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Effective Use Case Development

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Goals

Without proper capture of requirements software projects have a high probability of failure. This 3-day course presents the use case technique which has become the norm for functional requirements capture in object-oriented projects, yet can be used just as successfully with procedural development projects. Structured around a problem-driven approach, students will learn use case techniques and concepts in a "just-in-time" manner, emphasizing the semantics of each technique and not just its notation. Numerous examples, and two, parallel case studies let students see how a concept is described in a use case model, and then immediately apply their understanding.

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Write effective use cases for gaining consensus on the desired behavior of a software system.

  • Recognize and understand the UML use case notation and semantics.

  • Describe the iterative process for developing use cases.

  • Describe the degree of detail needed to write successful use cases.

  • Recognize improper use case descriptions.

  • Understand how to apply use cases directly to software testing.

Duration

Three days.

Prerequisites

Experience in requirements gathering, or systems analysis is desirable, but not mandatory.

Cost

Please call 1-610-831-1151 for public enrollment and private, on-site pricing.

Description

This 3-day course is designed to provide students with intensive, practical training in the concepts of requirements specification through use cases. During the course the students write at least three non-trivial use cases. At course completion, students will have a comprehensive understanding of use cases, how to write useful and effective use cases, and both their value and limitations in either procedural or object-oriented development lifecycles.

View our highly acclaimed presentations:

These presentations have been delivered at Software Development (SD) Expo, SD Best Practices, and UML and Design World.

View our use case examples and tips & guidelines to give your team a jumpstart:

 

Topics

Project Failure and Success Factors

Executive Summary of Use Cases

The many dimensions of requirements

  • Functional requirements

  • Non-functional requirements

  • Use Cases are not diagrams

  • Where do use cases fit?

Dimensions of use case descriptions

  • Use cases and traditional specifications

  • Why use cases alone are not enough!

Discovering use cases

  • Using an event analysis model

  • Discovering actors & major use cases

The UML Use Case Diagram

  • Actors

  • Actor-to-use case associations

  • Use case-to-use case associations

  • <<include>> and <<extend>>

  • Generalization

  • Does the diagram have value?

Distinguishing the two different types of actors
 

Writing use case descriptions

  • The Three 'C's

  • Style and templates

  • Scope and presentation format

  • Use cases must have goals

  • System-level vs. business-level use cases

  • Adding exceptions to use cases

The power of “essential” use case descriptions

  • Procedural use cases

  • State-based use cases

Finding Functional Requirements From Use Cases

Major mistakes in use case development

  • Top Six use case pitfalls and abuses

  • Where UML can lead you astray

  • Just who should write the use cases?

The role of use cases in testing

  • Use cases are directly testable

  • Use cases and scenarios

  • Scenarios and test cases

CASE tools and use cases

Wrap-up

  

Audience

Business or system analysts, technical managers, and software developers who wish to learn techniques for capturing requirements for software system development.

  

 For more information about this course or other courses please contact Nazzaro & Associates at 1.610.831.1151 or info@williamnazzaro.com.

  

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