Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? This course guides developers through the process used to develop object-oriented software. We discuss the requirements capture for producing an object-oriented requirements model. Analysis and design steps consistent with the Unified Process take the requirements model through to a design that can be implemented in a modern object-oriented programming environment. This course uses UML throughout the modelling process. What is object-oriented analysis and design? Object-oriented analysis and design describe the process used to represent software requirements in an object-oriented manner, and to transform these requirements into a detailed model suitable for a developer to program. In this course, the technique used to undertake this analysis and design is the Unified Software Development Process. Who will benefit from this course? There can be significant benefit to sending an entire team to this course. The greatest benefit is gained when participants can share the same methodology with co-developers on a given project under the supervision and resource allocation of supportive management. What background do I need? You need to have a basic knowledge of computer systems development concepts, and preferably should have been involved in computer systems analysis, design, or programming. Although helpful, you don't need to have any specific background in object-oriented (OO) programming techniques or knowledge of any specific programming language. Object-oriented concepts are fully covered in the course. There is a section on translating the design into object-oriented (and other) languages. Does the course focus on analysis or design? The course provides techniques that can be used in both areas. The course emphasises the importance of the analysis phase and discusses techniques for turning the results of this phase into a design. A significant section of the course addresses the difficulties of translating a design into an implementation. What programming languages does the course use? The course is independent of the target programming language. Techniques covered apply to all modern object-oriented languages such as Java, C#, C++, Visual Basic .NET, as well as to business modelling. How OO techniques can be used with conventional and object-oriented databases is also addressed. How do OO techniques relate to structured analysis and design or E-R analysis? Structured analysis and design focuses on processes, while entity-relationship analysis focuses on entities (data). Object-oriented analysis and design focuses on the identification of data and processes in an integrated fashion and is generally used in place of these techniques. Which methodology does the course describe? There has been much excitement in object modelling circles about Rational's state-of-the-art Unified Modelling Language (UML), which is the modelling notation this course uses. You should note that UML is not a modelling technique, but rather a notation with its semantics. The modelling technique we teach employs use case and object modelling as proposed by Ivar Jaconson in his book, The Unified Software Development Process. This technique is applied using UML. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours Concepts and terminology 3.0 Use cases requirements modelling 4.0 Object modelling and refinement 4.0 Developing an object-oriented design 5.0 Implementing object-oriented designs 3.0 Comparison and appraisal of methodologies 1.0 Mapping OO designs onto programming languages 1.0 Application of design patterns 4.0 Demonstration and use of modern CASE tools 4.0 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. What kinds of hands-on exercises does the course include? You gain experience using industry-standard UML case tools to: Capture and refine use case requirements Produce class and collaboration diagrams as part of an analysis model Explore a shared UML repository tool to ensure model consistency Transform analysis behavioural models into design sequence diagrams Investigate automated source code generation Reverse-engineer UML models from source code Can I use the methods described with traditional programming languages? Yes. The course covers translating your design into a programming language, which includes the use of these techniques with a traditional language. Will I learn what CASE tool to purchase? A number of CASE tools support differing techniques and notations. As stated above, the notation used in this course is the Unified Modelling Language as specified by Rational Corp. We discuss CASE tools and demonstrate the Rational Rose tool as an example of a leading CASE tool for object-oriented software development. How much of the life cycle does the course cover? The object-oriented techniques described in the course are used throughout system development. The focus of this course is on the analysis and design work. Other work areas, such as testing, are covered only briefly in this course but are the primary focus of other Learning Tree software development courses. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? 216, UML 2: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction provides comprehensive coverage of the latest standard for the Unified modelling Language (UML) and how UML fits into the software development life cycle. 932, CMMI® : A Comprehensive Introduction  provides the knowledge and skills to apply CMMI principles and practices to meet the demands of internal and customer requirements. 316, Software Testing Foundation: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction shows how to build testing and inspection methods into work processes throughout the development life cycle. 194, Hands-On Visio®: Designing Effective Visual Solutions provides the hands-on skills to use the Visio templates and stencils to quickly create sophisticated diagrams. Ideal follow-on courses for people interested in object-oriented programming are: 327, C++ Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction  471, Java Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction

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