[Unit 1.2.3] Software Development

Question 1

what are the 5 key elements of software development

Answer 1

feasibility study
requirements specification
testing
documentation
software development methodologies

Question 2

what is feasibility study

Answer 2

investigation to see if project is viable

Question 3

what are the reasons a project might fail a feasibility study

Answer 3

not economically feasible
not legally feasible
not technically feasible
not enough time to complete project

Question 4

what is the requirement specification

Answer 4

document listing all functionality system should have.
agreement between client and developer

Question 5

through what process are requirements acquired

Answer 5

requirements elicitaion

Question 6

why can requirement elicitation be a difficult process

Answer 6

users have difficulty expressing what they want
users have unrealistic expectations

Question 7

what is testing in terms of software development

Answer 7

ensures program works as it should.

Question 8

what are the four different types of testing in software development

Answer 8

destructive
alpha
beta
acceptance

Question 9

what is destructive testing

Answer 9

trying to crash the program or behave unexpectedly.

Question 10

what is alpha testing

Answer 10

product used by people who have worked on the project

Question 11

what is beta testing

Answer 11

product used by people outside of software development company

Question 12

what is acceptance testing

Answer 12

testing the program against the requirement specification

Question 13

what 4 documents are made during software development

Answer 13

requirements specification
design (algorithms/UI)
technical (how works/maintained)
user (how to operate)

Question 14

what is software development life cycle

Answer 14

process of planning, creating, testing & deploying software

Question 15

what is the waterfall lifecycle model

Answer 15

sequence of stages that only start after prior is finished.
linear model but can OCCASSIONALLY go back a stage

Question 16

what are the 6 stages of the waterfall lifecycle model

Answer 16

requirement elicitation
analysis - what solutions available
design - produce solution
implementation - developers write code
testing
maintenance - fix bugs

Question 17

what are the advantages of the waterfall lifecycle

Answer 17

• easy to manage as team focused on one stage at a time
• everyone has clear responsibilities
• suitable for large scale projects
• can work on multiple projects at once

Question 18

what are the disadvantages of the waterfall lifecycle

Answer 18

• dependant on quality of requirement elicitation.
• if requirements change model is inflexible.
• working software produced late in lifecycle
• feedback at end of product
• not suitable for high risk projects

Question 19

what is the spiral lifecycle model

Answer 19

same as waterfall but develops software in 4 iterative cycles.
each cycle adds a new element to solution
each cycle ends with a prototype
prioritises riskiest elements first.

Question 20

what are the four phases in the spiral model

Answer 20

determine objectives
identify & resolve risks
development & testing
plan next iteration

Question 21

what are the advantages of the spiral model

Answer 21

• manages risk well
• flexible (changes incorporated in later iterations)
• good client involvement
• good for large & risky projects
• good for long term projects

Question 22

what are the disadvantages of the spiral model

Answer 22

• many phases, increasing efforts
• high level of risk analysis required
• risk analysts are expensive
• client invests a lot of time into project

Question 23

what is agile software development

Answer 23

ways of developing software that is iterative and focuses on prototypes and feedback

Question 24

what are the two types of agile programming

Answer 24

rapid application development (RAD)
extreme programming (XP)

Question 25

what are the advantages of agile programming generally

Answer 25

flexible good for small - medium projects customer feedback

Question 26

what is scope creep

Answer 26

when client keeps adding requirements after each prototype

Question 27

what are the disadvantages of agile programming generally

Answer 27

scope creep

Question 28

what are the stages of rapid application development

Answer 28

analysis & design --> build, demonstrate, refine --> testing --> implementation

Question 29

what is rapid application development

Answer 29

prioritising rapid prototype and user feedback

Question 30

what are the advantages of rapid application development

Answer 30

- product out quickly - good where requirements aren't clear at the start - continuous feedback - good when UI is important aspect - more projects done on time

Question 31

what are the disadvantages of rapid application development

Answer 31

- may not be most efficient code - heavy time input from client - scope creep

Question 32

what is extreme programming

Answer 32

emphasis on quality of code

Question 33

what are user stories

Answer 33

how the requirements are split up. descriptions of different ways the system will be used, what it will look like, and what it's expected to do

Question 34

what are the key features of extreme programming

Answer 34

user stories representatives embedded in development team pair programming short development cycles

Question 35

what are the advantages of extreme programming

Answer 35

- final code is of very high quality - product produced quickly - low risk of failure due to user stories

Question 36

what are the disadvantages of extreme programming

Answer 36

- little documentation made - client commits a lot of time - a lot of communication needed - scope creep

Question 37

4 differences between extreme programming and rapid application development

Answer 37

- XP focus on code quality - XP has shorter development cycles - XP releases working versions of system component not prototype - XP has client in team not just feedback