Use Cases Combined with Booch/OMT/UML: Process and Products with CDROM [Hardcover]

Putnam Texel (Author), Charles Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

For software engineering courses, with a focus on object technology and software process. This book will illustrate how to help organizations evolve from ad hoc software development processes to a clearly-defined custom framework that builds on existing knowledge, can be monitored, and delivers significantly improved object-oriented software quality throughout the entire project lifecycle.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) gives you a chance to create a wide variety of software-engineering documents, but what are the steps required to build successful, even military-quality, software? Use Cases Combined with BOOCH/OMT/UML provides a "cookbook," or design guide, to creating software based on use cases, while stressing software requirements and testing.

This text begins with a discussion of its software methodology (which is based on Ivar Jacobson's Use Case methodology). The authors stress software requirements and a "requirements traceability matrix." This is the list of user requirements that will furnish a blueprint for design, implementation, and testing. Based on this requirements list, the authors discuss the use cases, which show how actors interact with software and hardware. The chosen single case study here is certainly idiosyncratic: a "habitat control center" for monitoring the air pressure, temperature, and oxygen level for 48 living quarters in a sealed environment. The chosen case study highlights the authors' belief that critical and reliable software can be created using their process.

Further steps in the design add classes (and groups of classes, called categories) to this requirements matrix. Along the way, this text provides project tracking and testing steps for validating software. All the major UML diagram types are introduced, including class, collaboration, statechart, and activity diagrams. The authors also pay attention to actual coding (or implementation) of their design. (Finished versions of their designs are provided in C++, Java, and Ada95 on the accompanying CD-ROM.)

In all, Use Cases Combined with BOOCH/OMT/UML shows that UML can work within a powerful software process that would seem to have a lot of potential to deliver on-time, highly robust software systems. It's up to readers to decide for themselves, but this software process seems to offer some real advantages. --Richard Dragan

From the Back Cover

The first complete roadmap for building and customizing Object-Oriented software development processes.

With this book you can create a well-defined management and technical project infra-structure based on your existing methodology. Extending the highly effective Use Case model, OO experts Putnam Texel and Charles Williams address every step of the system/software development lifecycle, including:

* Requirements engineering and trace.
* Systems architecture.
* Software OOA and OOD.
* Language independent and language dependent OO design.
* Implementation, testing, and maintenance.

They show how an incremental, iterative approach to identifying, analyzing, designing, implementing and testing Use Cases can help you build a project infra-structure your entire team will have confidence in. Additionally they answer three very important questions: “Where are we going?” , “What do I do next?” , and “When am I done?” .

Texel and Williams unfold the process within the context of a case study designed to present virtually all major software development issues. Their techniques are specifically designed to help you build repeatable, measurable processes which meet the requirements of the SEI CMM. Better yet, these techniques leverage the OO methods you may already be using, and are fully consistent with UML Version 1.0.

Whether you're a project manager or a software engineer, with this book you have the tools to lead your organization away from ad hoc software development processes and improve the quality of the developed code and the productivity of the staff.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013727405X
• ISBN-13: 978-0137274055
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,849,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Apt for Intermediate OO designers, December 29, 1999

By 

"rakeshgoenka" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Use Cases Combined with Booch/OMT/UML: Process and Products with CDROM (Hardcover)

Definitely not for novice developers, this book presents a respectable starting point for OOAD practices. Though some text/techniques did look dated; the approach, deliverables, phases were well covered and can definitely be used for mid-sized OO projects. The phases are well-explained alongwith important elements like pragmatic issues, entry-exit criteria.

For those attempting to bring more structure to their development process, this book's utility can be enhanced with knowledge of design patterns, and previous OOAD experience. One can certainly modify / improve the various deliverables covered in the book to their own needs.

I do wish for a better title and singular focus on UML, now that it is a standard. The code listings can surely be reduced and made more up-to-date. Some basic Java dev guidelines (like package names in lowercase) have been ignored.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Texel and Williams deliver a dud., July 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Use Cases Combined with Booch/OMT/UML: Process and Products with CDROM (Hardcover)

Having worked with Putnam Texel several years ago, I was excited to finally see her work published. Under her direction, the project we worked on produced some of the best analysis materials I have seen to date. I was very eager to see how she had evolved her methodology to include such modern software engineering techniques as use-cases and the UML.

As the title dictates, "Use Cases combined with ...", one would expect some steller use-case technologies presented. Unfortunately, the use-case analysis presented here are both immature and offstream. No where in the book are use-case models and their notation per the UML standard presented. The use-case scenario examples are weak and fail to cleanly flow to software design. The concept presented that use cases map to class methods emphasized the authors fail to understand "true" use-case technologies.

The rest of the book is full of home-brewed project duties and diagramming (CCDs, CCCDs, STDs, PID! s, PADs, & CIDs) which, if followed to the receipt, could quadruple your project's schedule. There fails to be an effort to show how the process can be streamlined.

The authors do present a complete flowing process which other methodolgist often fail to do. There are some good ideas and some specifics that can help scientists fill in the holes of their own methodology. I would suggest a process of this type for large scale developments. I would also suggest, however, you look elsewhere for use-case analysis techniques.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book - wrong title!, October 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Use Cases Combined with Booch/OMT/UML: Process and Products with CDROM (Hardcover)

The title of this book appears to be misleading. It really discusses an approach or "SLDC" process for OO. This should be apparent to anyone that looks at the cover because the "side bar" states what it covers. The Preface also states that it presents a framework for OO methodologies.

For organizations new to OO, this book provides an excelent "how to". You can even take the inside cover and put in a project tool like MS project!

As the authors state, it is like a cook book and after you try it, you can modify the recipe to suite your environment.

The structure of the book is excellent. The information was very well presented.

I highly recommend this book.