Introduce the concept of relational databases

CASE Tools

CASE stands for Computer Aided Software Engineering . As the name implies , these are tools (software 's ) developed to assist in the development of other software 's . CASE tools are categorized into the following ways

Upper CASE tools : Tools that predominantly focus on the analysis phase and design phase of the SDLC (analysis , diagramming , report and form generators , analysis tools

Lower CASE tools : Tools to support database schema generation , program generation , implementation , testing , configuration management

I-CASE tools : are tools that integrate both upper and lower CASE tools These

tools are capable of making , for example , forms and build the database to support . Hence both front and back end work is done simultaneously

There are many types of such tools in the market . Some of which concentrate on the beginning stages of SDLC whereas others produce results pertaining to the later parts . UML or Unified Modeling Language is one such CASE tool which is used to design software 's based on the Object Oriented Design methodology . This methodology treats entities as objects which interact through transactions . Object oriented analysis and design is centered on these principles . Since systems that have objects in them are more or less centralized , this allowed for the creation of UML which in itself is a standardized language that follows a set of rules . UML is not limited to just designing software however As its name implies , it can also be used for modeling business processes , hierarchies etc . UML is not a method itself but a language which is compatible with other methods such as rational unified process etc

The SDLC has seven distinct or overlapping steps . Although OOD might or might not follow these steps exactly , almost all SDLC techniques follow the same steps one way or the other . Following is a list of CASE tools that can be used for each step of the SDLC

Problem Definition / Feasibility Study

2 . Analysis

In the first step , the problem is identified and a feasibility of the project is conducted in to see whether it is even practical to go ahead with the project . After that , a full fledged analysis is conducted of the problem . Tools such as UML or Erwin are use at this stage to create entity relationship diagrams , class diagrams , data flow diagrams etc

3 . Design

4 . Testing

Whatever work that has been completed in the analysis stage is coded and implemented here . Software 's such as Rational Rose take the diagrams built using UML adna ll and convert most of it program code

5 . Implementation

6 . Maintenance

These sections deal with software upgrades and the actual running of the system in the real environment . Tools like McCabe CM - TRUE change offer such options of implementation and revision control

References

CASE tool index (2005 . Retrieved , 14 April , 2007 from http /www .cs .queensu .ca /Software-Engineering /tools .html...