Software design description
Today we want to address a topic of great importance: Software design description. This is a topic that has generated great interest and debate in recent times, and that is why we have decided to dedicate a complete article to it to analyze it in depth. Software design description is a topic that has impacted a large number of people around the world, since it has implications in different areas of society. Throughout this article, we will explore different aspects related to Software design description, from its origin and evolution to its consequences and possible solutions. We hope this article will be of great use to our readers, providing them with greater clarity and understanding about Software design description.
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A software design description (a.k.a. software design document or SDD; just design document; also Software Design Specification) is a representation of a software design that is to be used for recording design information, addressing various design concerns, and communicating that information to the design’s stakeholders. [1] An SDD usually accompanies an architecture diagram with pointers to detailed feature specifications of smaller pieces of the design. Practically, the description is required to coordinate a large team under a single vision, needs to be a stable reference, and outline all parts of the software and how they will work.
Composition
The SDD usually contains the following information:
- The Data-driven design describes structures that reside within the software. Attributes and relationships between data objects dictate the choice of data structures.
- The architecture design uses information flowing characteristics, and maps them into the program structure. The transformation mapping method is applied to exhibit distinct boundaries between incoming and outgoing data. The data flow diagrams allocate control input, processing and output along three separate modules.
- The interface design describes internal and external program interfaces, as well as the design of the human interface. Internal and external interface designs are based on the information obtained from the analysis model.
- The procedural design describes structured programming concepts using graphical, tabular and textual notations.
These design mediums enable the designer to represent procedural detail, that facilitates translation to code. This blueprint for implementation forms the basis for all subsequent software engineering work.
IEEE 1016
IEEE 1016-2009, titled IEEE Standard for Information Technology—Systems Design—Software Design Descriptions,[2] is an IEEE standard that specifies "the required information content and organization" for an SDD.[3] IEEE 1016 does not specify the medium of an SDD; it is "applicable to automated databases and design description languages but can be used for paper documents and other means of descriptions."[4]
The 2009 edition was a major revision to IEEE 1016-1998, elevating it from recommended practice to full standard. This revision was modeled after IEEE Std 1471-2000, Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of Software-intensive Systems, extending the concepts of view, viewpoint, stakeholder, and concern from architecture description to support documentation of high-level and detailed design and construction of software.
Following the IEEE 1016 conceptual model, an SDD is organized into one or more design views. Each design view follows the conventions of its design viewpoint. IEEE 1016 defines the following design viewpoints for use:[5]
- Context viewpoint
- Composition viewpoint
- Logical viewpoint
- Dependency viewpoint
- Information viewpoint
- Patterns use viewpoint
- Interface viewpoint
- Structure viewpoint
- Interaction viewpoint
- State dynamics viewpoint
- Algorithm viewpoint
- Resource viewpoint
In addition, users of the standard are not limited to these viewpoints but may define their own.[6]
IEEE status
IEEE 1016-2009 is currently listed as 'Inactive - Reserved'.[7]
See also
References
- ^ IEEE Standard for Information Technology--Systems Design--Software Design Descriptions. IEEE STD 1016-2009. July 2009. pp. 1–35. doi:10.1109/ieeestd.2009.5167255. ISBN 978-0-7381-5925-6.
- ^ IEEE Standard for Information Technology--Systems Design--Software Design Descriptions. IEEE. 2009-07-20. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.2009.5167255. ISBN 978-0-7381-5925-6.
- ^ IEEE 1016, Abstract.
- ^ IEEE 1016, Abstract.
- ^ IEEE 1016, Clause 5.
- ^ IEEE 1016, sub-clause 4.5.
- ^ IEEE Standard for Information Technology--Systems Design--Software Design Descriptions. IEEE STD 1016-2009. July 2009. pp. 1–35. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.2009.5167255. ISBN 978-0-7381-5925-6.
