Ooad Tutorial
Ooad Tutorial
Audience
This tutorial has been designed to help beginners. After completing this tutorial,
you will find yourself at a moderate level of expertise from where you can take
yourself to next levels.
Prerequisites
Before you start proceeding with this tutorial, it is assumed that you have basic
understanding of computer programming and related programming paradigms.
Table of Contents
About the Tutorial ............................................................................................................................................i
Audience...........................................................................................................................................................i
Prerequisites.....................................................................................................................................................i
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................................ii
1.
2.
OBJECT MODEL.................................................................................................................... 4
3.
OBJECT-ORIENTED SYSTEM................................................................................................ 11
ii
4.
5.
6.
DYNAMIC MODELLING....................................................................................................... 20
iii
7.
8.
Brief History...................................................................................................................................................36
Systems and Models in UML ..........................................................................................................................36
Conceptual Model of UML .............................................................................................................................36
Basic Building Blocks ........................................................................................................................................ 36
Rules ................................................................................................................................................................. 38
Common Mechanisms ...................................................................................................................................... 38
9.
Class ..............................................................................................................................................................40
Object ............................................................................................................................................................41
Component ....................................................................................................................................................41
iv
Interface ........................................................................................................................................................42
Package .........................................................................................................................................................42
Relationship ...................................................................................................................................................42
10.
11.
12.
Object Identification......................................................................................................................................... 60
Object Representation ..................................................................................................................................... 60
Classification of Operations ............................................................................................................................. 60
Algorithm Design .............................................................................................................................................. 61
Design of Relationships .................................................................................................................................... 61
Implementation of Control ............................................................................................................................61
Packaging Classes ..........................................................................................................................................62
Design Optimization ......................................................................................................................................63
Addition of Redundant Associations ................................................................................................................ 63
Omission of Non-Usable Associations .............................................................................................................. 63
Optimization of Algorithms .............................................................................................................................. 63
Saving and Storing of Derived Attributes ......................................................................................................... 64
Design Documentation ..................................................................................................................................64
Usage Areas ...................................................................................................................................................... 64
Contents ........................................................................................................................................................... 64
Features............................................................................................................................................................ 65
13.
14.
vi
vii
1. OBJECT-ORIENTED PARADIGM
A Brief History
The object-oriented paradigm took its shape from the initial concept of a new
programming approach, while the interest in design and analysis methods came
much later.
In 1970, Alan Kay and his research group at Xerox PARK created a
personal computer named Dynabook and the first pure object-oriented
programming language (OOPL) - Smalltalk, for programming the
Dynabook.
Object-Oriented Analysis
ObjectOriented Analysis (OOA) is the procedure of identifying software
engineering requirements and developing software specifications in terms of a
software systems object model, which comprises of interacting objects.
The main difference between object-oriented analysis and other forms of
analysis is that in object-oriented approach, requirements are organized around
objects, which integrate both data and functions. They are modelled after realworld objects that the system interacts with. In traditional analysis
methodologies, the two aspects - functions and data - are considered separately.
Grady Booch has defined OOA as, Object-oriented analysis is a method of
analysis that examines requirements from the perspective of the classes and
objects found in the vocabulary of the problem domain.
The primary tasks in object-oriented analysis (OOA) are:
1
Identifying objects
The common models used in OOA are use cases and object models.
Object-Oriented Design
ObjectOriented Design (OOD) involves implementation of the conceptual model
produced during object-oriented analysis. In OOD, concepts in the analysis
model, which are technologyindependent, are mapped onto implementing
classes, constraints are identified and interfaces are designed, resulting in a
model for the solution domain, i.e., a detailed description of how the system is
to be built on concrete technologies.
The implementation details generally include:
Implementation of associations.
Object-Oriented Programming
Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based upon
objects (having both data and methods) that aims to incorporate the advantages
of modularity and reusability. Objects, which are usually instances of classes,
are used to interact with one another to design applications and computer
programs.
The important features of objectoriented programming are:
2. OBJECT MODEL
Object
An object is a real-world element in an objectoriented environment that may
have a physical or a conceptual existence. Each object has:
Class
A class represents a collection of objects having same characteristic properties
that exhibit common behavior. It gives the blueprint or description of the objects
that can be created from it. Creation of an object as a member of a class is
called instantiation. Thus, object is an instance of a class.
The constituents of a class are:
A set of attributes for the objects that are to be instantiated from the
class. Generally, different objects of a class have some difference in the
values of the attributes. Attributes are often referred as class data.
A set of operations that portray the behavior of the objects of the class.
Operations are also referred as functions or methods.
Example
Let us consider a simple class, Circle, that represents the geometrical figure
circle in a twodimensional space. The attributes of this class can be identified
as follows:
During instantiation, values are assigned for at least some of the attributes. If
we create an object my_circle, we can assign values like x-coord : 2, y-coord :
3, and a : 4 to depict its state. Now, if the operation scale() is performed on
my_circle with a scaling factor of 2, the value of the variable a will become 8.
This operation brings a change in the state of my_circle, i.e., the object has
exhibited certain behavior.
Data Hiding
Typically, a class is designed such that its data (attributes) can be accessed only
by its class methods and insulated from direct outside access. This process of
insulating an objects data is called data hiding or information hiding.
Example
In the class Circle, data hiding can be incorporated by making attributes invisible
from outside the class and adding two more methods to the class for accessing
class data, namely:
Here the private data of the object my_circle cannot be accessed directly by any
method that is not encapsulated within the class Circle. It should instead be
accessed through the methods setValues() and getValues().
Message Passing
Any application requires a number of objects interacting in a harmonious
manner. Objects in a system may communicate with each other using message
passing. Suppose a system has two objects: obj1 and obj2. The object obj1
sends a message to object obj2, if obj1 wants obj2 to execute one of its
methods.
The features of message passing are:
Inheritance
Inheritance is the mechanism that permits new classes to be created out of
existing classes by extending and refining its capabilities. The existing classes
are called the base classes/parent classes/super-classes, and the new classes
are called the derived classes/child classes/subclasses. The subclass can inherit
or derive the attributes and methods of the super-class(es) provided that the
super-class allows so. Besides, the subclass may add its own attributes and
methods and may modify any of the super-class methods. Inheritance defines
an is a relationship.
Example
From a class Mammal, a number of classes can be derived such as Human, Cat,
Dog, Cow, etc. Humans, cats, dogs, and cows all have the distinct characteristics
of mammals. In addition, each has its own particular characteristics. It can be
said that a cow is a mammal.
Types of Inheritance
Polymorphism
Polymorphism is originally a Greek word that means the ability to take multiple
forms. In object-oriented paradigm, polymorphism implies using operations in
different ways, depending upon the instance they are operating upon.
Polymorphism allows objects with different internal structures to have a common
external interface. Polymorphism is particularly effective while implementing
inheritance.
Example
Let us consider two classes, Circle and Square, each with a method findArea().
Though the name and purpose of the methods in the classes are same, the
internal implementation, i.e., the procedure of calculating area is different for
each class. When an object of class Circle invokes its findArea() method, the
operation finds the area of the circle without any conflict with the findArea()
method of the Square class.
Generalization
In the generalization process, the common characteristics of classes are
combined to form a class in a higher level of hierarchy, i.e., subclasses are
combined to form a generalized super-class. It represents an is a kind of
relationship. For example, car is a kind of land vehicle, or ship is a kind of
water vehicle.
Specialization
Specialization is the reverse process of generalization. Here, the distinguishing
features of groups of objects are used to form specialized classes from existing
classes. It can be said that the subclasses are the specialized versions of the
super-class.
The following figure shows an example of generalization and specialization.
Association
Association is a group of links having common structure and common behavior.
Association depicts the relationship between objects of one or more classes. A
link can be defined as an instance of an association.
Degree of an Association
Degree of an association denotes the number of classes involved in a
connection. Degree may be unary, binary, or ternary.
Aggregation or Composition
Aggregation or composition is a relationship among classes by which a class can
be made up of any combination of objects of other classes. It allows objects to
be placed directly within the body of other classes. Aggregation is referred as a
partof or hasa relationship, with the ability to navigate from the whole to
its parts. An aggregate object is an object that is composed of one or more other
objects.
Example
In the relationship, a car hasa motor, car is the whole object or the
aggregate, and the motor is a partof the car. Aggregation may denote:
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3. OBJECT-ORIENTED SYSTEM
Analysis,
Design, and
Implementation.
ObjectOriented Analysis
In this stage, the problem is formulated, user requirements are identified, and
then a model is built based upon realworld objects. The analysis produces
models on how the desired system should function and how it must be
developed. The models do not include any implementation details so that it can
be understood and examined by any nontechnical application expert.
ObjectOriented Design
Object-oriented design includes two main stages, namely, system design and
object design.
System Design
In this stage, the complete architecture of the desired system is designed. The
system is conceived as a set of interacting subsystems that in turn is composed
of a hierarchy of interacting objects, grouped into classes. System design is
done according to both the system analysis model and the proposed system
architecture. Here, the emphasis is on the objects comprising the system rather
than the processes in the system.
11
Object Design
In this phase, a design model is developed based on both the models developed
in the system analysis phase and the architecture designed in the system design
phase. All the classes required are identified. The designer decides whether:
The associations between the identified classes are established and the
hierarchies of classes are identified. Besides, the developer designs the internal
details of the classes and their associations, i.e., the data structure for each
attribute and the algorithms for the operations.
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4. OBJECT-ORIENTED PRINCIPLES
Abstraction
Encapsulation
Modularity
Hierarchy
Minor Elements : By minor, it is meant that these elements are useful, but not
indispensable part of the object model. The three minor elements are:
Typing
Concurrency
Persistence
Abstraction
Abstraction means to focus on the essential features of an element or object in
OOP, ignoring its extraneous or accidental properties. The essential features are
relative to the context in which the object is being used.
Grady Booch has defined abstraction as follows:
An abstraction denotes the essential characteristics of an object that distinguish
it from all other kinds of objects and thus provide crisply defined conceptual
boundaries, relative to the perspective of the viewer.
Example : When a class Student is designed, the attributes enrolment_number,
name, course, and address are included while characteristics like pulse_rate and
size_of_shoe are eliminated, since they are irrelevant in the perspective of the
educational institution.
13
Encapsulation
Encapsulation is the process of binding both attributes and methods together
within a class. Through encapsulation, the internal details of a class can be
hidden from outside. The class has methods that provide user interfaces by
which the services provided by the class may be used.
Modularity
Modularity is the process of decomposing a problem (program) into a set of
modules so as to reduce the overall complexity of the problem. Booch has
defined modularity as:
Modularity is the property of a system that has been decomposed into a set of
cohesive and loosely coupled modules.
Modularity is intrinsically linked with encapsulation. Modularity can be visualized
as a way of mapping encapsulated abstractions into real, physical modules
having high cohesion within the modules and their intermodule interaction or
coupling is low.
Hierarchy
In Grady Boochs words, Hierarchy is the ranking or ordering of abstraction.
Through hierarchy, a system can be made up of interrelated subsystems, which
can have their own subsystems and so on until the smallest level components
are reached. It uses the principle of divide and conquer. Hierarchy allows code
reusability.
The two types of hierarchies in OOA are:
Typing
According to the theories of abstract data type, a type is a characterization of a
set of elements. In OOP, a class is visualized as a type having properties distinct
from any other types. Typing is the enforcement of the notion that an object is
an instance of a single class or type. It also enforces that objects of different
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Weak Typing : Here, messages may be sent to any class. The operation
is checked only at the time of execution, as in the programming language
Smalltalk.
Concurrency
Concurrency in operating systems allows performing multiple tasks or processes
simultaneously. When a single process exists in a system, it is said that there is
a single thread of control. However, most systems have multiple threads, some
active, some waiting for CPU, some suspended, and some terminated. Systems
with multiple CPUs inherently permit concurrent threads of control; but systems
running on a single CPU use appropriate algorithms to give equitable CPU time
to the threads so as to enable concurrency.
In an object-oriented environment, there are active and inactive objects. The
active objects have independent threads of control that can execute concurrently
with threads of other objects. The active objects synchronize with one another
as well as with purely sequential objects.
Persistence
An object occupies a memory space and exists for a particular period of time. In
traditional programming, the lifespan of an object was typically the lifespan of
the execution of the program that created it. In files or databases, the object
lifespan is longer than the duration of the process creating the object. This
property by which an object continues to exist even after its creator ceases to
exist is known as persistence.
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5. OBJECT-ORIENTED ANALYSIS
Object Modelling
Object modelling develops the static structure of the software system in terms of
objects. It identifies the objects, the classes into which the objects can be
grouped into and the relationships between the objects. It also identifies the
main attributes and operations that characterize each class.
The process of object modelling can be visualized in the following steps:
Review glossary
Dynamic Modelling
After the static behavior of the system is analyzed, its behavior with respect to
time and external changes needs to be examined. This is the purpose of
dynamic modelling.
Dynamic Modelling can be defined as a way of describing how an individual
object responds to events, either internal events triggered by other objects, or
external events triggered by the outside world.
The process of dynamic modelling can be visualized in the following steps:
Functional Modelling
Functional Modelling is the final component of object-oriented analysis. The
functional model shows the processes that are performed within an object and
how the data changes as it moves between methods. It specifies the meaning of
the operations of object modelling and the actions of dynamic modelling. The
functional model corresponds to the data flow diagram of traditional structured
analysis.
The process of functional modelling can be visualized in the following steps:
Identify constraints
Feasibility Study
System Design
Implementation
Post-implementation Review
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Disadvantages
Disadvantages
18
19
6. DYNAMIC MODELLING
Concurrency of transitions.
Parts of a State
Name : A string differentiates one state from another. A state may not
have any name.
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Transition
A transition denotes a change in the state of an object. If an object is in a
certain state when an event occurs, the object may perform certain activities
subject to specified conditions and change the state. In this case, a
statetransition is said to have occurred. The transition gives the relationship
between the first state and the new state. A transition is graphically represented
by a solid directed arc from the source state to the destination state.
The five parts of a transition are:
Example
Suppose a person is taking a taxi from place X to place Y. The states of the
person may be: Waiting (waiting for taxi), Riding (he has got a taxi and is
travelling in it), and Reached (he has reached the destination). The following
figure depicts the state transition.
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Events
Events are some occurrences that can trigger state transition of an object or a
group of objects. Events have a location in time and space but do not have a
time period associated with it. Events are generally associated with some
actions.
Examples of events are mouse click, key press, an interrupt, stack overflow, etc.
Events that trigger transitions are written alongside the arc of transition in state
diagrams.
Example
Considering the example shown in the above figure, the transition from Waiting
state to Riding state takes place when the person gets a taxi. Likewise, the final
state is reached, when he reaches the destination. These two occurrences can be
termed as events Get_Taxi and Reach_Destination. The following figure shows
the events in a state machine.
Deferred Events
Deferred events are those which are not immediately handled by the object in
the current state but are lined up in a queue so that they can be handled by the
object in some other state at a later time.
Event Classes
Event class indicates a group of events with common structure and behavior. As
with classes of objects, event classes may also be organized in a hierarchical
structure. Event classes may have attributes associated with them, time being
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Actions
Activity
Activity is an operation upon the states of an object that requires some time
period. They are the ongoing executions within a system that can be interrupted.
Activities are shown in activity diagrams that portray the flow from one activity
to another.
Action
An action is an atomic operation that executes as a result of certain events. By
atomic, it is meant that actions are un-interruptible, i.e., if an action starts
executing, it runs into completion without being interrupted by any event. An
action may operate upon an object on which an event has been triggered or on
other objects that are visible to this object. A set of actions comprise an activity.
Scenario
Scenario is a description of a specified sequence of actions. It depicts the
behavior of objects undergoing a specific action series. The primary scenarios
depict the essential sequences and the secondary scenarios depict the
alternative sequences.
Interaction Diagrams
Interaction diagrams describe the dynamic behavior among different objects. It
comprises of a set of objects, their relationships, and the message that the
objects send and receive. Thus, an interaction models the behavior of a group of
interrelated objects. The two types of interaction diagrams are:
23
Concurrency of Events
In a system, two types of concurrency may exist. They are discussed below.
System Concurrency
Here, concurrency is modelled in the system level. The overall system is
modelled as the aggregation of state machines, where each state machine
executes concurrently with others.
Sequential Sub-states
In sequential sub-states, the control of execution passes from one sub-state to
another sub-state one after another in a sequential manner. There is at most
one initial state and one final state in these state machines.
The following figure illustrates the concept of sequential sub-states.
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Concurrent Sub-states
In concurrent sub-states, the sub-states execute in parallel, or in other words,
each state has concurrently executing state machines within it. Each of the state
machines has its own initial and final states. If one concurrent sub-state reaches
its final state before the other, control waits at its final state. When all the
nested state machines reach their final states, the sub-states join back to a
single flow.
The following figure shows the concept of concurrent sub-states.
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7. FUNCTIONAL MODELLING
Processes,
Data Flows,
Actors, and
Data Stores.
Constraints, and
Control Flows.
Features of a DFD
Processes
Processes are the computational activities that transform data values. A whole
system can be visualized as a high-level process. A process may be further
divided into smaller components. The lowest-level process may be a simple
function.
26
Data Flows
Data flow represents the flow of data between two processes. It could be
between an actor and a process, or between a data store and a process. A data
flow denotes the value of a data item at some point of the computation. This
value is not changed by the data flow.
Representation in DFD : A data flow is represented by a directed arc or an
arrow, labelled with the name of the data item that it carries.
In the above figure, Integer_a and Integer_b represent the input data flows to
the process, while L.C.M. and H.C.F. are the output data flows.
A data flow may be forked in the following cases:
The output value is sent to several places as shown in the following figure.
Here, the output arrows are unlabelled as they denote the same value.
The data flow contains an aggregate value, and each of the components is
sent to different places as shown in the following figure. Here, each of the
forked components is labelled.
Actors
Actors are the active objects that interact with the system by either producing
data and inputting them to the system, or consuming data produced by the
system. In other words, actors serve as the sources and the sinks of data.
27
Data Stores
Data stores are the passive objects that act as a repository of data. Unlike
actors, they cannot perform any operations. They are used to store data and
retrieve the stored data. They represent a data structure, a disk file, or a table
in a database.
Representation in DFD : A data store is represented by two parallel lines
containing the name of the data store. Each data store is connected to at least
one process. Input arrows contain information to modify the contents of the data
store, while output arrows contain information retrieved from the data store.
When a part of the information is to be retrieved, the output arrow is labelled.
An unlabelled arrow denotes full data retrieval. A two-way arrow implies both
retrieval and update.
Example : The following figure shows a data store, Sales_Record, that stores
the details of all sales. Input to the data store comprises of details of sales such
as item, billing amount, date, etc. To find the average sales, the process
retrieves the sales records and computes the average.
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Constraints
Constraints specify the conditions or restrictions that need to be satisfied over
time. They allow adding new rules or modifying existing ones. Constraints can
appear in all the three models of object-oriented analysis.
Control Flows
A process may be associated with a certain Boolean value and is evaluated only
if the value is true, though it is not a direct input to the process. These Boolean
values are called the control flows.
Representation in DFD : Control flows are represented by a dotted arc from
the process producing the Boolean value to the process controlled by them.
Example : The following figure represents a DFD for arithmetic division. The
Divisor is tested for non-zero. If it is not zero, the control flow OK has a value
True and subsequently the Divide process computes the Quotient and the
Remainder.
29
Customers
Salesperson
Proprietor
30
In the next level DFD, as shown in the following figure, the major processes of
the system are identified, the data stores are defined and the interaction of the
processes with the actors, and the data stores are established.
In the system, three processes can be identified, which are:
Register Customers
Process Sales
Ascertain Gifts
Customer Details
Sales Details
Gift Details
31
The following figure shows the details of the process Register Customer. There
are three processes in it, Verify Details, Generate C_Code, and Update Customer
Details. When the details of the customer are entered, they are verified. If the
data is correct, C_Code is generated and the data store Customer Details is
updated.
The following figure shows the expansion of the process Ascertain Gifts. It has
two processes in it, Find Total Sales and Decide Type of Gift Coin. The Find Total
32
Sales process computes the yearly total sales corresponding to each customer
and records the data. Taking this record and the decision of the proprietor as
inputs, the gift coins are allotted through Decide Type of Gift Coin process.
Disadvantages
33
system processes.
Data Stores : These are either objects in the object model or attributes
of objects.
34
35
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a graphical language for OOAD that
gives a standard way to write a software systems blueprint. It helps to visualize,
specify, construct, and document the artifacts of an object-oriented system. It is
used to depict the structures and the relationships in a complex system.
Brief History
It was developed in 1990s as an amalgamation of several techniques,
prominently OOAD technique by Grady Booch, OMT (Object Modeling Technique)
by James Rumbaugh, and OOSE (Object Oriented Software Engineering) by Ivar
Jacobson. UML attempted to standardize semantic models, syntactic notations,
and diagrams of OOAD.
Rules
Common mechanisms
Things
Relationships
Diagrams
36
Things
There are four kinds of things in UML, namely:
Structural Things : These are the nouns of the UML models representing
the static elements that may be either physical or conceptual. The
structural things are class, interface, collaboration, use case, active class,
components, and nodes.
Behavioral Things : These are the verbs of the UML models representing
the dynamic behavior over time and space. The two types of behavioral
things are interaction and state machine.
Relationships
Relationships are the connection between things. The four types of relationships
that can be represented in UML are:
Generalization :
This
represents
a
generalization/specialization
relationship in which subclasses inherit structure and behavior from
super-classes.
Diagrams
A diagram is a graphical representation of a system. It comprises of a group of
elements generally in the form of a graph. UML includes nine diagrams in all,
namely:
Class Diagram
Object Diagram
Sequence Diagram
Collaboration Diagram
Activity Diagram
Component Diagram
Deployment Diagram
Rules
UML has a number of rules so that the models are semantically self-consistent
and related to other models in the system harmoniously. UML has semantic rules
for the following:
Names
Scope
Visibility
Integrity
Execution
Common Mechanisms
UML has four common mechanisms:
Specifications
Adornments
Common Divisions
Extensibility Mechanisms
Specifications
In UML, behind each graphical notation, there is a textual statement denoting
the syntax and semantics. These are the specifications. The specifications
provide a semantic backplane that contains all the parts of a system and the
relationship among the different paths.
Adornments
Each element in UML has a unique graphical notation. Besides, there are
notations to represent the important aspects of an element like name, scope,
visibility, etc.
Common Divisions
Object-oriented systems can be divided in many ways. The two common ways of
division are:
Extensibility Mechanisms
UML is an open-ended language. It is possible to extend the capabilities of UML
in a controlled manner to suit the requirements of a system. The extensibility
mechanisms are:
39
Class
A class is represented by a rectangle having three sections:
The visibility of the attributes and operations can be represented in the following
ways:
Private : A private member is visible only from within the class. It cannot
be accessed from outside the class. A private member is prefixed by the
symbol .
Protected : A protected member is visible from within the class and from
the subclasses inherited from this class, but not from outside. It is
prefixed by the symbol #.
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Object
An object is represented as a rectangle with two sections:
The top section contains the name of the object with the name of the
class or package of which it is an instance of. The name takes the
following forms:
o
object-name : class-name
The bottom section represents the values of the attributes. It takes the
form attribute-name = value.
Example : Let us consider an object of the class Circle named c1. We assume
that the center of c1 is at (2, 3) and the radius of c1 is 5. The following figure
depicts the object.
Component
A component is a physical and replaceable part of the system that conforms to
and provides the realization of a set of interfaces. It represents the physical
packaging of elements like classes and interfaces.
Notation : In UML diagrams, a component is represented by a rectangle with
tabs as shown in the figure below.
41
Interface
Interface is a collection of methods of a class or component. It specifies the set
of services that may be provided by the class or component.
Notation : Generally, an interface is drawn as a circle together with its name.
An interface is almost always attached to the class or component that realizes it.
The following figure gives the notation of an interface.
Package
A package is an organized group of elements. A package may contain structural
things like classes, components, and other packages in it.
Notation : Graphically, a package is represented by a tabbed folder. A package
is generally drawn with only its name. However it may have additional details
about the contents of the package. See the following figures.
Relationship
The notations for the different types of relationships are as follows:
42
43
Class Diagram
A class diagram models the static view of a system. It comprises of the classes,
interfaces, and collaborations of a system; and the relationships between them.
44
Relationships
A Branch with role Zonal Head Office supervises other Branches : unary
association, oneto-many
From the class Account, two classes have inherited, namely, Savings Account
and Current Account.
Object Diagram
An object diagram models a group of objects and their links at a point of time. It
shows the instances of the things in a class diagram. Object diagram is the static
part of an interaction diagram.
Example : The following figure shows an object diagram of a portion of the class
diagram of the Banking System.
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Component Diagram
Component diagrams show the organization and dependencies among a group of
components.
Component diagrams comprise of:
Components
Interfaces
Relationships
Example
The following figure shows a component diagram to model a systems source
code that is developed using C++. It shows four source code files, namely,
myheader.h, otherheader.h, priority.cpp, and other.cpp. Two versions of
myheader.h are shown, tracing from the recent version to its ancestor. The file
priority.cpp has compilation dependency on other.cpp. The file other.cpp has
compilation dependency on otherheader.h.
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Deployment Diagram
A deployment diagram puts emphasis on the configuration of runtime processing
nodes and their components that live on them. They are commonly comprised of
nodes and dependencies, or associations between the nodes.
Deployment diagrams are used to:
model devices in embedded systems that typically comprise of softwareintensive collection of hardware.
Example
The following figure shows the topology of a computer system that follows
client/server architecture. The figure illustrates a node stereotyped as server
that comprises of processors. The figure indicates that four or more servers are
deployed at the system. Connected to the server are the client nodes, where
each node represents a terminal device such as workstation, laptop, scanner, or
printer. The nodes are represented using icons that clearly depict the real-world
equivalent.
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Actor
An actor represents the roles that the users of the use cases play. An actor may
be a person (e.g. student, customer), a device (e.g. workstation), or another
system (e.g. bank, institution).
The following figure shows the notations of an actor named Student and a use
case called Generate Performance Report.
Use cases
Actors
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Example
Let us consider an Automated Trading House System. We assume the following
features of the system:
The system allows the manager to manage customer accounts and answer
any queries posted by the customer.
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Interaction Diagrams
Interaction diagrams depict interactions of objects and their relationships. They
also include the messages passed between them. There are two types of
interaction diagrams:
Sequence Diagrams
Collaboration Diagrams
Sequence Diagrams
Sequence diagrams are interaction diagrams that illustrate the ordering of
messages according to time.
Notations : These diagrams are in the form of two-dimensional charts. The
objects that initiate the interaction are placed on the xaxis. The messages that
these objects send and receive are placed along the yaxis, in the order of
increasing time from top to bottom.
Example : A sequence diagram for the Automated Trading House System is
shown in the following figure.
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Collaboration Diagrams
Collaboration diagrams are interaction diagrams that illustrate the structure of
the objects that send and receive messages.
Notations : In these diagrams, the objects that participate in the interaction are
shown using vertices. The links that connect the objects are used to send and
receive messages. The message is shown as a labeled arrow.
Example : Collaboration diagram for the Automated Trading House System is
illustrated in the figure below.
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StateChart Diagrams
A statechart diagram shows a state machine that depicts the control flow of an
object from one state to another. A state machine portrays the sequences of
states which an object undergoes due to events and their responses to events.
StateChart Diagrams comprise of:
State-chart diagrams are used for modeling objects which are reactive in nature.
Example
In the Automated Trading House System, let us model Order as an object and
trace its sequence. The following figure shows the corresponding statechart
diagram.
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Activity Diagrams
An activity diagram depicts the flow of activities which are ongoing non-atomic
operations in a state machine. Activities result in actions which are atomic
operations.
Activity diagrams comprise of:
Transitions
Objects
Example
The following figure shows an activity diagram of a portion of the Automated
Trading House System.
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After the analysis phase, the conceptual model is developed further into an
object-oriented model using object-oriented design (OOD). In OOD, the
technology-independent concepts in the analysis model are mapped onto
implementing classes, constraints are identified, and interfaces are designed,
resulting in a model for the solution domain. In a nutshell, a detailed description
is constructed specifying how the system is to be built on concrete technologies
The stages for objectoriented design can be identified as:
System Design
Object-oriented system design involves defining the context of a system
followed by designing the architecture of the system.
Context : The context of a system has a static and a dynamic part. The
static context of the system is designed using a simple block diagram of
the whole system which is expanded into a hierarchy of subsystems. The
subsystem model is represented by UML packages. The dynamic context
describes how the system interacts with its environment. It is modelled
using use case diagrams.
Object-Oriented Decomposition
Decomposition means dividing a large complex system into a hierarchy of
smaller components with lesser complexities, on the principles of divideand
conquer. Each major component of the system is called a subsystem. Objectoriented decomposition identifies individual autonomous objects in a system and
the communication among these objects.
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Identifying Concurrency
Concurrency allows more than one objects to receive events at the same time
and more than one activity to be executed simultaneously. Concurrency is
identified and represented in the dynamic model.
To enable concurrency, each concurrent element is assigned a separate thread
of control. If the concurrency is at object level, then two concurrent objects are
assigned two different threads of control. If two operations of a single object are
concurrent in nature, then that object is split among different threads.
Concurrency is associated with the problems of data integrity, deadlock, and
starvation. So a clear strategy needs to be made whenever concurrency is
required. Besides, concurrency requires to be identified at the design stage
itself, and cannot be left for implementation stage.
Identifying Patterns
While designing applications, some commonly accepted solutions are adopted for
some categories of problems. These are the patterns of design. A pattern can be
defined as a documented set of building blocks that can be used in certain types
of application development problems.
Some commonly used design patterns are:
Faade pattern
Observer pattern
Proxy pattern
Controlling Events
During system design, the events that may occur in the objects of the system
need to be identified and appropriately dealt with.
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The startup of the system, i.e., the transition of the system from noninitialized state to steady state.
The termination of the system, i.e., the closing of all running threads,
cleaning up of resources, and the messages to be sent.
Object Design
After the hierarchy of subsystems has been developed, the objects in the system
are identified and their details are designed. Here, the designer details out the
strategy chosen during the system design. The emphasis shifts from application
domain concepts toward computer concepts. The objects identified during
analysis are etched out for implementation with an aim to minimize execution
time, memory consumption, and overall cost.
Object design includes the following phases:
Object identification
Classification of operations
Algorithm design
Design of relationships
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Object Identification
The first step of object design is object identification. The objects identified in
the objectoriented analysis phases are grouped into classes and refined so that
they are suitable for actual implementation.
The functions of this stage are:
Designing aggregations
Object Representation
Once the classes are identified, they need to be represented using object
modelling techniques. This stage essentially involves constructing UML diagrams.
There are two types of design models that need to be produced:
Classification of Operations
In this step, the operation to be performed on objects are defined by combining
the three models developed in the OOA phase, namely, object model, dynamic
model, and functional model. An operation specifies what is to be done and not
how it should be done.
The following tasks are performed regarding operations:
Algorithm Design
The operations in the objects are defined using algorithms. An algorithm is a
stepwise procedure that solves the problem laid down in an operation.
Algorithms focus on how it is to be done.
There may be more than one algorithm corresponding to a given operation.
Once the alternative algorithms are identified, the optimal algorithm is selected
for the given problem domain. The metrics for choosing the optimal algorithm
are:
Design of Relationships
The strategy to implement the relationships needs to be chalked out during the
object design phase. The main relationships that are addressed comprise of
associations, aggregations, and inheritances.
The designer should do the following regarding associations:
Implementation of Control
The object designer may incorporate refinements in the strategy of the state
chart model. In system design, a basic strategy for realizing the dynamic model
is made. During object design, this strategy is aptly embellished for appropriate
implementation.
The approaches for implementation of the dynamic model are:
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Packaging Classes
In any large project, meticulous partitioning of an implementation into modules
or packages is important. During object design, classes and objects are grouped
into packages to enable multiple groups to work cooperatively on a project.
The different aspects of packaging are:
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Design Optimization
The analysis model captures the logical information about the system, while the
design model adds details to support efficient information access. Before a
design is implemented, it should be optimized so as to make the implementation
more efficient. The aim of optimization is to minimize the cost in terms of time,
space, and other metrics.
However, design optimization should not be excess, as ease of implementation,
maintainability, and extensibility are also important concerns. It is often seen
that a perfectly optimized design is more efficient but less readable and
reusable. So the designer must strike a balance between the two.
The various things that may be done for design optimization are:
Optimization of algorithms
Optimization of Algorithms
In object-oriented systems, optimization of data structure and algorithms are
done in a collaborative manner. Once the class design is in place, the operations
and the algorithms need to be optimized.
Optimization of algorithms is obtained by:
Reversal of execution order of loops from that laid down in the functional
model
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With each update of the base attribute value, the derived attribute is also
re-computed.
Design Documentation
Documentation is an essential part of any software development process that
records the procedure of making the software. The design decisions need to be
documented for any nontrivial software system for transmitting the design to
others.
Usage Areas
Though a secondary product, a good documentation is indispensable, particularly
in the following areas:
Contents
A beneficial documentation should essentially include the following contents:
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Features
The features of a good documentation are:
Well-structured
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Implementing Associations
Most programming languages
associations directly. So the
considerable thought.
Unidirectional Associations
For implementing unidirectional associations, care should be taken so that
unidirectionality is maintained. The implementations for different multiplicity are
as follows:
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Optional Associations : Here, a link may or may not exist between the
participating objects. For example, in the association between Customer
and Current Account in the figure below, a customer may or may not have
a current account.
public:
Customer()
{
c = NULL;
} // assign c as NULL
Current_Account getCurrAc()
{
return c;
}
void removeAcc()
{
c = NULL;
}
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};
public:
Department (/*parameters*/, Manager m) //m is not NULL
{
// assign parameters to variables
mgr = m;
}
Manager getMgr()
{
return mgr;
}
};
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{
private:
char * deptName;
list <Dependent> dep; //a list of Dependents as attribute
public:
void addDependent ( Dependent d)
{
dep.push_back(d);
} // adds an employee to the department
Bi-directional Associations
To implement bi-directional association, links in both directions require to be
maintained.
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Project_Manager changeManager();
};
class Project_Manager
{
private:
// attributes
Project pj;
public:
void setProject(Project p);
Project removeProject();
};
public:
void addEmployee ( Employee e)
{
emp.push_back(e);
} // adds an employee to the department
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emp.erase(index);
}
};
class Employee
{
private:
//attributes
Department d;
public:
void addDept();
void removeDept();
};
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public:
// class methods
};
Implementing Constraints
Constraints in classes restrict the range and type of values that the attributes
may take. In order to implement constraints, a valid default value is assigned to
the attribute when an object is instantiated from the class. Whenever the value
is changed at runtime, it is checked whether the value is valid or not. An invalid
value may be handled by an exception handling routine or other methods.
Example
Consider an Employee class where age is an attribute that may have values in
the range of 18 to 60. The following C++ code incorporates it:
class Employee
{
private: char * name;
int age;
// other attributes
public:
Employee()
// default constructor
{
strcpy(name, "");
age = 18;
// default value
// Exception class
{
if ( a < 18 || a > 60 )
throw AgeError();
// throw exception
age = a;
}
};
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Overview of RDBMS
A database is an ordered collection of related data.
A database management system (DBMS) is a collection of software that
facilitates the processes of defining, creating, storing, manipulating, retrieving,
sharing, and removing data in databases.
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OnetoMany Associations
To implement 1:N associations, the primary key of the table in the 1-side of the
association is assigned as the foreign key of the table at the N-side of the
association. For example, consider the association between Department and
Employee:
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ManytoMany Associations
To implement M:N associations, a new relation is created that represents the
association. For example, consider the following association between Employee
and Project:
(
EMPID INTEGER,
PID INTEGER,
HOURS INTEGER,
START_DATE DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (EMPID, PID),
FOREIGN KEY (EMPID) REFERENCES EMPLOYEE,
FOREIGN KEY (PID) REFERENCES PROJECT
);
Example
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Unit Testing
In unit testing, the individual classes are tested. It is seen whether the class
attributes are implemented as per design and whether the methods and the
interfaces are error-free. Unit testing is the responsibility of the application
engineer who implements the structure.
Subsystem Testing
This involves testing a particular module or a subsystem and is the responsibility
of the subsystem lead. It involves testing the associations within the subsystem
as well as the interaction of the subsystem with the outside. Subsystem tests
can be used as regression tests for each newly released version of the
subsystem.
System Testing
System testing involves testing the system as a whole and is the responsibility
of the quality-assurance team. The team often uses system tests as regression
tests when assembling new releases.
Use case based testing : Each scenario in each use case is tested.
Thread based testing : All classes that are needed to realize a single
use case in a subsystem are integrated and tested.
Use based testing : The interfaces and services of the modules at each
level of hierarchy are tested. Testing starts from the individual classes to
the small modules comprising of classes, gradually to larger modules, and
finally all the major subsystems.
Alpha testing : This is carried out by the testing team within the
organization that develops software.
Quality Assurance
Software quality assurance is a methodology that determines the extent to
which a software product is fit for use. The activities that are included for
determining software quality are:
Auditing
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Production of reports
Quality Factors
Correctness :
Correctness
determines
requirements are appropriately met.
whether
the
software
Object-Oriented Metrics
Metrics can be broadly classified into three categories: project metrics, product
metrics, and process metrics.
Project Metrics
Project Metrics enable a software project manager to assess the status and
performance of an ongoing project. The following metrics are appropriate for
object-oriented software projects:
Number of subsystems
Product Metrics
Product metrics measure the characteristics of the software product that has
been developed. The product metrics suitable for object-oriented systems are:
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Process Metrics
Process metrics help in measuring how a process is performing. They are
collected over all projects over long periods of time. They are used as indicators
for long-term software process improvements. Some process metrics are:
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