Question
A group of programmers are involved in creating a new software product. They create many new sub-programs but also use existing sub-programs within the product.
a.)Outline why a sub-program is considered an example of abstraction. [2]
b.)Evaluate the use of designing and developing different parts of software products concurrently. [3]
c.)Outline one way in which users can be informed of software updates. [2]
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
a.)
A sub-program is a named section of code that performs a specific task (in a program) / can be called by name / referred by the identifier when needed;
without knowing the details (of code and data structures) as these are wrapped / hidden within the sub-program;
b.)
different stages (of programming) (Accept examples!) run simultaneously (rather than consecutively);
this decreases product development time / decreases the time to market;
leading to improved productivity/reduces costs;
however, it requires more resources/more software developers;
c.)
A message can be sent to the user (When the software is installed and registered, the user provides an email address / phone number);
With a link to the update;
notifications/alerts are sent to the computer (a cookie is placed on the user’s computer which communicates with the software developer);
about automatic updates;
(when the program is run) it queries a URL the program developer has built in to check whether the current version matches the latest version;
if not, notifications/alerts are sent;
Question
An application package used in an office includes a word processor.
The office manager decides to buy and install new software and hardware.
The changeover to the new system can be achieved by either direct changeover or phased conversion.
The new software allows basic text summaries and analysis to help check text files, including functions such as calculating word frequency.
a.)Describe how a spellchecker checks whether a word in a text file is correctly spelt or not. [2]
b.)Outline one problem that may arise from the installation of new hardware and software in the office. [2]
c.)Compare direct changeover and phased conversion. [4]
d.)Identify one way of testing this software. [1]
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
a.)
Each word in the text file is compared with words in a dictionary (held in memory/online);
If the word is found in the dictionary it is correctly spelt / if the word is not found in the dictionary, spellchecker will recognize that it is incorrectly spelt;
b.)
Users/employees might be afraid of these changes (for various reasons);
And not willing to help in this change;
Data migration problems;
For example, different file formats so conversion must be performed;
Employee efficiency may drop;
As they learn to use the new system;
Issue of compatibility with legacy software/hardware;
So features of new software/hardware may not work correctly;
c.)
Example answer
In direct changeover, the old software and hardware is completely replaced, in one move, by the new software and hardware;
Phased conversion involves selecting one section in the office for the direct changeover and other sections will be switched when the first section selected is running satisfactorily. Eventually the whole office has been changed;
A phased conversion is less risky than a direct changeover as any problems that might arise will be isolated in only one section in the office;
Direct changeover means everyone in the organization has same software/hardware and so there are no compatibility issues
d.)
Debugging (Accept: white-box testing – i.e. structural testing/flow testing;
black-box testing / requirement testing);
User acceptance testing (alpha-testing) / Beta-testing;