The Critical Role of Establishing Detailed Technical Requirements in Software Development
Deciding what to build and establishing detailed technical requirements are crucial steps in software system development. This process involves defining interfaces to people, machines, and other systems, and is essential for the success of the resulting system. Requirements validation criteria, consistency, and use-case modeling play significant roles in ensuring the correctness, completeness, and traceability of system functionalities.
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The hardest single part of building a software system is deciding precisely what to build. No other part of the conceptual work is a difficult as establishing the detailed technical requirements, including all the interfaces to people, to machines, and to other software systems. No other work so cripples the resulting system if done wrong. No other part is more difficult to rectify later. -Fred Brooks
Critical step in the development process, Usually after requirements engineering or requirements analysis. Also at delivery Requirements validation criteria: Correctness: The requirements represent the client s view. Completeness: All possible scenarios through the system are described, including exceptional behavior by the user or the system
Consistency: There are functional or nonfunctional requirements that contradict each other Realism: Requirements can be implemented and delivered Traceability: Each system function can be traced to a corresponding set of functional requirements
Use-case modeling the process of modeling a system s functions in terms of business events, who initiated the events, and how the system responds to those events. Use-case modeling has roots in object-oriented modeling. Gained popularity in nonobject development environments because of its usefulness in communicating with users. Compliments traditional modeling tools.
Provides a tool for capturing functional requirements. Assists in decomposing system scope into more manageable pieces. Provides a means of communicating with users and other stakeholders concerning system functionality in a language that is easily understood. Provides a means of identifying, assigning, tracking, controlling, and management system development activities, especially incremental and iterative development. Provides an aid in estimating project scope, effort, and schedule. Provides a baseline for testing in terms of defining test plans and test cases.
Provides a baseline for user help systems and manuals as well as system development documentation. Provides a tool for requirements traceability. Provides a starting point for the identification of data objects or entities. Provides functional specifications for designing user and system interfaces. Provides a means of defining database access requirements. Provides a framework for driving the system development project.
Use-case diagram a diagram that depicts the interactions between the system and external systems and users. It graphically describes who will use the system and in what ways the user expects to interact with the system. Use-case narrative a textual description of the business even and how the user will interact with the system to accomplish the task. Use case a behaviorally related sequence of steps (a scenario), both automated and manual, for the purpose of completing a single business task. Description of system functions from the perspective of external users in terminology they understand.
Use case subset of the overall system functionality Represented graphically by a horizontal ellipse with the name of the use case appearing above, below, or inside the ellipse. Actor anything that needs to interact with the system to exchange information. Could be a human, an organization, another information system, an external device, or even time. Actors communicate by sending and receiving stimuli to and from the system. Each actor has a name. Temporal event a system event triggered by time. The actor is time.
Primary business actor The stakeholder that primarily benefits from the execution of the use case. e.g. the employee receiving the paycheck, or the customer receives a package Primary system actor The stakeholder that directly interfaces with the system to initiate or trigger the business or system event. e.g. the bank teller entering deposit information, the order entry clerk External server actor The stakeholder that responds to a request from the use case. e.g. the credit bureau authorizing a credit card charge External receiver actor The stakeholder that is not the primary actor but receives something of value from the use case. e.g. the warehouse receiving a packing slip
A narrative description of what people do and experience as they try to make use of computer systems and applications A concrete, focused, informal description of a single feature of the system used by a single actor. Scenarios can have many different uses during the software lifecycle
As-is scenario: Used in describing a current situation. Usually used during reengineering. The user describes the system. Visionary scenario: Used to describe a future system. Can often not be done by the user or developer alone Evaluation scenario: User tasks against which the system is to be evaluated Training scenario: Step by step instructions designed to guide a novice user through a system
Dont expect the client to be verbal if the system does not exist Don t wait for information even if the system exists Engage in a dialectic approach (evolutionary, incremental) You help the client to formulate the requirements The client helps you to understand the requirements The requirements evolve while the scenarios are being developed
Ask yourself or the client the following questions: What are the primary tasks that the system needs to perform? What data will the actor create, store, change, remove or add in the system? What external changes does the system need to know about? What changes or events will the actor of the system need to be informed about? Insist on task observation if the system already exists (interface engineering or reengineering) Ask to speak to the end user, not just to the software contractor Expect resistance and try to overcome it
What needs to be done to report a Cat in a Tree incident? What do you need to do if a person reports Warehouse on Fire? Who is involved in reporting an incident? What does the system do if no police cars are available? If the police car has an accident on the way to the cat in a tree incident? What do you need to do if the Cat in the Tree turns into a Grandma has fallen from the Ladder ? Can the system cope with a simultaneous incident report Warehouse on Fire?
Bob, driving down main street in his patrol car notices smoke coming out of a warehouse. His partner, Alice, activates the Report Emergency function from her laptop. Alice enters the address of the building, a brief description of its location (i.e., north west corner), and an emergency level. In addition to a fire unit, she requests several paramedic units on the scene given that area appear to be relatively busy. She confirms her input and waits for an acknowledgment. John, the Dispatcher, is alerted to the emergency by a beep of his workstation. He reviews the information submitted by Alice and acknowledges the report. He creates allocates a fire unit and two paramedic units to the Incident site and sends their estimated arrival time (ETA) to Alice. Alice received the acknowledgment and the ETA.
Concrete scenario Describes a single instance of reporting a fire incident. Does not describe all possible situations in which a fire can be reported. Participating actors Bob, Alice and John
Find all the use cases in the scenario that specifies all possible instances of how to report a fire Example: Report Emergency in the first paragraph of the scenario is a candidate for a use case Describe each of these use cases in more detail Describe the Entry Condition Describe the Flow of Events Describe the Exit Condition Describe Exceptions Describe Special Requirements (Constraints, Nonfunctional Requirements)
First name the use case Use case name: ReportEmergency Then find the actors Generalize the concrete names ( Bob ) to participating actors ( Field officer ) Participating Actors: Field Officer (Bob and Alice in the Scenario) Dispatcher (John in the Scenario) Then concentrate on the flow of events Use informal natural language
The FieldOfficer activates the Report Emergency function of her terminal. FRIEND responds by presenting a form to the officer. The FieldOfficer fills the form, by selecting the emergency level, type, location, and brief description of the situation. The FieldOfficer also describes possible responses to the emergency situation. Once the form is completed, the FieldOfficer submits the form, at which point, the Dispatcher is notified. The Dispatcher reviews the submitted information and creates an Incident in the database by invoking the OpenIncident use case. The Dispatcher selects a response and acknowledges the emergency report. The FieldOfficer receives the acknowledgment and the selected response.
Use case name: ReportEmergency Participating Actors: Field Officer (Bob and Alice in the Scenario) Dispatcher (John in the Scenario) Exceptions: The FieldOfficer is notified immediately if the connection between her terminal and the central is lost. The Dispatcher is notified immediately if the connection between any logged in FieldOfficer and the central is lost. Special Requirements: The FieldOfficer s report is acknowledged within 30 seconds. The selected response arrives no later than 30 seconds after it is sent by the Dispatcher.
Name of Use Case Actors (Description of Actors involved in use case) Entry condition ( This use case starts when ) Flow of Events (Free form, informal natural language) Exit condition ( This use cases terminates when ) Exceptions (Describe what happens if things go wrong) Special Requirements (Nonfunctional Requirements, Constraints)
Consider the case of a person joining and belonging to a health club
When looking for actors, ask the following questions: Who or what provides inputs to the system? Who or what receives outputs from the system? Are interfaces required to other systems? Are there events that are automatically triggered at a predetermined time? Who will maintain information in the system?
Objective is to elicit and analyze enough requirements information to prepare a model that: Communicates what is required from a user perspective. Is free of specific details about how the system will be built or implemented. To effectively estimate and schedule project, may need to include preliminary system implementation assumptions. Steps 1. Identify business actors. 2. Identify business use cases. 3. Construct use-case model diagram. 4. Documents business requirements use-case narratives.
During requirements analysis, strive to identify and document only the most critical, complex, and important use cases, often called essential use cases. When looking for use cases, ask the following questions: What are the main tasks of the actor? What information does the actor need form the system? What information does the actor provide to the system? Does the system need to inform the actor of any changes or events that have occurred? Does the actor need to inform the system of any changes or events that have occurred?
Association a relationship between an actor and a use case in which an interaction occurs between them. Association modeled as a solid line connecting the actor and the use case. Association with an arrowhead touching the use case indicates that the use case was initiated by the actor. Association lacking arrowhead indicates a receiver actor. Associations may be bidirectional or unidirectional.
Extension use case a use case consisting of steps extracted from a more complex use case in order to simplify the original case and thus extend its functionality. Relationship between the extension use case and the use case it is extending is called an extends relationship. Represented as an arrowheaded line beginning at the extension use case and point to the use case it is extending. Each extends relationship line is labeled <<extends>>.
Abstract use case a use case that reduces redundancy among two or more other use cases by combining the common steps found in those cases. An abstract case is available for use by any other use case that requires its functionality. Relationship between the abstract use case and the use case that uses it is called a uses (or includes) relationship. Depicted as an arrowheaded line beginning at the original use case and pointing to the use case it is using. Each uses relationship line is labeled <<uses>>.
Depends On a use case relationship that specifies which other use cases must be performed before the current use case. Can help determine sequence in which use cases need to be developed. Depicted as an arrowheaded line beginning at one use case and pointing to a use case it is dependent on. Each depends on relationship line is labeled <<depends on>>.
Inheritance a use case relationship in which the common behavior of two actors initiating the same use case is extrapolated and assigned to a new abstract actor to reduce redundancy. Other actors can inherit the interactions of the abstract actor. Depicted as an arrowheaded line beginning at one actor and pointing to the abstract actor whose interactions the first actor inherits.
Document first at high level to quickly obtain an understanding of the events and magnitude of the system. Then expand to a fully-documented business requirement narrative. Include the use case s typical course of events and its alternate courses.
Use-case model can drive the entire development effort. Project manager or systems analyst uses business requirements use cases to plan (estimate and schedule) the build cycles of the project. Build cycles are scoped on the basis of the importance of the use case and the time it takes to implement the use case. To determine importance of the use cases, will create: Use-case ranking and evaluation matrix Use-case dependency diagram
In most projects, the most important use cases are developed first. Use-case ranking and priority matrix a tool used to evaluate use cases and determine their priority. Evaluates use cases on a scale of 1 to 5 against six criteria. 1. Significant impact on the architectural design. 2. Easy to implement but contains significant functionality. 3. Includes risky, time-critical, or complex functions. 4. Involves significant research or new or risky technology. 5. Includes primary business functions. 6. Will increase revenue or decrease costs.
Use-case dependency diagram a graphical depiction of the dependencies among use cases. Provides the following benefits: Graphical depiction of the system s events and their states enhances understanding of system functionality. Helps identify missing use cases. Helps facilitate project management by depicting which use cases are more critical.
