Applying Use Cases: A Practical Guide (2nd Edition)

Use cases allow software developers to identify exactly what features will be required by every user of a software system, and describe these features in terms that allow for rapid, cost-effective, successful development. Applying Use Cases is the most practical, simple, and gentle introduction to use cases. This edition is even better, with more real-world examples, more insight into the pitfalls of use case development, and thorough updating for UML 1.3 and RUP 2000. Leading mentors and consultants Geri Schneider and Jason Winters cover every phase of the process, in the context of a start-to-finish, realistic case study. Learn how to identify both primary and secondary scenarios for the usage of a proposed system; how to diagram use cases; and how to architect and organize large systems, define interfaces between components, and document your use cases.Perfect for software engineers and project managers, Applying Use Cases, Second Edition, shows you how to implement use cases effectively to design better software in less time. This concise and jargon-free text gives you some best practices to try out in your software shop.

While many titles on software engineering get bogged down in software engineering theory, this book is a friendly and intelligent exception to the rule. The authors deliver a clearly presented tour of the basics of designing effective use cases organized around a single large case study for an order-processing system. The key steps in developing and refining use cases are illustrated with dialogues between hypothetical participants, framed by commentary. From defining a project scope to identifying risks and then creating basic and advanced use cases, guidelines and sample documents are provided to help you get started.

The material on integrating how-to document success and failure scenarios as actors work with software is particularly good. (The successful “basic path” is documented first, and then you learn about what can go wrong in alternative failure paths.) The authors are very clear about how use cases work together, even including or inheriting from one another. Managers will appreciate the presentation of a method (and formula) to calculate how long a given project will take based on the number and complexity of its use cases. This title makes judicious use of UML throughout (including activity diagrams) that can supplement written textual descriptions of use cases. Final chapters examine how to fit use cases into the entire project development lifecycle, from implementing to deploying a design.

Applying Use Cases proves that computer books don’t have to be 1,000 pages long to provide real expertise on writing better applications. This is an extremely worthwhile choice for any developer or IT manager seeking to deliver higher quality software in less time. –Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

Overview of use cases
The iterative software design process
A case study for an ordering system for a mail order company
Identifying risks, actors, and use cases
Handling time
System boundaries
Sample text-based and graphical use case documents
Basic and alternative paths to processing
Using include
Extend and inheritance relationships between use cases
Getting the right level of detail for use cases
Documentation templates and sample use case styles
Documenting common system features (login and CRUD functions)
Reviewing use cases with different stakeholders
Common mistakes with use cases
Dividing large systems
Architectural patterns and multitiered applications
UML notations for use case and sequence diagrams
Project estimates based on use cases
Use cases during the construction and deployment project phases
UML quick reference

Applying Use Cases: A Practical Guide (2nd Edition)

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