Software Design for Six Sigma: A Roadmap for Excellence

Chapter 4. SOFTWARE DESIGN METHODS AND REPRESENTATIONS

INTRODUCTION

A software design method typically is defined as a systematic approach for carrying out a design and describes a sequence of steps for producing a software design (Gomaa, 1989). There are certainly several ways to design software, but a designer must use certain types of established practices when preparing software. Different types of approaches to software designs may be used depending on the type of problem being encountered. Moreover, different types of software design methods each have unique advantages and disadvantages one another. Many people think that software engineering is a creative activity that does not need a structured approach; however, it is important to note that an informal approach toward software development does not build a good software system.

Dividing software design methodologies into classifications aids in the understanding of software design methodologies (Khoo, 2009). The main design approaches that will be discussed are as follows: level-oriented, data-flow-oriented, data-structure-oriented, and object-oriented.

HISTORY OF SOFTWARE DESIGN METHODS

This section will discuss the past, present, and future of software design methods and will consider how each software design method compares with each other. Also this section discusses the history of software design methods. In particular, an overview of how software designs methods came to be, and how they have evolved since the late 1960s ...