Software Engineering Design Workshop - Essay Example

Crossword Software Engineering Design Workshop Mobile gaming has been the favorite pastime for many, both the young and the old. Apart from variousforms of games that are available on phone, people do indulge into the other games that is available online or in the daily newspapers. Before the mobile and online games were made available to the customers, the crossword was considered a mind boggling game, which engrossed the people on all walks of life. It not only is an age old mind game, but it is considered to be a brain twister. One needs a good vocabulary, presence of mind and a logical orientation to crack the games. Almost all newspapers across the world have some form of crossword for their readers. Actually some readers, especially the elderly and the scholarly people buy a newspaper only to solve the crossword and challenge themselves everyday. This said one must remember that the mobile technology has given the people a power to be online all the time and communicate as and when required. Hence, it is quite definite that the mobile technology has made lot of difference in people’s life. From taking important decisions to addressing their day to day requirements, the mobile phone has given the people to be in touch 24x7. Thus it is quite imperative that their pastime need to be made available on the move. There are only a few people who still carry the newspaper along them. The mobile gadget is all that they require. But that does not mean that the games will not be available to them. Guardian has already incorporated their popular crossword games online. This means that many people can now just go online and play the game whenever they want. But it is not actually the mobile technology. One must have 24x7 accesses to their favorite games and pastimes. Crossword 2 The idea of this paper is to deal with the design and implementation aspect of a mobile crossword puzzle which will be available to the people on the move. But first and foremost we have to understand that the normal crossword puzzles that are published by Guardian are of two types. One comes in a normal image format and the other is a dataset which can be decoded to meet the requirements of the mobile gaming platform. However, there are other aspects that must be taken into consideration. The first and foremost is the screen of the mobile phone. It is usually not large enough to accommodate the entire crossword with its grid and clues. Also the game should be downloadable and must be in sync with the latest one. Another aspect is that the advertisements must be removed in order to keep it simple and hassle free. All these are just an icing on the cake. There is lot more to it. One must remember that there is not much screen space on the mobile; hence it has to be configured in such way that the effectiveness of the game is not lost. In this paper we will work on the details of the following three aspects: 1. Database 2. User Interface 3. Security aspect The system must be designed to meet the requirement of the all types of mobile phones and at the same time keep the feel of crossword game alive in the peoples mind. But first we must have the objective of the system. Crossword 3 The gaming system is intended for those people who have the urge to solve the crosswords in any situation, be it an office meeting or at the bus stop or may be a restaurant. At the same time the gaming system will influence the others as well because it will be in build in their mobile devices. This said we have to consider the different types of mobile devices, like iPods, touch-screen mobile devices and other mobile systems which are used by people across the world. The gaming system can be based on PRS (personal response system). The system will require a software interface and a database which will track the input of the users, generate the crossword puzzles and display the revised view of the puzzle. An SMS based gaming system can be device keeping this in mind, but one has to remember the cost factor as well. Will the mobile service providers reduce the cost or offer a one time rental gaming service? All these and more has to be considered. There are varieties of different software which can be used to incorporate the Guardian crossword in the system. The game will also provide an educational interface for the students, who are the main users of the mobile devices. Let us discuss about the specific points of the gaming system: 1. The database has to be robust and fast as the users will be many and the system will be single. 2. The software which is the basis of the user interface will be user friendly and which will allow the user to work as per his/her requirement. Crossword 4 In this context it is important to know the latest challenges and developments in the world of telecommunications. The security is at an all time high because of the security threats from around the world. Also there is high risk involved in terms of hacking and forging personal information. Virus attacks on mobile phones are common as well. Hence, we have to think quite differently in this context. The concept of virtualization has been around the mobile world for quite sometime now. Most handset manufacturers are working on this concept. It will be quite helpful for mobile games and interactive programs for the mobile phones, when this technology is used on a full fledged scale. The concept of SMS (short message services) thus, is quite evident for our desired gaming system. Since this a well known technology which is used worldwide at a grand scale, it is quite secure and versatile. SMS technology supports both international and national roaming, which means a 24x7 service and that is too on the move. This exclusive feature is quite useful for a non-verbal communication and can also record the input of the user. This will help the database understand the inputs of the user and can determine the correctness of the answer. Also each user can be identified separately without much hassle. Also it supports messaging capability of 160 characters which can include binary or alphanumeric as well. Even if the phone of the user is turned off the user will be able to receive the SMS. This unique feature is not available in any other form of mobile communication. At present there multiple ways of receiving and sending SMS messages. A message can received or sent via the network of the operator’s message center or through the Internet. In the later case Crossword 5 the gateway web-site is used. Hence, this option is quite helpful for incorporating multi-channel interactive response system with the user. It will be helpful even if the user is using a laptop and a phone which can interact with each other. Hence, integrating the features of SMS in a PRS system will help the system to be used widely and effectively. Though there are certain limitations in the SMS system, yet it is quite effective and standard. For a SMS based crossword puzzle there are different pieces of hardware and software. This will include the mobile phone, SMS software and a database. The SMS software will be a modern day communication system. The SMS based crossword puzzle will be no different from the paper crosswords. The user just needs to send the word and the direction of the word. As an example for the word ‘SOFTWARE’ which is the answer for 4DOWN, the user just needs to type ‘4D SOFTWARE’. When the database receives the SMS message through the SMS software it will match the user who is registered in the database and then decodes the messages with the set algorithm to verify the result. If the answer is correct it update the database table against the particular user, else it will store the message for future validation. All these have to deal with by the backend package which can be written in any database editors. The backend software will also contain the algorithm which will also generate the template of the puzzle and score and also the display system. During the entire process the template will be displayed to the user via a hyperlink, which will allow the user to download the updated puzzle template on the mobile phone screen and view the same. This will be applicable whenever the user sends another SMS to the system, requesting for the template. All such requests, like, viewing the puzzle template or requesting for the clue, thesaurus can be done via number. Each number will denote a particular request. All such details or functionality will be stored in the database containing a RULE table. This will be accessed by the backend function which will trigger the system to send Crossword 6 the desired request to the user. This will create a realistic, interactive and exciting experience for the user. In this context one has to rely on a responsive operating system. The Symbian OS which is widely used across many smart phones is one of them. So is the Windows Mobile OS. But all these are mostly used in the smart phones as mentioned before; hence it has its limitations. But while designing this gaming system one must keep in mind that the; downloads, hyperlinks and SMS technology is compatible across all operating systems. Most mobile games come with Java based technology. Since this puzzle game is not very content rich and is not required to support any flamboyant templates, hence designing the interface will be an easy job. Just need to show the grid to the user with or without the update. Rest will be taken care of by the SMS software. The crossword grid can be divided into 4 segments which will help the user to see different grids individually. As an example, the grid can be divided into TL, TR, DL and DR. It means Top Left, Top Right, Down Left and Down Right. Just typing the acronyms will help the user to browse the different grid views and study it. This can be done by just sending a SMS with the acronym and the database software will decode the same and request the UI (user interface) to display the requested grid. There are many games that are available online or can be downloaded on the mobile device itself, but there are potential threats for the same. For one it can make the mobile slow, or make it vulnerable to the outside hackers’ world. Thus the downloadable version of the crossword is not vey convenient for the user. Moreover the versatility of such a game gets lost when it comes as a Crossword 7 downloadable option to the user. Most users actually ignore such downloads and prefer to be interactive in their approach. Also, the phones require Java to download and play the games. But one cannot expect the same on all the phones. In most scenarios the; downloads are costlier and if the user has to download the updated versions of the crossword puzzle on a daily basis then the cost can be quite dear. But most mobile service providers’ offer packages for SMS, hence it will be a lot cheaper in this format. In case the mobile handset does not support Java or any other form of software, then the results of the crossword can viewed online. This will also help the user to save the game as and when required. Also since this totally SMS based, there is no need to have a start or stop feature. If the user does not responds within 24 hours the game will be deleted from the system and the user needs to restart with a new set of puzzles. Having discussed about the technology, we should have a brief overview of the software and the database of the system. The database will be more secure and robust with the Oracle server. It could be the latest 11g or the more stable 9i. The backend package will be designed in a modular fashion which will make the usability and functionality easy, streamlined and efficient. Also the modular approach will help to put in plug-ins, like a thesaurus or information about common abbreviations. As discussed earlier, the database will contain different set of rules and specification which will be the guideline for the system. This will be crucial as it will take inputs from the user and interpret to get the user’s answers. The backend software will entail the entire functionality of the crossword puzzle game. The front end will act only as the user interface, and act as the user validation platform. It will validate the user with the phone number and the sequence of answered. The query has to be done from the database itself. The user first needs to register with their mobile phone numbers and other personal information. This will be stored in Crossword 8 the database to help the system recognize the user. The SMS software will be a part of this entire package. It will assist the software to send and receive the SMS, validate the user and maintain the online SMS server. The software can also be upgraded to maintain the session of a user. If the user does not respond within a specific time limit during the registration the same will be cancelled and the user needs to validate it once again. This is required to maintain the security aspect of the system. It can also be implemented during the puzzle solving process, but it has to be handled differently. If the user wants to continue with the session then the user has to validate a few questions to resume the game. This is again a security feature. Another aspect that we can consider is the archiving of the past crosswords game of any user. This can be a bit rigorous and slightly complicated but it can be used as an enhancement in the next versions of the software. Last but not the least, the software has to be designed in such a manner so as not to confuse between different users and hence the user validation must be done with the phone number and not the name of the user. It will be a renaissance in its own set of features and description. Thus it is important to design the software in a simple, no-frills yet robust platform which will be user friendly and interactive with the user. Crossword 9 Reference: 1. The Motorola Evoke QA4 A Case Study in Mobile Virtualization. Gernot Heiser, PhD. Chief Technology Officer - Open Kernel Labs, Inc. Read More