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Computer Science Cards Rewrite > Systems Analysis > Flashcards

Systems Analysis Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the two Systems Life Cycles called?

A

Waterfall cycle

Agile cycle

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2
Q

What is the waterfall approach?

A
  • each step is completed one at a time from beginning to end
  • the different stages are arranged in order, each stage feeding into the next
  • no stage of the development can be begun until the preceding one has been completed
  • each stage ends with a handover document produced to inform the next stage
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3
Q

What are the advantages of the waterfall approach?

A
  • simple to understand

- suitable for large projects where the requirements are clearly understood

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4
Q

What are the disadvantages of the waterfall approach?

A
  • very bad at reacting to changing requirements

- not suitable for projects where the requirements may not be fully understood at the start

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5
Q

What does a feasibility study do?

A

A feasibility study involves looking at whether the project is worth carrying out in terms of cost, time, technical practicality and cost effectiveness

Can it be completed on budget?
Can it be completed in the time scale?

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6
Q

What does the analysis stage do?

A

(Comes after the feasibility study stage)

The analysis stage of a project focuses on understanding and defining the user requirements

  • usually carried out by a systems analyst ( systems analysts are trained in the techniques that allow them to carry out a thorough investigation and document their findings)
  • throughout this stage, the systems analyst works very closely with the client to make sure thet their requirements are fully understood
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7
Q

What do the outputs of the analysis stage include?

A

Problem definition - a clear definition of the problem and its domain

System requirements/objectives - a close description of what the system needs to do

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8
Q

What does the design stage do?

A
  • Creating the user interface
  • What the system looks like
  • how it should function
  • what it should produce
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9
Q

What do the outputs of the design stage include

A
  • user interface
  • system outputs (e.g. reports, graphs, emails)
  • algorithms
  • data structures
  • security features
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10
Q

What is the implementation & testing stage and what does it do?

A
  • the implementation stage is building the solution
  • a system must be thoroughly tested before being installed and going live to make sure errors are discovered and corrected before going live.
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11
Q

What is the evaluation stage and what does it do?

A

Don’t know yet lol

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12
Q

What does system maintainance do?

A

-System maintenance conforms the system to its original requirements.

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13
Q

Name the stages In order of the sandwich development cycle

A

Feasibility study

Analysis

Design

Implement

Evaluation

Maintenance

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14
Q

What does the agile approach do?

A
  • it advocates building prototypes, testing and incorporating feedback as soon as possible
  • teams are trusted to organise and manage themselves
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15
Q

Advantages of the agile approach

A
  • allows for changes to be made after the initial planning l. Re-writes to the program and clients decides to make changes are expected
  • easier to add features that keep upto date with latest developments (because agile allows changes to be made)
  • At the end of each sprint project priorities are evaluated each allows clients to add their feedback to ensure they get the product they need
  • as products are tested so thoroughly with Agile, the product could be launched at the end of any cycle and is therefore more likely to reach launch date.
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16
Q

What are the disadvantages of the agile approach

A
  • needs a very good project manager to keep project focused, otherwise could come in listen and over budget
  • as there is no definitive plan, the final product could be vastly different than what was initially intended
  • documentation is often neglected
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17
Q

What is abstraction

A

Abstraction is the process of taking out characteristics that are not needed or relevant in data

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18
Q

What is decomposition

A

Decomposition is breaking a problem down Into smaller chunks to make it easier to tackle

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19
Q

Describe the 4 different symbols in a data flow diagram and what they do

A

Entity (a square) - a data source or destination

Process (a square with curved edges) - an operation performed on the data

Data store (rectangle with missing side on right) - a file

Data flow (arrow) - the data and its direction of flow

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20
Q

When choosing hardware, what are the main requirements?

A
  • Hardware must meet requirements of proposed system
  • hardware must support current software
  • hardware must be upgradeable and expandable
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21
Q

When choosing software, what do you think are the main requirements?

A
  • software must meet requirements of proposed system

- software must be compatible with current and future hardware

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22
Q

What is a changeover

A

Once a system has been designed, coded and tested it needs to replace the old system. This can be achieved in 4 different ways

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23
Q

What are the 4 different methods of changeover

A

Direct Changeover
Pilot changeover
Phased changeover
Parallel changeover

24
Q

What does Direct changeover entale

A

The user stops using the old system once a day and starts using the new system the next day; usually over a weekend

25
Q

What is one advantage and disadvantage of direct changeover

A

An advantage of this system Is that it Is fast and efficient, with minimum duplication of work involved.

The disadvantage is that normal operations could be seriously disrupted if the new system has errors in it or does not work quite as expected

26
Q

What does pilot changeover entale

A

Rather than risking using a complete new system on the whole organisation, a department is selected in the organisation and they run the new system while the remainder continue with established procedures. Eventually, when all the problems are ironed out, the whole organisation can move to the new system.

27
Q

Name one advantage of pilot changeover

A

An advantage of pilot changeover is that any potential problems will be exposed and only a minority of the organisation is affected

28
Q

What does parallel conversion entale

A

The old system continues alongside the new system for a few weeks or months

29
Q

Name one advantage and disadvantage of parallel conversion

A

An advantage is that results from the new system can be checked against known results, and if any difficulties occur, operations can continue under the old system while the error is sorted out.

The disadvantage of parallel running is the duplication of effort required to keep both systems running, which may put a strain on personnel.

30
Q

What does phased conversion entale

A

Used with larger systems thar can be broken down into individual modules that can be implemented separately at different times

Phased conversion could be direct or parallel

31
Q

What is alpha testing and when is it Carried out?

A

In-house testing

It is carried out when the code is roughly ready

The software progeammers have made initial checks for ensure the specifications are met

The code is then sent to a testing team with the task of formally checking the code

Occurs before the customer agrees to accept the final program

32
Q

What is beta testing and when is it carried out?

A

Beta testing is carried out when the code is “nearly” ready (will contain some bugs)

Carried out after alpha and later in the software development life cycle

Beta builds are shared with a number of end users which test the system with live data

Beta testers would use the software in every way they can think in an attempt to see if any bugs are exposed

The bugs are the reported to the development team

33
Q

What is End user (acceptance) testing and when is it carried out

A

End user testing occurs before the customer agrees to pay for the final system

The end user tests the system with real data

Used to ensure that what the developer has produced meets the requirements and prove it so they can be paid

34
Q

What are the three different types of maintenance?

A

Perfective maintenance

Adaptive maintenance

Corrective maintenance

35
Q

What does perfective maintenance entale

A

It improves the efficiency of the current system without making any substantial design changes

To improve a system in use

I.e. system works but could work better

36
Q

What does adaptive maintenance entale

A

Involves changing design and adding substantial amounts of code to the system to adapt it

Change a system in use

37
Q

What does Corrective maintenance entale

A

It attempts to eliminate bugs from a computer system which involves recording, but not changing the design of the system.

However, no system can ever be claimed as bug-free

38
Q

What is backup?

A

Backup is the process of copying files from main storage to a separate area

39
Q

When creating a backup policy, what would you need to decide on?

A

Where will the backup be stored

What will it be stored on

How often will the backup be taken

How long will a backup be kept

40
Q

What is recovery?

A

The process of copying the file from the backup to wherever the file is needed

41
Q

When is user documentation produced?

A

Produced when the application has been completed

42
Q

What would user documentation include?

A
  • step by step getting started guides or tutorials for the main features of the system
  • installation guide
  • user guide focusing on user tasks
  • reference manual
  • error messages and trouble-shooting guide
43
Q

What would be used in technical/maintenance documentation

A

Any form of diagrams used in analysis and design

Data structure

Algorithm designs - (flowchart)

Annotated code listings - code listings that abide by the coding standards set out by the development company

Variable lists - lists of the key variables listing their data types and purpose

44
Q

Describe agile approach to analysis and design

A

Incremental approach

Developers start with simple project design and requirements

Clients are involved in all stages of development

Strong communication between client and developer + regular

45
Q

Describe Waterfall approach to analysis and design

A

Sequential process

Developers draft the design of a system up front and does not change

Cannot go back and make changes once analysis and design stages are complete

Client input is only required during analysis and at times the design stage

Less communication between client and developer

46
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of decomposition

A

Advantages:
Different members of team can work on different sub problems

Makes Maintainance easier

Disadvantages:

  • difficult to combine sub problems to solve original problem
  • poorly understood problems are difficult to decompose
47
Q

What are the four different methods of investigation

A

Observation

Questionnaire

Document collecting

Interview

48
Q

Pros and cons off observation

A

Pros
Can actually see what is happening, don’t rely on others

Pick up parts of system that aren’t immediately obvious to the customer

Confirm information gathered through different fact finding methods

Cons

Time consuming so expensive to carry out

Staff may feel watched and change behaviour

No guarantee some subtle parts of the system will show up during

49
Q

Pros and cons of questionnaire

A 
Pros
Cheap + mass produce
Can be distributed worldwide
Could be completed online 
Anonymous (more honest)
Cheaper than interviewing

Cons
Hard to create and design a good questionnaire
Not all will be completed
People don’t always take questionnaires as seriously as interviews
No follow up questions

50
Q

Pros and cons of document collection

A

Pros
See how system should be operating
Inexpensive method of gathering large amounts of data
Can identify storage requirements
Reliable and show most of the data stored in the system

Cons
Staff may not be following procedures in documentation, doing their own method instead

May be out of date / not updated to reflect system

May contain sensitive information

51
Q

Pros and cons of interviews

A

Pros
Gather large amount of detailed info

Can make judgements on validity of information from personal contact or body language

Can ask follow up or open ended questions to gather more detailed information in selected areas

Cons
Time consuming and expensive

Has to be carried out by trained interviewer

Difficult to analyse large and variety of info

52
Q

What is the purpose of a feasibility study

A

To decide whether a solution is possible or to decide whether the current system is worth replacing

53
Q

Name 4 components of program maintenance documentation

A

Annotated listings
Algorithms
Data dictionary
List of sub routines

54
Q

Compare alpha and beta testing

A

Alpha is conducted by a team of highly skilled developers / beta testing isbalwats conducted in real time

Alpha testing requires lab environment or testing environment / beta testing doesn’t require any lab environment or testing

Alpha testers are always highly skilled/ beta testers can be inexperienced

Alpha testing gives a better view of the reliability of the software at an early stage

Beta testing provides opportunity to give the software to end users prior to releasing it to the public

55
Q

Compare alpha and beta testing

A

Alpha is conducted by a team of highly skilled developers / beta testing isbalwats conducted in real time

Alpha testing requires lab environment or testing environment / beta testing doesn’t require any lab environment or testing

Alpha testers are always highly skilled/ beta testers can be inexperienced

Alpha testing gives a better view of the reliability of the software at an early stage

Beta testing provides opportunity to give the software to end users prior to releasing it to the public

Computer Science Cards Rewrite (18 decks)

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