Object-Oriented System Analysis and Design: Chapters 5 to 10

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Requirements Determination (Chapter 5), Process Structuring (Chapter 6), Data Modeling (Chapter 7), Human Interface Design (Chapter 8), System Implementation (Chapter 9), and Information System Maintenance (Chapter 10).

Impertinence

A systems analyst mindset characterized by questioning everything and refusing to uncritically accept the status quo during requirements discovery.

Impartiality

The practice of giving equal consideration to all stakeholder issues and organizational units to identify the optimal enterprise solution.

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

A four-step structured collaborative elicitation process (Isolate, Voice, Clarify, Distill) where stakeholders generate ideas independently before pooling and prioritizing them.

Hawthorne Effect

An observational phenomenon where individuals alter their standard operational behavior simply because they know they are being monitored by an observer.

Joint Application Design (JAD)

An intensive, off-site collaborative requirements gathering technique pioneered by IBM in the 1970s that gathers key users, managers, and analysts together with a dedicated session leader and scribe.

Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

The search for and implementation of radical, clean-slate changes in business processes to achieve breakthrough performance gains by replacing existing workflows.

Planning Game

An eXtreme Programming (XP) requirements mechanism divided into three successive phases: Exploration (story cards), Commitment (risk and necessity sorting), and Steering (iterative plan adjustments).

System Boundary

The definitive dividing line depicted in a use case diagram separating internal system functionality from external actors.

Actor

An external entity or automated system interacting with the system under analysis, representing a functional role rather than a specific individual person.

<> Relationship

A mandatory use case association wherein a base use case explicitly invokes the generalized sub-routine functionality contained within another use case.

<> Relationship

A conditional use case association where specialized, optional behavior extends a base use case only when specific trigger criteria or extension points occur.

Activity Diagram

A UML behavioral diagram illustrating the sequential flow of control, branching conditions, and concurrent execution steps necessary to execute a business process.

Fork and Join

Activity diagram notation featuring thick horizontal bars; a fork initiates parallel concurrent activities, while a join synchronizes and reunites them before proceeding.

Swimlane

A column partition in an activity diagram or BPMN model designating the precise organizational unit, role, or system component responsible for executing specific tasks.

Sequence Diagram

A dynamic UML interaction diagram depicting chronological message exchanges between object lifelines along a downward vertical timeline.

Synchronous Message

A sequence diagram message call where the sender pauses execution and waits for the receiving object to complete the operation and return control before continuing.

Asynchronous Message

A sequence diagram communication where the sender transmits a message and continues its own execution immediately without waiting for a recipient response.

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN)

A standardized visual modeling language established by the Object Management Group (OMG) to bridge technical system architectures and broad organizational workflows.

BPMN Pool

A top-level visual container in BPMN encapsulating an entire process for a participant; distinct pools interact exclusively through dashed message flows rather than sequence flows.

Encapsulation

The object-oriented software engineering principle of packaging data attributes and operational methods together while hiding internal implementation mechanics behind a message interface.

Constructor Operation

A class-level operation that creates and initializes a brand new object instance of that class in memory.

Query Operation

An operation that reads and retrieves an object's current state properties without altering any stored attribute values.

Update Operation

An operation that mutates or alters the internal attribute values of an existing object instance.

Class-Scope Operation

An operation that targets and applies to an entire class globally rather than targeting an individual object instance.

Associative Class

A UML class attached directly to an association link to hold attributes and operations belonging inherently to the relationship between two classes rather than to either class individually.

Derived Attribute

An attribute calculated dynamically on-the-fly from other stored data rather than being persistently saved, marked in UML with a leading slash ($/$).

Abstract Class

A class annotated with {abstract} that cannot be directly instantiated and functions solely as a superclass template to pass down inherited attributes and methods to subclasses.

Polymorphism

The object-oriented mechanism where subclasses receive the same identical interface operation call but execute distinct, specialized underlying methods.

Aggregation

A weak 'part-of' association indicated by an open diamond at the container end, where component parts maintain independent lifecycles and survive if the parent whole is destroyed.

Composition

A strong whole-part association indicated by a solid, filled diamond, where constituent parts are structurally bound to a single whole and are destroyed if the whole is destroyed.

Design Specification

The core deliverable of human interface design produced by an iterative prototyping engine, structured into Narrative Overview, Sample Design, Testing Assessment, and Dialogue Sequence.

Dialogue

The formal sequence and orchestration of displays, state changes, and user-system interactions executed over time.

Cookie Crumbs

A hierarchical navigational trail (breadcrumbs) positioned on web pages to indicate current page depth relative to the homepage and facilitate one-click upward navigation.

Orphan Page

A web design structural defect where a page lacks parent navigation links, trapping users who arrive through deep external search engine links.

Walkthrough

A manual, static software verification technique where a peer review group systematically examines code, design models, or specifications without code execution.

Desk Checking

A manual, static testing method where an individual programmer or reviewer traces through program source code line by line on paper.

Stub Testing

A testing technique where incomplete lower-level subordinate modules are temporarily replaced with minimal placeholder routines to facilitate top-down integration testing.

Refactoring

The continuous programming practice of restructuring and simplifying code without altering external behavior, performed in eXtreme Programming immediately following the addition of new features.

Alpha Testing

Internal acceptance testing executed by development and internal test teams using simulated data to validate recovery, security, stress, and performance thresholds.

Beta Testing

External acceptance testing conducted by genuine end-users operating with live operational data within their authentic production environment.

Direct Installation

A high-risk 'cold turkey' conversion strategy where the legacy software is decommissioned abruptly at the precise moment the replacement system becomes active.

Parallel Installation

A low-risk, high-cost installation approach where both legacy and replacement systems run concurrently until management verifies the new system's stability.

Single-Location Installation

A pilot deployment strategy where a new system is implemented at a single branch or geographic location to assess suitability before enterprise rollout.

Phased Installation

An incremental implementation strategy that rolls out the software functional module by functional module across the organization over time.

Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS)

A software component containing embedded training and educational assistance, such as interactive walkthroughs, expert shells, and hyperlinked references.

Corrective Maintenance

Non-value-adding software maintenance focused entirely on repairing bugs and operational defects in design, coding, or system implementation.

Adaptive Maintenance

Value-adding modifications performed to modify software functionality in response to evolving business requirements, legal regulations, or new technological environments.

Perfective Maintenance

Software maintenance dedicated to adding new capabilities, expanding features, or enhancing operational computational performance for user benefit.

Preventive Maintenance

Proactive modifications made to software code to avoid potential future defects and safeguard system health before failures occur.

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)

The vital reliability metric that measures the average elapsed operational time or days between software system fault occurrences.

Configuration Management

The formal control process that regulates and tracks software alterations, ensuring that only authenticated, authorized updates enter production codebases.

System Librarian

The individual tasked with controlling configuration management permissions, overseeing the check-in and check-out of baseline modules.

Baseline Modules

The repository of software modules that have successfully undergone full testing, documentation, and formal administrative authorization for current production release.

Reverse Engineering

Automated tools that scan program source code to reconstruct high-level architectural designs, data models, and logical control flow diagrams.

Reengineering

Automated CASE tooling that inspects legacy source code, analyzes data logic, and directly restructures software modules to boost code quality and maintainability.