical icon (see below) in the page margin also marks the beginning of each example.
  • Page margins are used to:
    - number and caption figures and tables,
    - show graphical icons to identify examples in the text and end-of-chapter questions

Supplementary materials

A comprehensive package of supplementary material is provided on the companion websites. Most of the web documents are freely available to the readers, but some material is password-protected for the benefit of instructors who have adopted the textbook in their teaching. The home page for the book is simultaneously maintained at:

http://www.booksites.net/maciaszek
http://www.comp.mq.edu.au/books/maciaszek

The web package includes:

  1. Instructor's Manual with:
    Lecture Slides in Microsoft PowerPoint and Acrobat Read (.pdf) formats.
    Answers and Solutions manual containing annotated answers and solutions to all review and exercise questions from the end of each chapter. The organization of the manual corresponds to the textbook structure. The questions from the textbook are repeated in the manual. Answers and solutions follow the questions.
  2. Student's Resources with printable lecture slides in Acrobat Read format.
  3. Self-education Resources with Rational Rose (.mdl) and PowerDesigner (.pdm) model files containing solutions to the guided tutorial, the case studies and all other modeling examples in the textbook.
  4. Errata page dedicated to corrections of errors and omissions in the book.
  5. For More Information page to point the reader to the latest ideas and trends in the textbook's subject area. Also, to identify courses that adopted the book and which are prepared to share their web facilities with other readers.

Your comments, corrections, suggestions for improvements, contributions, etc. are very much appreciated. Please, direct any correspondence to:

Leszek A. Maciaszek
Department of Computing
Macquarie University
Sydney
NSW 2109
Australia
leszek@ics.mq.edu.au
http://www.comp.mq.au/~leszek/
phone: +61 2 9850-9519
facsimile: +61 2 9850-9551
courier: North Ryde, Herring Road, Bld. E6A, Room 319

Acknowledgements

The writing of this book would be impossible without my interactions with friends, colleagues, students, industry gurus, and all the other people who, consciously or not, have shaped my knowledge in the subject area. I am truly indebted to all of them. An attempt to list all their names would be injudicious and impractical - please accept a blanket 'thank you.' However, even in the little space available for, acknowledgments, a few 'mates' must be mentioned:

  • Keith Mansfield, Mary Lince and the staff of Pearson Education — for recognizing the potential of this book and bringing it to the international market.
  • Stephen Bills and his staff at ACNielsen AdEx, Sydney, Australia, in particular: Steven Grotte, Kevin Mathie, Cameron Murray, James Rees, Jovan Spoa, and Eric Zurcher — for providing me with a production IS development testbed for this book.
  • My friends and colleagues in the Department of Computing at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia — for their support in the making of this book.
  • The formal (unknown to me) and informal reviewers — for invaluable feedback that has greatly benefited the book.
  • The staff at Rational, Oracle and Sybase — for providing me with the CASE and database software indispensable to the development of tutorials, case studies and examples.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherAddison Wesley
  • Publication date2001
  • ISBN 10 0201709449
  • ISBN 13 9780201709445
  • BindingPaperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages378
  • Rating

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