BTEC Extended Diploma in IT

Unit 6: Software Design & Development

In-Class Activity: Role of Design Principles
Date: 4th November 2010
Task Description
You are required to use the internet and other information sources to find out about the
tasks outlined below. Document your findings using a word processor.

Task 1: The Software Development Life Cycle

In one of your previous activity, you identified the various stages in the software
development life cycle. These include:
1. Requirements Analysis
2. Software Design
3. Software Development (Coding)
4. Software Testing & Debugging
5. Software Installation & Maintenance

For each of the activities outlined above, use Microsoft word to prepare (IN YOUR OWN
WORDS):
• Brief description of the stage
• Activities carried
• The importance of the stage in the software Development life cycle

Task 2: Software Design Principles

There are a number of software design principles that software developers are expected
familiarise themselves with. These include:
1. the software must provide value to its users
2. it must be simple and easy to use
3. analysis, design and coding should be made in such away that others will read
understand
4. resulting software must be easy to maintain
5. where necessary, the resulting software should be portable
6. it is always important for the resulting software to be efficient and reliable

For each of the principles outlined above, prepare (IN YOUR OWN WORDS):
• Brief description of your understanding of the principle
• Things that will help the software developer in achieving it
• The importance of the principle in the software development process

Task 3: Software Design & Development Structures

There are various concepts and terminology used in Software Design & Development.
These include:
7. user-defined and library functions
8. user-defined procedures and subroutines
9. data structures and records
10. classes and objects
11. library and system files

Briefly explain each, paying particular attention to their advantages and disadvantages.

Optional (challenging) task – you don’t have to do this

• For each of the structures listed above, state the programming paradigm it is
associated with (if any) and the associated language.
Note that these are required for Assignment II Task 1 – to be discussed in the
next class