Software Design and Development

Question 1

What is the order of phases in the waterfall model development methodology?

Answer 1

Analysis, Design, Implementation, Testing, Documentation, Evaluation, Maintenance.

Question 2

The waterfall model is L_____ and S_______.

Answer 2

The waterfall model is Linear and Sequential.

Question 3

The waterfall model can be described as an Iterative Process. What does this mean?

Answer 3

Iterative means previous stages can be revisited when a problem is discovered or a client requests new functionality.

Question 4

When can Iteration take place in the waterfall model?

Answer 4

Iteration can take place between or within stages.

Question 5

What does the system analyst do?

Answer 5

The system analyst communicates with the client to get a clear picture of what they want to save time and money. They relay information back to the team. They also analyse the problem.

Question 6

What does the independent test group do?

Answer 6

The independent test group test for errors in the program.

Question 7

What does the project manager do?

Answer 7

The project manager keeps the project on schedule and within budget.

Question 8

During the analysis stage, a contract with the client is made. What is this contract called and what does it identify.

Answer 8

The contract made is called the software specification and it clearly identifies the functional requirements by analysing inputs processes and outputs.

Question 9

What is stepwise refinement?

Answer 9

Stepwise refinement is when the large problem a program is built to solve is split into a series of smaller and smaller steps, and small manageable parts are given to different teams.

Question 10

What design notation shows the hierarchy of program components and how they link together?

Answer 10

Structured diagrams show the program in a series of smaller chunks by stepwise refinement.

Question 11

What is comprehensive testing?

Answer 11

Comprehensive testing is planned to test a wide range of test data, testing how the program responds to normal, extreme, and exceptional data.

Question 12

What is systematic testing?

Answer 12

Systematic testing progresses from testing subroutines and works its way up to testing the whole system.

Question 13

What is a dry run?

Answer 13

A dry run is when the code is manually ran though to trace the value of variables and check they are as they should be. They identify logic errors.

Question 14

What is a trace table?

Answer 14

A trace table has a column for what a value of a variable is supposed to be at each point in the code and a column to be filled in with what the value is when properly run.

Question 15

What is a breakpoint?

Answer 15

A breakpoint stops the program from running after a certain point and prints the value of a variable (or many). This helps to fill in a trace table.

Question 16

What is a watchpoint?

Answer 16

A watchpoint is similar to a breakpoint, it stops the program from running when a condition is met.

Question 17

What is a syntax error?

Answer 17

A syntax error is similar to a grammar error, the code cannot run because it is typed with incorrect syntax.

Question 18

What is an execution error?

Answer 18

An execution error is when you try to ask the program to do something impossible, causing a ‘crash’.

Question 19

What is a logic error?

Answer 19

A logic error is when numeric, comparative or logic operations are designed or implemented improperly, leading to unexpected values or results.

Question 20

What is contained in the testing documentation?

Answer 20

Testing documentation includes the test plan and details of all testing done.

Question 21

What guides are created during the documentation phase?

Answer 21

The user guide and the technical guide are created during the documentation phase.

Question 22

What does the user guide tell the user how to do?

Answer 22

The user guide explains how to use the program.

Question 23

What does the technical guide contain?

Answer 23

The technical guide gives the system requirements and an installation guide.

Question 24

What headings is the end product evaluated under during evaluation?

Answer 24

Robust, Reliable, Efficient, Portable, Maintainable, Readable.

Question 25

What three types of maintenance are there?

Answer 25

Corrective, Perfective, and Adaptive.

Question 26

What is corrective maintenance?

Answer 26

Corrective maintenance is when the program is modified to rectify errors.

Question 27

What is perfective maintenance?

Answer 27

Perfective maintenance is when features are added or improved.

Question 28

What is adaptive maintenance?

Answer 28

Adaptive maintenance is when the program is ported to a new system or device or new compatibility is added.

Question 29

What size of project is the waterfall model best for?

Answer 29

The waterfall model is best for large projects.

Question 30

Agile methodologies are I________ and I__________..

Answer 30

Agile methodologies are Iterative and Incremental.

Question 31

What does “Incremental” mean when describing Agile methodologies?

Answer 31

Incremental means stages can commence before prior stages are fully completed.

Question 32

What happens during a “sprint” when following an Agile Methodology?

Answer 32

Sprints are carried out for each area of development. Several steps are repeated and carried out in consecutive sprints. During each sprint, a prototype of the program is created.

Question 33

What do agile methodologies place emphasis on?

Answer 33

Agile methodologies place great emphasis on communication with the client and between teams.

Question 34

What predefined functions in python have we learned in higher computing?

Answer 34

int(), round(), len(), ord(), chr().

Question 35

What is a subroutine?

Answer 35

A subroutine is a function that the program carries out that values can be passed into to carry out a specific process defined by the programmer.

Question 36

Why do we use subroutines?

Answer 36

Subroutines cut out on unnecessary repetition of lines, shortening development time and file size, and also make the program more readable.

Question 37

What is a local variable?

Answer 37

A local variable is a variable used within a subroutine and cannot be seen or referenced by any other part of the program.

Question 38

What is a global variable?

Answer 38

A global variable is created in the main part of a program and can be passed to other parts of the program. It can be seen and accessed from all parts of the program.

Question 39

What is the scope of a local variable?

Answer 39

The scope of a local variable is the subroutine it is in.

Question 40

What is the scope of a global variable?

Answer 40

The scope of a global variable is the whole program.

Question 41

Programs that use subroutines can be M______.

Answer 41

Programs that use subroutines can be Modular.

Question 42

How many values can a function return?

Answer 42

A function can only return 1 value, but this can be an array to effectively return multiple.

Question 43

What is a method?

Answer 43

A method is like a function but part of a class.

Question 44

How can we pass a parameter?

Answer 44

We can pass a parameter by value or by reference.

Question 45

What does it mean to pass a parameter by value?

Answer 45

Passing a parameter by value passes a copy of a value into the block of code. It does not need to be passed out again. Because this only creates a copy of the value, this requires more space and processing power.

Question 46

What does it mean to pass a parameter by reference?

Answer 46

Passing a parameter by reference is when we pass in the actual parameter rather than a copy of its value. It will be passed out again.

Question 47

What standard algorithms do we learn in higher?

Answer 47

Input validation, Count Occurrences, Linear search, Find Minimum, Find Maximum.

Question 48

What three modes are there for the open() function in python?

Answer 48

Read, Append, and Write.

Question 49

What does strip() do in python?

Answer 49

Strip removes all whitespace and turns a text file into one continuous line.

Question 50

What does split() do in python?

Answer 50

Split converts every word in a line to a value and returns an array.

Question 51

What is a .csv file?

Answer 51

CSV stands for Comma Seperated Values. These can be imported and exported to databases and can be modified by programs. When writing to them we use arrays.

Question 52

How do we pass in arrays?

Answer 52

We pass in arrays by reference as they can be very big and duplicating their value takes up a lot of space and processing power.

Question 53

What does a modulus (%) do?

Answer 53

Modulus returns the remainder when a number is divided. For example 5%2 = 1.