• Home
• Store
• Past Posts
• Articles
  • Asking for a pay rise
  • Resignation
  • Asking for a Promotion
  • Getting a Green Card
• Contact us
• Job Vacancies

Subscribe

By N2H

Structured techniques supported by CASE tools

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting and have a nice day!

Structured techniques supported by CASE tools.

Structured techniques are ways in which large and complex systems can be developed to be effective, usable, reliable and maintainable.

Traditionally systems which were developed concentrated on aspects of effectiveness, usability and reliability, thus the systems were hard to maintain. Thus structured techniques were developed to help make /develop systems which are easy to maintain.

A structured technique lays its foundation on the fact that:

• A well designed system will need few corrections.

• Its approach will help develop more reliable and maintainable systems.

• The system characteristics should go hand in hand with the making systems easier to modify.

Structured techniques have the following principles.

In order to better manage the development process, large and complex systems should be broken down into phases and those phases, further broken down to smaller, more handled tasks.

We should use graphics to illustrate ideas whenever possible since graphics can often help or make it easier to understand. The commonly used graphics are:

• Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

• Entity Model (ERD)

• Entity life Cycle (ELH)

We should always keep a written record of the project and tasks done. Documentation should be an integral part of SDLC rather than a follow up. Documentation helps outsiders, newcomers and employee/user of the organization to understand the system. It also helps in training the users.

We should use diagrams of the finished system plan to uncover errors before they are incorporated into the physical end product. In that a system still on paper is easier and cheaper to change than a final finished product, thus we should begin the validation process right from the feasibility study.

Case tools helps in making the structured techniques easy to implement. They help to automate the process of diagramming the function of the system.

Text editors also help in writing the documentation of the system.

Tools like test generators, comparators are used to make the testing process easy to handle.

Prototyping with 4GL(Generation Language)

Prototyping is the process of developing a working abbreviated version of the finished end product so as to enable the user to see what the finished product will look like.

4GLs are languages that help develop a system easily and quickly. A user only tells it what is to be done, and it writes and generates the code automatically.

Thus prototyping with 4GLs is the process of developing a prototype easily, quickly and cheaply. 4GLs can easily incorporate new user requirements and provide quick feedback when executed.

They enhance user involvement because user involvement is more or less continuous throughout the development process.

Addressing the following problems with a combination of structured techniques and prototyping

Problems of operational understanding

These problems may stem from the inability of users and management to comprehend the workings of the system. To solve this problem you would use either methods or ways.

You would need to break down the system operational process to small functional tasks which will be easier to explain and understand. In situations where the explanation is difficult you would use diagrams to explain your point e.g. using DFD to diagram a particular operational task.

You would also ensure in the documentation of the system you will not use jargons but simple English statements supported by diagrams.

Problems in fulfilling user requirements

This problem would either stem from unclear answers from users. To solve this problem I would use prototyping so as to gather user requirement as much as I can. I would adopt either a throwaway or evolutionary prototyping or I would work hand in hand with the users explain any of their questions and documenting their comments.

Structural techniques would also come in handy especially when gathering the requirements. I would diagram the functions of the new system and I would only adopt them in the documentation

REFERENCES

Modern Structured Analysis (Yourdon Press Computing Series)

Structured Systems Analysis: Tools and Techniques. (Prentice-Hall Software Series)

Practical Guide to Structured Systems Design (2nd Edition)

Managing the Structured Techniques (Yourdon Press Computing Series)

Introduction to Systems Analysis & Design: A Structured Approach

Documenting the Software Development Process: A Handbook of Structured Techniques (Mcgraw Hill Systems Design & Implementation Series)

Practical Business Systems Development Using Ssadm: A Complete Tutorial Guide

Comments

• Recent Posts

  • Delegation
  • INVENTORY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
  • Inventory management
  • Inventory Management
  • Business Process reengineering BPR
  • System development methodology
  • PRINCE (Projects IN Controlled Environments)
  • Object oriented technology
  • Data Warehouse
  • The Hierarchy of needs Abraham Maslow