software enginnering(4)

4. Software Design

January-2004 [18]

4.

a)         Draw a structure chart for the Data Flow Diagram of a University Admission process as depicted below:

            A: Filled Application + Fee; B: Application;          C: Application to Department;

            D: AdmlUReJect Info.;    E: Acknowledgment; F: Letter AdmlUReJect.                           [8]

b)         Distinguish between Coupling and Cohesion. Identify different kinds of Coupling and cohesion among software modules. What kind of Coupling and Cohesion is desirable for a good software design?                                                                                        [10]

 

July-2004 [34]

1.         State whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE. In each case, justify your answer using 3-4 sentences.

g)         Traditional process-oriented design is carried out top-down, whereas object-oriented design is normally carried out bottom-up.                                                                 [4]

2.

Consider the following Transport Company Automation (TCA) software. A transport company requires to automate its various operations. The company has a fleet of vehicles. Currently the company has the following vehicles:

Ambassadors:10 Non-AC, 2 AC
Tata Sumo: 5 Non-AC, 5 AC
Maruti Omni : 10 Non-AC
Maruti Esteem: 10AC
Mahindra Armada:10 Non-AC

The company rents out vehicles to customers. When a customer requests for a car, the company lets them know what types of vehicles are available and the charges for each car. For every car, there is a per hour charge and a per kilometer charge. A car can be rented for a minimum of 4 hours. The amount chargeable to a customer is the maximum of (per hour charge for the car times the number of hours used, and per kilometer charge times the number of kilometers run) subject to a minimum amount decided by the charge for 4 hours use of the car. An AC vehicle of a particular category is charged 50% more than a non-AC vehicle of the same category. There is a charge of Rs 150 for every night halt regardless of the type of the vehicle.

When a customer books a car, he has to deposit an advance amount. The customer also informs the company when he expects to return the car. When the car is returned, depending on the usage, either the customer is refunded some amount, or he has to pay additional amount to cover the cost incurred.

In addition to automating the above activities, the company wants to collect statistics about various types of vehicles such as average amount of money spent on repairs for the car, average demand, revenue earned by renting out the car, and fuel consumption of the car. Based on these statistics, the company may take a decision about which vehicles are more profitable. The statistics can also be used to decide the charge for different types of vehicles.

Draw the following using standard notations. If necessary, you can make sUitable assumptions regarding the details of various features of TCA software, but you must clearly write down the assumptions you make.

a)         Draw the context diagram (level 0 DFD) for the TCA software                                         [4]

b)         Draw the level 1 DFD for the TCA software.                                                                   [8]

c)         Perform structured design for the TCA software.                                                           [6]

5.

a)         What criteria would you use to distinguish a good design from a bad design. Discuss some metrics that can be used to judge the goodness of a design.                      [6]

6.

b)         What is a real-time system? Why can't the traditional design technique be used for design of real-time systems? Explain the extensions to the traditional design technique necessary for carrying out the design of real-time systems.                                           [6]

January-2005 [31]

1.         Give brief answer to the following questions:

g)         List and explain briefly five metrics for the design phase.                                              [4]

3.

a)         What are the different types of coupling that may exist between two modules? Show, how control coupling can be avoided with the help of an example. What problems can occur if modules have very low cohesion?                                                                      [9]

b)         How can you achieve functional independence in a software design? Explain with any example of your choice.                                                                                          [9]

5.

b)         Write short note on:

i)          Data Flow Diagram

ii)          Data Dictionary                                                                                              [9]

July-2005 [21]

2.

b)         Explain the desirable characteristics of a good user interface. In this context, how do the limitations of the human recognition capabilities influence the user interface design?                                                                                                                                           [9]

5.

a)         What criteria would you use to distinguish a good software design from a bad design? Discuss some metrics that can be used to judge the goodness of a software design.    [6]

6.

b)         What is a real-time system? Why can’t traditional design techniques be satisfactorily used for designing real-time systems? Explain the extensions to the traditional design technique necessary for designing real-time systems.                                                   [6]

 

January-2006 [22]

1.

d)         What are the desirable characteristics of a good software design?                      [4]

4.

a)         What is coupling? Which form of coupling among software modules is the best? What are the various forms of coupling? Explain.                                                                                [9]

b)         Define Cohesion. What is Functional Cohesion? Does Functional Cohesion within a module bring about good software design? Give an example. What type of coupling and cohesion between/among modules is preferred for good quality software?                  [9]

July-2006 [11]

1.         Give brief answers to the following questions.

c)         Do you agree with the claim: “The essence of any good function-oriented design technique is to map the functions performing similar activities into a module.” Justify your answer.                                                                                                             [4]

6.

c)         Explain the human cognition capabilities (relevant to human-computer interfaces) and their limitations. How do these influence design of effective human-computer interfaces?                                                                                                                                   [7]

January-2007 [8]

2.

c)         Define Coupling in the context of software design. What are the different types of coupling in practice? Discuss them briefly. Also discuss why data coupling is the best form of coupling.                                                                                                       [8]

July-2007 [8]

1.

d)         How can you design high cohesion and low coupling modules?                                      [4]

e)         What are the types of generic dependencies in an architectural design?                         [4]

January-2008 [14]

3.

a)         What is coupling? Which form of Coupling among software modules is the best? What are the other forms of Coupling?                                                                                 [8]

b)         Define Cohesion. What is functional Cohesion? Does Functional Cohesion within a module bring about good software design? Give an example.                                           [6]