Development of a Computer System Application With 3GL Tools - Research Paper Example

TASK ONE a) Hakimo Company is a software development company, and has five divisions that actualizeits operations. The divisions are Hakimo business solutions, server and tools, and information worker department. Other departments are client, and mobile embedment department. The company’s objective is to mobilize resources, and create opportunities through software development. This is for the purposes of fulfilling its desire to serve the public through highly innovative technologies. The company aims to develop training programs, and tools for software management, thereby expanding opportunities that come with technological innovations. The mobile division of the company is meant to create mobile software products, whose main use are on mobile phones, and laptop computers. The division runs a series of two programs, each with a program manager, and a handful of highly qualified staff. The program manager has the responsibility of developing an innovative idea concerning particular software, and he works together with his team. The Hakimo business department produces software’s for office applications. This software’s are to enhance effective communication within a company. The server and tools division handles all certification programs, and it is meant to train the workers of the organization on the emerging trends of technological innovations. This division combines the services of employees at the business solution department and the mobile division of the company. This is because of the experience, and skills in their possession. The information department handles the public relations of the company, and the company’s main business strategy is to enter into a strategic alliance with large software companies. b) 3GLS stands for Third Generation Languages. It is a collection of programming languages that enhance the development of second generational languages. Examples of 3GLS tools are Pascal, the C family of languages and BASIC. A program developed by 3GL tools is referred to as a source code, which is converted by a specific program, known as the complier, to the object code. This code is recognized by a specific computer. In developing this program, programmers use aggregate data types, and variable names, and they combine this with skills in defining parts of the code, into subroutines. 3GLS tools such as Fortran, Pascal and the C family enable a programmer to develop programs that are independent of a specific computer (Shooman, 2002). These languages are referred to as high level languages, because they are close to the language spoken by humans. These languages can run at any computer, and are not limited to specifics. Programmers who use Pascal to develop computer programs are more concerned with writing a bug free code. They will do this by making errors syntactically illegal and putting limitations on the design of the computer program. This tool of 3GLS makes it easier for programmers to write simple and complex messages. By use of the C family language, the objective of the computer programmers is to be able to write as much information as they need. The C tool has a memory, and the specific purpose of the memory is to contain the characters of a message. It has a display command whose main function is to identify the specific type of data, and its form. Basing on this, the C family languages are highly flexible and easy to use. This group has the following languages, C#, C++, and C (Goldsmith et al, 2011). BASIC is another form of 3GLs, and it is used to develop computer software’s that are easy to understand, and use. In developing computer software, BASICS integrate macro-languages of different computer productivity tools and authoring systems (Wyld, 2012). Programmers who use the C family of languages and Pascal must integrate them with object oriented programming. By doing this, they will create other versions of the languages, which are more powerful and efficient. These groups of languages are the Object Pascal and the C ++. Software has what is termed as the life cycle (Goldsmith, 2011). This is a structure that developers use in the process of developing software. The first stage is the requirements and analysis stage. At this stage, the programmer will gather data on the specifics of the software in relation to the requirements of the client. It is at this stage that the programmer will establish the estimate costs of developing the software. In the case of Hakimo, the developers will gather information on all the requirements of the electricity and gas management application. For instance the application must have the capability of showing the post code of the clients, for purposes of calculating electric prices. This information will help in the collection of the materials necessary, and therefore estimating the cost of developing the software. The second stage involves the design and the architecture of the software. At this stage, the programmer describes the software in a mathematical manner (Wyld, 2012). He develops an abstract representation of the software. For instance, the software ordered by Swalec has two versions. The first version is to generate bills for each household, and the second version is to save the user preferences, and their meter readings. The programmer will develop a representation of this software at this stage. At this stage, the programmer will enact a technical baseline. This will help to estimate the overall cost of the program. It will also help in assessing the risk associated with developing the software, and the duration of its completion. The third stage is the coding and the testing stage. This stage involves testing the functionality of the software to see if it works. The engineers test the various codes they have developed to find out whether they match the specification of the employees. It is at this stage that the size of the software is measured, and its quality (Goldsmith et al, 2011). The quality of the software must be as prescribed by customer. It is also at this stage that the real cost of developing the software is calculated, and known. It is at this stage that the programmers will test whether the software can indicate the post code of the client’s location, their address, their metre readings, their preferences and their frequency of paying electric bills. The next step involves the procedure known as maintenance and evolution. It is here that the engineers record the specifications of the software. This includes its external and internal design. The main purpose of this stage is to keep data which will be used during the processes of its maintenance and repair. At this stage, the engineers will record all information concerning the software for Swalec. They will record all the programming and computer applications used to develop the software. It is at this stage that the engineer will project the risks associated by using the software, and its mitigation measures. The last stage is the devolution stage. Here, the engineer trains the customer on how to use the product. It is at this stage that Swalec will get their software, and installed into their system. The engineers will also train the company on how to use the software, and the risks associated with mishandling the software in question. TASK TWO: a) Unified Modeling Language falls under the object oriented field of software engineering. It is a multi-purpose modeling language that incorporates graphic notation procedures for purposes of a creating a visual model of software intensive systems. The UML language creates, specifies, constructs and documents the pieces of an object oriented software intensive system. In developing the software for Swalec, the programmers will use the UML language. This language will assist in creating specific information system, such as the pricing of the electric bills, and the meter readings. The UML incorporates architectural elements such as business processes, actors, computer programming statements, in developing an object oriented software system (Shooman, 2002). It will incorporate the architectural element of the software, for instance the software ordered by Swalec has to divisions, and the first version depicts the records of a customer. The second version depicts the metric numbers, and customer preferences. Programmers, by use of UML will develop such kind of a system. The UML language allows software developers to be specific on the objected oriented system, and to visualize its operations. The language also documents all the tools and software’s installed into the electric management software of Swalec. The language, in conjunction with procedures from component, data, object and business modeling is used to develop software throughout its development stage, and on different relevant technological innovations. Rational rose is a tool that supports the functionality of UML language (Goldsmith, 2011). Rational rose develops information system application by integrating the Unified Modeling Languages. Rational rose studio has features that make it possible to redesign and create new components in a computer system. To add components such as the postal code of the client’s location, the company can use rational rose studio. This is because it supports features that make it possible to build different components of a system by use of different languages. Rational Rose supports computer languages such as C++, visual Basics and Java (Goldsmith et al, 2011). By using rational rose, the software will be compatible with other programs such as Microsoft software’s, as it integrates the elements of GUI such as drag and drop, which are extensively, used in Microsoft office programs (Wyld, 2012). This software for Swalec electric company must depict numeric numbers, in the form of metric readings. The best tool to use in programming the software to reflect this functionality is the artisan real studio software. The software’s has the capability of creating algorithmic concepts. Artisan real studio has a multi-user repository, which makes it possible for various developers to access the same page, at the same time (Shooman, 2002). It has a code generation system that is flexible, and can support various computer systems languages. b): A manual on how to use Microsoft Project Microsoft Project is software developed by Microsoft Corporation for purposes of efficiency in the control, tracing and planning of a project. It has the capability of calculating the time period of the project and the costs the project incurs. It does this by tracking all the data for the work, the expenses incurred and the time duration of the project. Hakimo can use this software for controlling, tracing and planning their project. The first step into accessing the program is to install the office package in a computer system. After installing the package, the User will click on Ms Office, and thereafter click on programs, and then chose Ms Project (Wyld, 2012). After clicking on Ms Project, the user will come face to face with the working area of the Ms Project interface. The working area has two parts, namely the Gantt chart, and the Entry table. The entry table is the interface that supports the functionality of Ms Project. It has all the tools that is needed for completion of a project, such as the calculating equations, and the trackers (Goldsmith et al, 2011). The Gantt chart shows the duration of completing a project, and it can serve as a tracker. To adjust the start or the end date of developing the software, the engineer has to click project on the menu bar, and then select project information. The user will face tables with the details of start, finish, and schedule from. The interface will also highlight the current date, the status date, and the calendar. The user will therefore fill the information he wants. To change the time period of work, the user has to go to the menu bar, and then click on the icons with the words, change working time. The table will appear, highlighting the different time period (Wyld, 2012). The user will therefore fill in the necessary details. The user can also adjust the time scale format of his project. To do this, the user has to select format, at the main bar, and then click on time scale. The timescale interface is divided into four categories, top time, middle time, bottom time and non-working time. All this categories have options, in which the user will select and then fill in the details (Goldsmith et al, 2012). Now to start the project, it has to have a task name. To create a task name, the user has to click on the toolbar, and then select tasks. He then has to click the cell on the task name, and type the name of the task, after which he will press enter. After the task is named and identified, it is important to organize them into phases. To organize a task into phases, the user has to click on the task, and indent it on the summary box at the Gantt chart. Finally, to estimate the duration of the project, the user has to enter the time period at the duration schedule of the task bar. The software will then calculate the estimated duration of his project. Bibliography: Goldsmith, Mike, and Tom Jackson. Computer. New York: DK Publishing, 2011. Print. Shooman, Martin L.. Reliability of computer systems and networks fault tolerance, analysis and design. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 2002. Print. Wyld, David C.. Advances in computer science, engineering & applications proceedings of the second International Conference on Computer Science, Engineering & Applications (ICCSEA 2012), May 25-27, 2012, New Delhi, India.. Berlin: Springer, 2012. Print. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More