Page 234 - DCAP405_SOFTWARE_ENGINEERING

Unit 13: Building the Analysis Model

Notes

Task Visit a website related to rules of thumb analysis and analyze the limitations in a
group of four.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blank:
10. The model should focus on requirements that are visible within the problem or
……………………...

13.4 Domain Analysis

Software domain analysis is the identification, analysis, and specification of common requirements
from a specific application domain, usually for reuse on multiple projects within that application
domain [Object oriented domain analysis is] the identification, analysis, and specification of
common, reusable capabilities within a specific application domain, in terms of common objects,
classes, subassemblies, and frameworks.
 Define the domain to be investigated.

 Collect a representative sample of applications in the domain.
 Analyze each application in the sample.
 Develop an analysis model for the objects.
Target-specific OO analysis techniques often generate models with applicability stretching beyond
the needs of the system(s) under consideration, and thus intrinsically incorporate at least some
form and extent of domain analysis. However, the notion of domain analysis as a distinguishable
enterprise remains an immature topic, in need of considerable development. In this unit, we
survey general views, models, and variants of domain analysis, along with their consequences
for reuse.
There are several ways to define “domain”. For example,
 A collection of current and future (software) applications that share a set of common
characteristics.
 A well-defined set of characteristics that accurately, narrowly, and completely explain a
family of problems for which computer application solutions are being, and will be
sought.
A founder, if not the founder, of domain analysis is Neighbors. He wrote in 1980:
The key to reusable software is captured in domain analysis in that it stresses the reusability of
analysis and design, not code.

Models

The scope of a domain investigation can vary extensively. A definition of domain analysis
formulated by Prieto-Diaz elucidates its purpose as:

A process by which information used in developing software systems is identified, captured,
and organized with the purpose of making it reusable when creating new systems.

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