Explain the idea of prototyping and indicate when prototyping is appropriate.

Ans: Prototyping performs the analysis, design, and implementation phases of the SDLC concurrently and cyclically until the system is completed. This approach allows the analyst to quickly refine the user-requirements and to quickly get a system in the hands of the users (as long as it’s not a large, complex application that many people need to use).

Briefly summarize the purpose of the planning phase in SDLC. Explain why it exists and what it contributes to the completion of the system.

Ans: The purpose of the planning phase is to determine if the system request will provide value to the organization and to prepare a plan for completing the project. The Planning Phase exists so that the IS department and the project sponsors/users can develop an initial vision of the new system, establish its primary objectives, and perform a preliminary feasibility study that will evaluate the project's value to the organization and its estimated costs. With this information the organization's management can objectively assess whether the project has merit. The work done in this phase helps establish the project scope, define objectives and expectations, develop a plan for the project, and determine if the project warrants committing additional resources to its completion.

Briefly summarize the purpose of the analysis phase in SDLC. Explain why it exists and what it contributes to the completion of the system.

Ans: The purpose of the analysis phase is to determine the business needs of the new system and to develop a preliminary concept for the new system. The Analysis Phase exists in order to assure that the problems being experienced by the business unit are well understood and will be resolved through the features and functionality of the proposed system. The Analysis Phase serves to gather sufficient information to assure that the system will correct the actual problems of the organizational unit. System objectives will be clarified during this phase, and user and business requirements will be defined in detail.

Briefly summarize the purpose of the design phase in SDLC. Explain why it exists and what it contributes to the completion of the system.

Ans: The purpose of the design phase is to determine how technology will be used to fulfill the business needs defined in the Analysis phase. Design decision will be made regarding the technology infrastructure, user interface, file and database, and program components of the new system. These system elements must be designed prior to construction so that the system will meet user and business needs upon implementation.

Briefly summarize the purpose of the implementation phase in SDLC. Explain why it exists and what it contributes to the completion of the system.

Ans: The purpose of the implementation phase is to develop a production version of the system. The system components that were outlined in the design phase are created using the target technology, tested, and then introduced to the end users. This phase brings all the previous ideas into fruition as an actual working system is put into production in the organization.

Briefly describe the idea behind the RAD approach to systems development.

Ans: The RAD (Rapid Application Development) methodologies attempt to accelerate the process of developing systems, and also utilize a variety of new tools and techniques that help avoid the painstaking preparation of paper-based specifications. Most RAD methodologies recommend the usage of special tools such as CASE tools and special techniques such as joint application development (JAD) sessions. Such tools and techniques improve the speed and quality of systems development. However, managing user expectations of what is possible and what is not becomes difficult in RAD methodologies. Phased development, prototyping and throwaway prototyping are examples of RAD methodology.

Briefly explain what the creators of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) mean by use-case driven, architecture centric, and iterative and incremental.

Ans: USE-CASE DRIVEN means that use cases are the primary tools for modeling the behavior of the system. A use case is a description of the interaction between the system and the user as the user seeks to accomplish a particular goal. Rather than decomposing processes into sub-processes, and sub-processes into sub-sub-processes, etc., etc., . . . , as is done in traditional structural analysis, use cases allow the analyst to focus on one process at a time without losing track of how all the use cases are interrelated.

ARCHITECTURE CENTRIC means that the development of the system is based on an initial understanding of the overall software architecture of the system from three perspectives or views.

The functional view is a description of the system from the perspective of the user and focuses on what the system will do.
The static view shows the classes of objects that make up the system, what they hold (attributes and methods), and their relationships.
The behavioral view shows the messages sent between the objects and tracks their state changes.

ITERATIVE AND INCREMENTAL means that the development of the system undergoes continuous testing and refinement throughout the life of the project. It means you make some progress and before going forward, you go over everything you’ve done to make sure everything fits well and nothing is missing. The three architectural perspectives help. The analyst begins by working with the user to develop the functional view. He /she then uses this view to draft the static and behavioral views. In so doing he/she may discover discrepancies and missing requirements. He/she revisits the functional view. This continues until the three views are in sync.

Briefly describe the phases of the Unified Process.

Ans: The UP phases are inception, elaboration, construction, and transition.

In the INCEPTION PHASE the team sets out to build the business case for the system. It includes carrying out technical, economic, and organizational feasibility studies. In order to build the business case it may be necessary to deploy a tentative solution. The primary deliverables for the inception phase are the vision document and the decision of what environment to use to develop the system.

In the ELABORATION PHASE enough details are added to the vision document to finalize the business case, revise the risk assessment, and complete the project plan. The primary focus for this phase is on the analysis and design workflows.

In the CONSTRUCTION PHASE the system is built to the point where it is ready for beta and acceptance testing. In this phase the focus is primarily on programming. It is during this phase that missing requirements are uncovered, so the requirements workflow is still active. In addition, the configuration and change management workflow becomes increasingly important during this phase.

In the TRANSITION PHASE the goal is delivery of the actual executable information system including user manuals, maintenance plan, and upgrade plan. The focus in this phase is on the testing and deployment workflows.

Briefly describe the Unified Modeling Language (UML).

Ans: The objective of the UML was to provide a common vocabulary of terms and diagramming techniques rich enough to model any systems development project. Version 2.0 of the UML defines a set of fourteen diagramming techniques. The six structure diagrams are class, object, package, deployment, component, and composite structure diagrams. The eight behavior modeling diagrams are activity, sequence, communication, interaction overview, timing, behavior state machine, protocol state machine, and use-case diagrams. Overall, the consistent notation, integration among the diagramming techniques, and application of the diagrams across the entire development process makes the UML a powerful and flexible language for analysts and developers.

Briefly describe the SCRUM agile development methodology.

Ans: Scrum development focuses on a few key practices. First, teams are self-organized and self-directed. Unlike other approaches, Scrum teams do not have a designated team leader. Instead, teams organize themselves in a symbiotic manner and set their own goals for each sprint (iteration). Second, once a sprint has begun, Scrum teams do not consider any additional requirements. Any new requirements that are uncovered are placed on a backlog of requirements that still need to be addressed. Third, at the beginning of every workday, a Scrum meeting takes place. Fourth, at the end of each sprint, the team demonstrates the software to the client. Based on the results of the sprint, a new plan is begun for the next sprint. One of the major criticisms of Scrum, like all agile methodologies, is that it is questionable whether Scrum can scale up to develop very large, mission-critical systems. A typical Scrum team size is no more than seven members.