An Analysis of Software Design Methodologies

Abstract

Four formal software design methodologies were described and briefly analyzed: (1) Structured Design, (2) Jackson's Methodology, (3) Integrated Software Development System (Higher Order Software), and (4) Warnier's 'Logical Construction of Programs.' Relative strengths, weaknesses, and commonalities among the methods were identified and human factors problem areas were analyzed. Several major human factors deficiencies and problems were identified. Formal software design methods differ in terms of: Applicability to problems of different types, size or complexity; susceptibility to design errors; and constraints and limitations imposed on the software designer. Various methods limit the designer's ability to select an appropriate problem representation, prevent the designer from utilizing relevant knowledge and experience, or impose potentially significant information loads on the designer. Improvements in design methodologies require a better understanding of the problem-solving behavior of software designers; potential research topics in this area were identified.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA081319

Entities

People

  • Gary D. Campbell
  • H. R. Ramsey
  • Michael E. Atwood

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Cognition
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Construction
  • Grammars
  • Language
  • Military Research
  • Programming Languages
  • Psychology
  • Social Sciences
  • Software Design
  • Software Development
  • Software Development Tools
  • Standards
  • Structured Programming

Fields of Study

  • Computer science
  • Engineering

Readers

  • Software Engineering.
  • Systems Analysis and Design