Object-Oriented System Analysis

This practical, how-to book lays the groundwork for an object-oriented approach to systems development through information modeling, a powerful technique for systems analysis. The approach focuses on identification, formalization, and verification of expert knowledge from diverse business, engineering, and technical disciplines as a means of determining the intrinsic information requirements of the system. The technique is appropriate for rich and complex problem environments (real-time control systems, decision support systems, or knowledge-based systems) as well as for straightforward applications with minimal processing requirements (database problems, for example).

This is the only book that treats the subject in enough detail to tell an individual practioner:

• how to collect information and expert knowledge about the problem at hand,
• how to transform that knowledge into well-defined objects, attributes, and relationships, and
• how to fully incorporate the resulting information model into the software development process.

Rich in examples and light on theory, Object-Oriented Systems Analysis presents material in a "picturebook" style to draw the reader into an assumptionless frame of mind, which aids in a true understanding of the subject. Many model fragments are used throughout to illustrate the general presentation, and two fully-developedexample models are provided in the appendices.

1. Why Information Modeling?
• Difficulties in software development
• How projects go awry
• Information modeling as an answer
• When to use information modeling in the software development process
• Preview
2. Basic Ideas
• A quick intuitive introduction to the elements of the model
3. Objects
• Definition of object
• Identifying objects
• Object descriptions
• Naming objects
• Testing objects
4. Attributes
• Definition of attributes
• Notation
• Finding and classifying attributes
• Identifiers
• Attribute descriptions
• Domains
• Formalizing the concept of table
5. Relationships
• Concept of relationship
• Forms of binary relationships
• Unconditional one-to-one relationships
• Unconditional one-to-many relationships
• Unconditional many-to-many relationships
• Semantics and modeling of conditional forms
6. Constructions Involving Many Objects
• Subtypes and supertypes
• Associative objects
7. Representation of the Information Model
• Information structure diagrams
• Overview information structure diagram
• Object specification document
• Relationship specification document
• Summary document
8. Techniques
• Document research
• Dialog
• Technical notes
• Reviews
• Other suggestions
9. The Role of the Information Model in System Development
• Software development processes
• The Analysis phase: An object-oriented approach
• The external specification phase
• The system design phase
• The implementation phase
• Summary

• Appendix A: Information Model for Management of Magnetic Tapes
• Appendix B: Data Organization for a Real-Time Process Control Systems
• Appendix C. References

The OO world explained very simple. Too simple to be enjoyable, as most people doesn't appreciate being assumed to be complete idiots.