System Analysis & Design - Overview | System Design - Software Development PDF Download

Introduction

System Analysis & Design is a crucial discipline in the field of software development. It involves understanding, designing, and implementing efficient and effective systems to solve complex problems. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced developer, having a solid understanding of system analysis and design principles is essential for creating robust and scalable software solutions. In this article, we will explore the key concepts of system analysis and design, along with examples and simple code snippets to help you grasp the concepts easily.

Understanding the System

Before diving into the analysis and design phases, it is important to understand the system you are building. This includes identifying the requirements, stakeholders, and constraints of the system. Let's consider a simple example of an online shopping system to understand the concept better.

Example: Online Shopping System
Imagine you are tasked with developing an online shopping system. Some key questions to consider are:

• Who are the stakeholders of the system? (e.g., customers, administrators, suppliers)
• What are the main functionalities of the system? (e.g., product browsing, adding items to the cart, payment processing)
• What are the performance and security requirements?
• What are the potential constraints? (e.g., budget, technology limitations)

System Analysis

System analysis involves understanding and documenting the requirements of the system. It aims to identify the needs and expectations of the stakeholders and translate them into clear specifications. Let's continue with the online shopping system example to see how system analysis can be performed.

Example: System Analysis for Online Shopping System
To perform system analysis, we can follow these steps:

• Gather requirements: Interact with stakeholders to collect their requirements and expectations for the online shopping system.
• Define system objectives: Clearly state the purpose and goals of the system. For example, the objective of our online shopping system could be to provide a seamless and secure shopping experience for customers.
• Create use cases: Use cases describe the interactions between users and the system. For instance, a use case for our online shopping system could be "Add Item to Cart."
• Identify system constraints: Determine the limitations or constraints that affect the system design and implementation. For our example, a constraint might be the budget allocated for developing the system.

System Design

Once the requirements are analyzed, system design comes into play. It involves creating a blueprint or plan for the system that satisfies the identified requirements. The design phase focuses on defining the system architecture, data structures, algorithms, and interfaces. Let's see how system design can be approached using our online shopping system example.
Example: System Design for Online Shopping System
Consider these aspects during the system design phase:

• System architecture: Define the high-level structure of the system. For our online shopping system, it could include components like a web server, database, and payment gateway.
• Data modeling: Design the database schema and data flow within the system. Use tools like entity-relationship diagrams (ERDs) to represent the relationships between entities. For our example, we might have entities like "Product," "Customer," and "Order."
• User interface design: Create an intuitive and user-friendly interface for the system. Mock-up screens and wireframes can help visualize the user interactions. In our case, we would design screens for product browsing, cart management, and payment processing.

Code Snippets and Output

To better understand the concepts, let's look at some simple code snippets and their outputs related to our online shopping system example.
Code Snippet 1: Adding Items to the Cart

class ShoppingCart:

    def __init__(self):

        self.items = []

    def add_item(self, item):

        self.items.append(item)

cart = ShoppingCart()

cart.add_item("Shirt")

cart.add_item("Shoes")

print(cart.items)

Output:

['Shirt', 'Shoes']

In this code snippet, we create a ‘ShoppingCart’ class and add items to it. The ‘add_item’ method appends the item to the ‘items’ list. The output shows the items in the cart.

Sample Problems and Solutions

Here are some sample problems related to system analysis and design, along with their solutions:
Problem 1: Identify the stakeholders and their roles for an online banking system.

Stakeholders: Customers, Bank Administrators, Customer Support Staff, Developers
Roles:

• Customers: Perform transactions, check balance, manage accounts
• Bank Administrators: Manage customer accounts, system settings
• Customer Support Staff: Assist customers with issues and inquiries
• Developers: Design and develop the system

Problem 2: Design a database schema for a social media platform. Entities to consider: User, Post, Comment.

User (userID, name, email)

Post (postID, userID, content, timestamp)

Comment (commentID, postID, userID, content, timestamp)

This schema represents the relationships between the entities. Each entity has attributes that define its properties.

Conclusion

System Analysis & Design is a crucial process in software development. It helps in understanding the requirements of a system and designing an effective solution. By following the steps mentioned in this article and considering practical examples, you can gain a better understanding of system analysis and design principles. Remember to gather requirements, define objectives, create use cases, and design the system architecture to create efficient and user-friendly software solutions.