Computer
Science and Software Engineering 371
Software
Requirements and Specification
Fall
2005
Exam
1 Review
Exam 1 (to be given on Friday, September 23 in class) will cover the lectures,
discussion, homework and reading material to date. The exam will be
closed book and closed notes, except for a single 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper,
with which you can put info on both the front and the back. Up to 10% of
the exam could come directly from the reading material (without having been
covered otherwise).
Example problems:
1. The
following problem statement is not in the Function / Form / Economy / Time
format. For this question, first read
this problem statement, and then identify how key parts of this problem
statement would be shown in the Function / Form / Economy / Time problem
statement format.
The Problem Statement:
The problem to be solved is for Eboda Systems, a company who sells many
software products. What Eboda would like
is something called a Feature Tracker, which would track and organize all the
features to be put into each of the company’s line of software products. This Feature Tracker would be for Eboda’s
internal use only; it would not itself be a product. It would help Eboda understand strategically
the mix of features being put into somewhat similar-looking products, in order
to keep them distinguished and individually marketable.
Specifically,
Feature Tracker must log and organize features planned and delivered as part of
the company’s 20 different consumer products.
Feature Tracker should help assure that each product retains a set of
features distinct from any other Eboda product.
Top management especially feels their current products are too similar
in the minds of the consumers who buy them.
We’re
not sure exactly how distinctions will be done by Feature Tracker, but that’s
the problem! Management thinks there
should be a way to verbalize features so they can be compared via this new
tool. The software developers would like
to see visual comparisons of the features-in-action for the different products.
We
need the solution in 6 months, because this is when half of the development
work is being moved to Eboda’s new facility in
End Problem Statement
Select the one piece of the above description which is the most
important part of the Function, Form, Economy or Time dimensions of this
problem. (Do one of each – four
total.) Either rewrite that piece of the
description under the proper heading, below,
paraphrasing for emphasis if you like, or else (to save time) circling it in
the text above and write Function, Form, Economy or Time next to it.
Function:
Form:
Economy:
Time:
2. The vision document is a lot like the problem statement for a project, but also has some strategic differences. Describe why these two documents differ, and list at least three items that can be found in the vision document but are not in the problem statement because of this.
3. Storyboards are generally sketchy and cartoon-like and tend to be discounted as they are superseded in a project by more polished artifacts. Describe the case for their having greatest value in new projects, as opposed to ongoing projects.
4. Describe at least 4 things you should do during brainstorming, and explain why.
5. Consider the following project proposal:
Business
travelers are a demanding group: they have time constraints, have favorite
airlines, have frequent flyer plans, want to get upgraded to first class, need
to change their plans often, and don’t like sitting in a middle seat or in an
airport for very long. At the same time, the companies they work for (who
are paying for this travel), have a lot of demands: they need to control cost,
maximize their use of specific carriers to help them negotiate better deals,
get travelers to book online, and keep everyone happy. The goal of this
project is to design and prototype a flight searching system for an online
travel service (e.g. Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity) that will meet these
needs.
For this proposals, create a use-case
diagram containing at least four use cases and their related actors.