Chapter 11 Software Development

Question 1

What is software developement?

Answer 1

The process of encompassing the entire project, covering reasons for developement, audience and functionality.

Question 2

What do you need to know before tackling software developement.

Answer 2

The client objectives, the stakeholders, services and constrains(functionality goals), expectation of quality and expectiation of time and budget.

Question 3

What is a prototype?

Answer 3

Prototype is a version of a system that lacks full functionality, but shows feature implementation

Question 4

What does a prototype give us ?

Answer 4

A prototype means the target audience gets a look and feel and can therefore make comments and suggest improvements to better fit the specification

Question 5

What are the 2 methods of prototyping ?

Answer 5

Piloting and Modelling

Question 6

What does piloting mean ?

Answer 6

Using a prototype to test the feasibility of desing proporsal or requirement

Question 7

What does modelling mean ?

Answer 7

Built in order to develop further understanding of requirements.

Question 8

What types of prototypes is there?

Answer 8

THROWAWAY OR EVOLUTIONARY

Question 9

What is throwaway prototype?

Answer 9

A prototype where only knowledge gained from it is used.

Question 10

What is an evolutionary prototype ?

Answer 10

A prototype that is actually a system under developemtn which keeps getting closer to solution.

Question 11

What is a waterfall life cycle?

Answer 11

A method of development which consists of a sequence of stages/milestones. The project is being completed by flowing down those stages, where the next stage can only be entered once previous has been completed.

Question 12

Stages of the waterfall method?

Answer 12

Determine requirements  
Analysis 
Design 
Coding 
Testing 
Maintenance

Question 13

What are the advantages of the waterfall cycle?

Answer 13

Simple and easy to manage
Everyone can be clear on responsibilities and output is expected at each stage
Clear to see if project is on time / forces plannning

Question 14

Disadvantages of the waterfall method?

Answer 14

Only at the testing stage problems willl show up
Misunderstanding the requirements may lead to issues which have to rectified once money has already been spent
Cant be adapted and cannot go back on stages

Question 15

What kind of projects suit the waterfall method ?

Answer 15

Simpler projects which have clear requirements. It is also best if the projects have a fixed scope and fixed price.

Question 16

What does RAD stand for ?

Answer 16

Rapid Application Developement

Question 17

What is RAD.

Answer 17

A software developemtn process which relies heavily on programming and doesnt go much into the requirements or planning. It consists of cycles of prototyping+evaluation until functionality is validated by user.

Question 18

Advantages of RAD.

Answer 18

Requirements or goals do not have to be fully clear

With constant and good feedback teh prtoduct is likely to have excellent functionality.

Question 19

Disadvantages of RAD.

Answer 19

Very hard to accomplish if the user isnt commited to giving feedback.
Chance of havaing limited features since the application is pushed to the latest version for release.
Reduced scalability

Question 20

What kind of projects is RAD best suited for?

Answer 20

Projects with unclear requirements and qucik completion time.

Question 21

What is the spiral method ?

Answer 21

Often called an extension of the waterfall method, however it is designed so that risks are evaluated and reviewed regularly. It consists of 3 stages.

Question 22

What are the three stages of the spiral method and what happens in each?

Answer 22

IDENTIFICATION - requirements are determined for the following rotation, chosen based on risks
DESIGN - risks are identified a nd alternatives are presented after a prototype is made( usually )
BUILD - a prototype with original requirement is made

Question 23

Advanatges of the spiral method ?

Answer 23

Ideal for projects with high risks.

Strong approval and documentation control

Question 24

Disadvantages of the spiral model?

Answer 24

Risk analysis is only as good as the person who does it
Can be very costly
Doesnt work well on smalller projects
May continue idefinitely

Question 25

What is agile development ?

Answer 25

A group of methodologies, designed to cope with changing requirements. Teams produce software which is produced in an iterative manner, where improvements are built upon previous versions.It means the client gets to see results sooner and is able to provide adaptive feedback to fully meet objective.

Question 26

What is SCRUM?

Answer 26

Scrum is an agile framework for managing knowledge work, with an emphasis on software development. It is designed for teams of three to nine members, who break their work into actions that can be completed within timeboxed iterations, called “sprints”, no longer than one month and most commonly two weeks, then track progress and re-plan in 15-minute stand-up meetings, called daily scrums.

Question 27

Advantages of agile development ?

Answer 27

Software is deployed quicker,so customer can get value
Less resources are wasted since it is always up to date
You can adapt to changes bettter
Immediate feedback
Low costs
Issues are detected earlier and fixed

Question 28

Disadvantages of agile development?

Answer 28

Difficult to measure progress with all those cycles
Requires a lot of employee energy since constant communication is required.
No clear end
No overall design
No fixed cost
Bigger features are avoided since they dont fit the cycles
With time the software can become disjointed

Question 29

What is extreme programming ?

Answer 29

A methodology where a client or their representative becomes part of the team to decide ‘user stories’, decide tests and answer questions.It is an agile method where the focus is upon the code.

Question 30

How does extreme programming work ?

Answer 30

It has iterations where a program is coded,tested and imporved repeatedly. This is done in pairs and under strict standarts to ensure quality

Question 31

Advantages of extreme programming ?

Answer 31

Quality of code is likely to be very high
Can be adapted t changing requirements
Makes development simple and fast

Question 32

Disadvantages of extreme programming ?

Answer 32

Programmmers must be able to collabrate together and be near each other
Client needs to stay commited

Question 33

What are the three types of errors?

Answer 33

SYNTAX
LOGIC
RUN-TIME

Question 34

What is a syntax error?

Answer 34

An error occurring when a statement breas the rules of the programming language, which makes it impossible to understand for the machine

Question 35

What is a logic error ?

Answer 35

An error which is a mistake in the algorithm leding the function to do something that wasnt intended by the user. This can only be seen after execution

Question 36

What is a run-time error?

Answer 36

An error occurring due to an unexpected situation with the data being processed or another factor, which causes the program to crash during execution.This si split into OVERFLOW,STAKC OVERFLOW and LIBRARY.

Question 37

What is OVERFLOW?

Answer 37

A variable is too big to store

Question 38

What is STACK OVERFLOW?

Answer 38

Not enough space to store operations

Question 39

What is LIBRARY error?

Answer 39

No library implemented

Question 40

What are the types of testing we have to know about?

Answer 40

• Alpha
• Beta
• Unit
• Integration
• White Box
• Black Box
• Destructive

Question 41

What is testing?

Answer 41

An action which ensures lack of errors in the program.