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Development Terms
Fifteen essential definitions you need to know
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 1 of 16
Contents
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
sequence. These are called dependent or serial tasks. The tasks between
nodes 1 and 2, and nodes 1 and 3 are not dependent on the completion of
one to start the other and can be undertaken simultaneously. These tasks
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
linking nodes 6 and 9 indicates that the system files must be converted
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
sequence but that don't require resources or completion time are considered
arrows and are called dummy activities. For example, the dashed arrow
before the user test can take place, but that the resources and time required
to prepare for the user test (writing the user manual and user training) are on
another path. Numbers on the opposite sides of the vectors indicate the time
allotted for the task.
The PERT chart is sometimes preferred over the Gantt chart, another
popular project management charting method, because it clearly illustrates
task dependencies. On the other hand, the PERT chart can be much more
difficult to interpret, especially on complex projects. Frequently, project
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 2 of 16
(JAD); the fountain model; the spiral model; build and fix; and synchronizeand-stabilize. Frequently, several models are combined into some sort of
hybrid methodology. Documentation is crucial regardless of the type of model
Contents
chosen or devised for any application, and is usually done in parallel with the
development process. Some methods work better for specific types of
PERT chart
projects, but in the final analysis, the most important factor for the success of
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
5. The system is put into use. This can be done in various ways. The
new system can phased in, according to application or location, and
the old system gradually replaced. In some cases, it may be more
cost-effective to shut down the old system and implement the new
system all at once.
6. Once the new system is up and running for a while, it should be
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 3 of 16
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
with others. Quality assurance was initially introduced in World War II when
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
munitions were inspected and tested for defects after they were made.
get into the final product.
ISO 9000 is an international standard that many companies use to ensure
that their quality assurance system is in place and effective. Conformance to
ISO 9000 is said to guarantee that a company delivers quality products and
services. To follow ISO 9000, a company's management team decides
quality assurance policies and objectives. Next, the company or an external
consultant formally writes down the company's policies and requirements
and how the staff can implement the quality assurance system. Once this
guideline is in place and the quality assurance procedures are implemented,
an outside assessor examines the company's quality assurance system to
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
make sure it complies with ISO 9000. A detailed report describes the parts of
the standard the company missed, and the company agrees to correct any
problems within a specific time. Once the problems are corrected, the
company is certified as in conformance with the standard.
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 4 of 16
elements (for example, classes and interfaces) that can be used together in a
way that will have an effect larger than the sum of the separate elements
combined. The use case should contain all system activities that have
Contents
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
When creating a WBS, the project manager defines the key objectives first
Application
Development Glossary
Page 5 of 16
and then identifies the tasks required to reach those goals. A WBS takes the
form of a tree diagram with the "trunk" at the top and the "branches" below.
Contents
PERT chart
elements are left out. Elements can be rendered as plain text or as text within
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
boxes. The elements at the bottom of the diagram represent tasks small
enough to be easily understood and carried out. Interactions are shown as
lines connecting the elements. A change in one of the critical elements may
affect one or more of the others. If necessary, these lines can include
arrowheads to indicate time progression or cause-and-effect.
A well-organized, detailed WBS can assist key personnel in the effective
allocation of resources, project budgeting, procurement management,
scheduling, quality assurance, quality control, risk management, product
delivery and service oriented management.
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 6 of 16
Contents
PERT chart
Each sprint begins with a planning meeting. During the meeting, the product
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
owner (the person requesting the work) and the development team agree
upon exactly what work will be accomplished during the sprint. The
development team has the final say when it comes to determining how much
work can realistically be accomplished during the sprint, and the product
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
facilitator. Once the team reaches a consensus for how many days a sprint
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
owner has the final say on what criteria needs to be met for the work to be
The duration of a sprint is determined by the scrum master, the team's
should last, all future sprints should be the same. Traditionally, a sprint lasts
30 days.
After a sprint begins, the product owner must step back and let the team do
their work. During the sprint, the team holds daily stand up meeting to
discuss progress and brainstorm solutions to challenges. The project owner
may attend these meetings as an observer but is not allowed to participate
unless it is to answer questions. (See pigs and chickens). The project owner
may not make requests for changes during a sprint and only the scrum
Debugging
master or project manager has the power to interrupt or stop the sprint.
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
At the end of the sprint, the team presents its completed work to the project
Requirements analysis
owner and the project owner uses the criteria established at the sprint
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 7 of 16
duplicate or enhance the object. The practice, taken from older industries, is
now frequently used on computer hardware and software. Software reverse
engineering involves reversing a program's machine code (the string of 0s
and 1s that are sent to the logic processor) back into the source code that it
was written in, using program language statements.
Contents
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
a bug (correct an error in the program when the source code is not
available), to identify malicious content in a program such as a virus or to
adapt a program written for use with one microprocessor for use with
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 8 of 16
Contents
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
tasks in a project.
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 9 of 16
major tasks involved might be: conduct research, choose software, install
software). Horizontal bars of varying lengths represent the sequences,
timing, and time span for each task. Using the same example, you would put
Contents
"conduct research" at the top of the verticle axis and draw a bar on the graph
that represents the amount of time you expect to spend on the research, and
PERT chart
then enter the other tasks below the first one and representative bars at the
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
points in time when you expect to undertake them. The bar spans may
overlap, as, for example, you may conduct research and choose software
during the same time span. As the project progresses, secondary bars,
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Gantt charts give a clear illustration of project status, but one problem with
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
the portions of tasks that have been completed. A vertical line is used to
them is that they don't indicate task dependencies - you cannot tell how one
task falling behind schedule affects other tasks. The PERT chart, another
popular project management charting method, is designed to do this.
Automated Gantt charts store more information about tasks, such as the
individuals assigned to specific tasks, and notes about the procedures. They
also offer the benefit of being easy to change, which is helpful. Charts may
be adjusted frequently to reflect the actual status of project tasks as, almost
inevitably, they diverge from the original plan.
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
What is debugging?
In computers, debugging is the process of locating and fixing or bypassing
bugs (errors) in computer program code or the engineering of a hardware
device. To debug a program or hardware device is to start with a problem,
isolate the source of the problem, and then fix it. A user of a program that
does not know how to fix the problem may learn enough about the problem
to be able to avoid it until it is permanently fixed. When someone says
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 10 of 16
Contents
the result of the unit test for the smallest unit of a system, again at
component test when parts are brought together, again at system test when
PERT chart
the product is used with other existing products, and again during customer
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
beta test, when users try the product out in a real world situation. Because
most computer programs and many programmed hardware devices contain
thousands of lines of code, almost any new product is likely to contain a few
bugs. Invariably, the bugs in the functions that get most use are found and
Use case
"buggy."
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
fixed first. An early version of a program that has lots of bugs is referred to as
Debugging
to perform.
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
how an application will interact with system hardware, other programs and
3-tier application
Unit testing
desired goals and also minimizes the development cost. A good SRS defines
human users in a wide variety of real-world situations. Parameters such as
operating speed, response time, availability, portability, maintainability,
footprint, security and speed of recovery from adverse events are evaluated.
Methods of defining an SRS are described by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 11 of 16
Contents
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
management.
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 12 of 16
Contents
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
The third tier includes the database and a program to manage read and write
access to it. While the organization of an application can be more
complicated than this, the 3-tier view is a convenient way to think about the
parts in a large-scale program.
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
and revision.
Debugging
Unit testing involves only those characteristics that are vital to the
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
performance of the unit under test. This encourages developers to modify the
source code without immediate concerns about how such changes might
affect the functioning of other units or the program as a whole. Once all of the
units in a program have been found to be working in the most efficient and
error-free manner possible, larger components of the program can be
evaluated by means of integration testing.
Unit testing
Unit testing can be time-consuming and tedious. It demands patience and
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 13 of 16
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
Gantt Chart
naming labels inside. These labels are preceded by colons and may be
underlined. The relationships between the objects are shown as lines
connecting the rectangles. The messages between objects are shown as
arrows connecting the relevant rectangles along with labels that define the
message sequencing.
Collaboration diagrams are best suited to the portrayal of simple interactions
among relatively small numbers of objects. As the number of objects and
messages grows, a collaboration diagram can become difficult to read.
Several vendors offer software for creating and editing collaboration
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 14 of 16
diagrams.
Contents
PERT chart
Systems development
lifecycle (SDLC)
Quality assurance (QA
surance (QA)
Use case
Work breakdown
structure (WBS)
Regression testing
Exchange allows you to share real world information in real time with peers
and experts.
Sprint (software
development)
Reverse engineering
editors and network of industry experts provide the richest, most relevant
the Web, the networking and face-to-face opportunities of events and virtual
Gantt Chart
Debugging
Software requirements
specification (SRS)
Requirements analysis
3-tier application
Unit testing
Collaboration diagram
Application
Development Glossary
Page 15 of 16
events, and the ability to interact with peersall to create compelling and
actionable information for enterprise IT professionals across all industries
and markets.