Activities in producing real-world

software
• Analysis and Specification
• Design
• Implementation
• Testing
• Operation and Maintenance
 Analysis and Specification
• This is the “WHAT DO WE BUILD” phase.
• Analysis is the process of determining what the user
requires the system to do
– This can be a lengthy process involving all the relevant
people who will be using the product
• Specification is the process of producing the
document which describes what the system should
do.
– This will serve two purposes
– Firstly, it will eventually form the contractual document with
the user
– Secondly it will be used as the prescriptive document on
which the design of the system will be based
A great many methodologies exist for system specification;
such as DFDs, ERDs OMTs etc.
 Design
• This is the “HOW DO WE BUILD IT” phase

• The design of a system consists of making

decisions about how the system will be built
on order to meet the requirements determined
during the analysis phase
• Various methods of designing a program exist
such as algorithms, pseudo code, structure
diagrams etc
 Implementation
• This is the “BUILD IT” phase.
• During this phase the design is turned into
a program which will be written in some
sort of executable language
• Usually systems will be created by
producing a number of modules which will
be then integrated; each of these units will
be separately tested before integration
 Testing
• This is the “HAVE WE BUILT IT RIGHT?”
phase
• The aim of testing is verification that the
system conforms to its specifications.
• System as a whole will be tested.
• After testing, system can be deployed to
the customer site
 Operation and Maintenance
• This is the “IS IT STILL OK?” phase.
• Once the system is installed any existing
errors will be corrected, performance
improvements can be made, and –
hopefully – the system can in future be
adapted to meet changing requirements.
• Issues such as adaptability and good
documentation are clearly particularly
relevant in this respect