Section 0: Module Objectives or Competencies
| Course Objective or Competency | Module Objectives or Competency |
|---|---|
| The student will be able to apply the design tools learned in the previous sections develop a design specification. | The student will be able to list and explain the components that make up the design specification. |
| The student will be able to compile the design specification by using the skills developed in previous competencies. |
Section 1: Design Specification
The design specification is the primary document of the design phase; it should contain everything needed by the programmers in order to program the system.
- The design specification is both the documentation of the
finished system design and the tool used to create the design.
- This means that the documentation is not created after the fact, but instead is a result of the design itself – when the design is complete, so is the documentation.
- Although the design specification contains the updated data dictionary and modified versions of the process descriptions, the primary design and documentation tool is the structure chart.
- Analysts must incorporate a hierarchical view into the system design before turning everything over to programmers.
Contents of the Design Specification
- Table of contents
- Structure charts
- Process specifications
- Screen, report, and source document design
- Detailed hardware and software specifications
- Security requirements
- Programmer's handbook
- Guide to using the design specification
- Index
Video: IT Software Development Lifecycle Part 2c - Software Documentation during Design Phase