3.1.

Explain why the rapid delivery and deployment of new systems is often more
important
to businesses than the detailed functionality of these systems.
Ans. “A conventional waterfall or specfication-based process is usually prolonged and
the final software is delivered to the customer long after it was originally specified. In a
fast-moving business environment, this can cause real problems. By the time the
software is available for use, the original reason for its procurement may have changed
so radically that the software is effectively useless. Therefore, for business systems in
particular, development processes that focus on rapid software development and
delivery are essential”

. When would you recommend against the use of an agile method for developing a
software
system?
Ans. “Agile methods are not well suited to large-scale system development with the
development teams in different places and where there may be complex interactions
with other hardware and software system”. Agile methods are not well suited to critical
systems development.

  Write a set of non-functional requirements for the ticket-issuing system, setting out its
expected reliability and response time.
Possible non-functional requirements for the ticket issuing system include:
a)     Between 0600 and 2300 in any one day, the total system down time should not
exceed 5 minutes.
b)     Between 0600 and 2300 in any one day, the recovery time after a system
failure should not exceed 2 minutes.
c)     Between 2300 and 0600 in any one day, the total system down time should not
exceed 20 minutes.
 
All these are availability requirements – note that these vary according to the time of
day. Failures when most people are traveling are less acceptable than failures when
there are few customers.
d)     After the customer presses a button on the machine, the display should be
updated within 0.5 seconds.
e)     The ticket issuing time after credit card validation has been received should
not exceed 10 seconds.
f)      When validating credit cards, the display should provide a status message for
customers indicating that activity is taking place. This tells the customer that
the potentially time consuming activity of validation is still in progress and
that the system has not simply failed.
g)     The maximum acceptable failure rate for ticket issue requests is 1: 10000.

 Using the techniques suggested here, where natural language descriptions are presented in a
standard format, write plausible user requirements for the following functions:
  An unattended petrol (gas) pump that includes a credit card reader. The customer swipes
the card through the reader then specifies the amount of fuel required. The fuel is
delivered and the customer’s account is debited.

The system shall be sure that there is fuel available.

The system shall determine the price for the specified amount of fuel.

The system shall deliver the correct amount of fuel.

The system shall shut off once specified fuel amount is reached.

The system shall debit the customer’s account for the price of the amount of fuel delivered.

 The cash-dispensing function in a bank ATM.

The function shall verify the validity of the card used.

The function shall verify that the PIN used matches the specified card and account.

The function shall make sure the account has the amount specified.

The function shall be sure the dispenser has the available funds requested.

The function shall dispense the specified amount of cash.

 The spelling-check and correcting function in a word processor.

The function shall alert the reader to a misspelling.

The function shall check whether the targeted word is in the specified (installed) dictionary.

The function shall attempt to match the typed word to the closest word in the dictionary.

The function should offer suggestions for corrections of misspelled words.

The function should offer to ignore a misspelling.

The function should offer to add a spelling to the dictionary.

(4.6) Suggest how an engineer responsible for drawing up a system requirements specification

A diagram or list would be ways that would allow an engineer to keep track of the
requirements as well as the connections between them. A diagram would allow visual
connections and relationships between functions to be easily recognized rather than the
confusion that could result from keeping everything separate in lists.
(4.7)  Using your knowledge of how an ATM is used, develop a set of use cases that could serve as
a basis for understanding the requirements for an ATM system.

Withdraw funds: By swiping their card through the card-reader, the user then inputs a PIN
(personal identification number) to verify access to the account. The records of the bank
who holds the account are checked, and the account is then confirmed. The user may then
choose from a list of options on the ATM screen. The user can input an amount (or may
have the option to choose from a predetermined amount) to be withdrawn from their bank
account. The system confirms that the user has enough money in their account before
dispensing the specified amount of cash. After the cash is dispensed, the user will confirm
that the transaction is complete by pressing the button on the screen. They are then logged
out of their account and the ATM is prepared for the next user.

Transfer funds: After confirming access to their account by the process aforementioned,

Check balance: By again confirming access to their account, the user is presented with a list
of options. The user may then choose the option for checking their account balance on the
screen. The ATM accesses the bank records for the specified account and displays it on the
screen for the user to see. The user may then choose to press “End” therefore logging out of
their account on the ATM.

Who should be involved in a requirements review? Draw a process model showing how a
requirements review might be organized.

Answer:
Member’s of the development team and the end users from the customer’s company should
examine the requirements document individually and then meet to discuss any problems. The
end user’s include those who will be operating the system, those who will prepare the system’s
input, and those who will use the system’s output’s; managers of these employees may also
attend.