1.2.3 Software Development

Question 1

• How does the waterfall methodology compare to agile methodologies?

Answer 1

• Waterfall makes use of a inflexible set of stages, beginning with a feasibility study. Making changes involves revisiting all previous stages.
• Agile methodologies focus on improving flexibility and including more user feedback. Prototypes are made and improved iteratively. Lower focus on documentation.

Question 2

• How does the Extreme Programming model work?

Answer 2

• Makes use of paired programming alongside a representative user.
• Focus on high-quality code and constant user feedback.
• Each iteration generates a working version of the final product, then returns to further improve.

Question 3

• How does the Spiral model work?

Answer 3

• Built on 4 key stages; analysis, risk assessment, implementation, evaluation.
• These 4 stages are repeated, unless a risk assessment deems the project too risky to continue.

Question 4

• How does the Rapid Application Development model work?

Answer 4

• User requirements assessed in a focus group.
• Iterative prototypes are continually built into a final product.
• User feedback shapes the requirements of the following iteration.

Question 5

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the waterfall model?

Answer 5

+ Straightforward, clearly documented.

- Inflexible, no risk analysis, limited user involvement.

Question 6

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the XP model?

Answer 6

+ Produces high quality code, flexible to changes, regular user input, high usability.
- Expensive, requires good teamwork and a lot of time from the user.

Question 7

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the spiral model?

Answer 7

+ Thorough risk analysis, flexible, producing prototypes throughout.
- Expensive to hire risk assessors, lack of focus on code, prototyping is expensive.

Question 8

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the RAD model?

Answer 8

+ Flexible to change, highly usable end product, focus on core features reduces dev time.
- Poor quality documentation, and fast pace may reduce code quality.

Question 9

• What are the typical stages of the software development lifecycle?

Answer 9

• Feasibility Study/Analysis, Design, Development/Implementation, Testing, Evaluation, and Maintenance.

Question 10

• What are the 4 types of testing in software development?

Answer 10

• Alpha: In-house, bugs hunted and fixed.
• Beta: End-users give feedback for development.
• White Box: Carried out by dev teams following an internal plan. Tests all program routes.
• Black Box: Dev testers, unaware of internal structure. Also traces software I/O for issues.