Comp 682 MidTerm Exam Review

The Requirements Problem – Chapter 1

The goal of software development

Develop quality software

Meet schedule

Meet budget

Satisfy customer needs

The relationship between requirements engineering and project success

Requirements Management – Chapter 2

Distinguish between

Stakeholder needs

System features

Software requirements

Definition of requirements management

Requirements and the Software Lifecycle – Chapter 3

Traditional software process models

Waterfall model

Spiral model

The iterative model (advantages)

The Software Team – Chapter 4

Skills for effective requirements management

Analyzing the problem

Understanding user and stakeholder needs

Defining the system

Managing scope

Refining the system definition

Building the right system

Steps in Problem Analysis – Chapter 5

Gain agreement on the problem definition – be able to write a problem definition statement

Understand the root causes – be able to diagram root causes

Identify the stakeholders – be able to describe how to determine the stakeholders

Define the solution system boundary – be able to create a system perspective diagram

Identify the constraints to be imposed on the solution – be able to list constraints for a given problem

Business Modeling – Chapter 6

What is business modeling?

The purpose of business modeling

When is business modeling important?

System Engineering – Chapter 7

What is system engineering?

Derived requirements

Subsystem requirements

Interface requirements

Requirements Elicitation – Chapter 8

The “yes, but” syndrome

The “undiscovered ruins” syndrome

The Features of a Product/System – Chapter 9

What is a product/system feature?

Attributes of features

Interviewing – Chapter 10

Context-free questions

Questionnaires

Requirements Workshops – Chapter 11

Advantages of workshops

Effectively running a workshop

Brainstorming and Idea Reduction – Chapter 12

What is meant by brainstorming?

Idea reduction

Pruning ideas

Grouping ideas

Defining features

Prioritizing ideas

Web-based brainstorming

Storyboarding – Chapter 13

What is the purpose of storyboarding?

Types of storyboards

Passive

Active

Interactive

Advantages of storyboarding

Use Cases – Chapter 14

Benefits of Use Cases

Definition of a use case (be able to write a use case for a given feature)

Name

Description

Actor(s)

Flow of events

Basic flow

Alternate flow

Pre-conditions

Post-conditions

Building a use case model

Identify and describe the actors

Identify the use cases and write brief descriptions of each

Identify the actor(s) and use-case relationships

Outline the individual use cases

Refine the use cases

Use cases and the user interface design (using storyboarding)

Sample short answer questions:

1. Explain the difference between stakeholder needs and system features.

2. Identify one important advantage of an iterative lifecycle model.

3. What is system engineering?

4. Explain the “yes, but” syndrome in requirements elicitation.

5. What is the difference between an “active” storyboard and an “interactive” storyboard?

Sample essay questions:

1. The major goal in developing a software product is to develop quality software – on time and on budget – that meets customers’ real needs. Explain why the task of software requirements analysis, specification, and management plays such an important role in meeting this goal. Be sure to describe “the requirements problem” and the reasons why errors in requirements can cause significant problems.

2. Before applications development begins for a software project it is important to understand the problem to be solved. A five step process for problem analysis is outlined below:

a. Gain agreement on the problem definition.

b. Understand the root causes of the problem.

c. Identify the stakeholders and the users whose collective judgment will ultimately determine the success or failure of the system.

d. Determine where the boundaries of the solution are likely to be found.

e. Understand the constraints that will be imposed on the development team and on the solution.

For each of the steps above briefly explain why it is important. You can do this by explaining what can go wrong if the step is not done or not done well. You may want to give specific examples to help clarity your explanation.

3. Assume that your organization has been asked to develop an online course registration system for students that would allow students to register and pay fees necessary to attend the University, to add, drop, and change classes, and to display and print their current programs. You are requested to duplicate the general functionality of the current telephone-based registration system using a Web-based approach. For this proposed system complete the table below, draw a fishbone diagram of root causes, and create a diagram showing the “System Perspective” showing the key users and stakeholders and indicating the system boundary. Finally, specify any constraints imposed on the solution. You may use your knowledge of the Solar system as a reference, but do not limit yourself to the things that Solar can do. You may make any assumptions you like about your organization and that of the customer that may impose constraints on your solution.

Element	Description
The problem is . . .	Describe the problem
Affects . . .	Identify all users and stakeholders affected by the problem.
And results in . . .	Describe the impact of this problem on stakeholders and activities of the organization.
Benefits of a solution . . .	Indicate the proposed solution and list a few key benefits.

4. Several techniques can be used for requirements elicitation in trying to ensure the development of an effective requirements specification. These include the following:

· Interviewing and questionnaires

· Requirements workshops

· Brainstorming and idea reduction

· Storyboarding

Describe the relative advantages and disadvantages of each of these techniques and explain under what circumstances one technique might be more useful than the others. Note that some of these techniques might overlap with others and that any or all of them might be used for a given project.

5. Brainstorming involves both idea generation and idea reduction. Describe the activities associated with each of the following steps associated with brainstorming and explain how each is typically conducted including approaches to ensure maximum benefit of the process.

· Idea Generation (Live Brainstorming)

· Pruning Ideas

· Grouping Ideas

· Defining Features

· Prioritizing Ideas

6. Using the Use-Case template below, develop a use case for the dropping of a class by a student in the Course Registration System described in question 3,

Name of the Use Case

Description:

Actor(s):

Flow of events:

Basic flow:

Event 1

Event 2

. . . . . .

Alternate flow 1:

Event 1

Event 2

. . . . . .

Alternate flow 2:

Event 1

Event 2

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions: