Unit 2: Software Design Principles and Practices

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)

The governance of the entire lifecycle of a software application from inception to retirement

Requirements Analysis

The ALM process of determining detailed business needs for a new system

Functional Requirements

Requirements that specify exactly what the system is designed to accomplish

Non-functional Requirements

Requirements related to quality attributes like scalability

Design Process

The ALM process of creating plans

Architect Role

The professional who designs the technical blueprint of the system

User-Experience Designer Role

The professional who creates the user's interaction with the system

Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

A framework that defines the phases used to build and deploy software

Waterfall Model

A linear SDLC model where each phase must be completed before the next begins

Agile Model

An iterative SDLC model focused on flexibility

Software Testing

The process of verifying that a software implementation meets its requirements

Black-box Testing

A testing method that focuses on inputs and outputs without knowledge of internal code

White-box Testing

A testing method that uses knowledge of the internal code structure to design tests

Unit Testing

The first level of testing that verifies the functionality of a small piece of code

Integration Testing

A testing level that assesses the interface and interaction between different software components

System Testing

The overall testing of a complete

Acceptance Testing

A testing level often performed by end-users to determine if a system meets their needs

Alpha Testing

A type of acceptance testing performed by a limited group of users before a broad release

Beta Testing

A type of acceptance testing where the product is released to a wider audience for feedback

Regression Testing

The process of re-running existing tests to ensure new changes haven't broken previously working functionality

Release Management

The process of managing

Release Manager

The role responsible for coordinating teams to ensure a timely software release

Operations Staff

The team responsible for system delivery and ongoing maintenance

Technical Support Staff

The team that interacts with customers to help solve their problems

Data Structures

A way of organizing and storing data in a computer to be accessed and modified efficiently

Primitive Data Structure

Fundamental data types provided by a language

Non-primitive Data Structure

Complex data structures created using primitive ones

Linear Data Structure

A data structure where elements are arranged in a sequential order (e.g.

Non-linear Data Structure

A data structure where elements are not arranged in a sequential order (e.g.

Array

A linear data structure that stores elements of the same type in contiguous memory locations

Linked List

A linear data structure where elements (nodes) are linked using pointers

Stack

A linear data structure that follows the Last-In

Queue

A linear data structure that follows the First-In

Tree

A non-linear data structure with a hierarchical relationship between elements

Graph

A non-linear data structure that represents a set of objects connected by links

Security in SDLC

The practice of integrating security considerations into every phase of the software development lifecycle

Shift Left Security

An approach that emphasizes moving security tasks earlier in the SDLC process

Cost of Security Flaws

A principle stating that fixing a security issue during design is 30-60 times cheaper than fixing it in production