Ed Mayer- Getting from Good Requirements to Good Code

®

IBM Software Group

Getting from “good” requirements to good code

6 September 2011

Edmund Mayer
Rational Systems Practice, North America

Innovation for a smarter planet © 2011 IBM Corporation

IBM Software Group | Rational software

Requirements Engineering defined
Model Based Functional Analysis defined
Rational solution

Innovation for a smarter planet 2


Scope of today’s presentation
Requirements Engineering at the system level (top left of V-model)



Requirements Engineering

Requirements Engineering, by one definition, involves:
Requirements elicitation
Requirements analysis and negotiation
Requirements specification
Functional analysis
Requirements verification
Requirements management



Requirements Definition

Requirements Engineering involves:
Requirements elicitation – gathering requirements from customers
Requirements analysis and negotiation – check clarity and completeness, resolve issues
Requirements specification – document with text, sometimes with use cases and scenarios
Functional analysis



Requirements Management

Functional analysis
Requirements management – continuous activity, traceability, requirement change handling



Requirements Definition and Management

Functional analysis



Requirements Challenges

Misunderstood requirements by stakeholders and analysts
Poorly expressed requirements
Missed test coverage
Misunderstanding or omission by development
Requirement change impact misunderstandings



Modeling in Requirements Engineering

Functional analysis



Rational solution



Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)

A Systems Engineering analysis and design practice

A visual approach to understanding requirements and realizing them into a
robust system design

Helps manage complexity through the use of abstraction and separation of
concerns



2 Functional Requirements
2.1 Power car
2.1.1 Move car
2.1.1.1 Move forwards
The car shall be able to move forwards at all speeds from 0 to 200 kilometers per hour on
standard flat roads with winds of 0 kilometers per hour, with 180 BHP.
2.1.1.2 Move backwards
The car shall be able to move backwards to a maximum speed of 20 Kilometers per hour on
standard flat roads with winds of 0 kilometers per hour, with 180 BHP.
2.1.2 Accelerate car
The car shall be able to accelerate from 0 to 100 Kilometers per hour in 10 seconds on
standard flat roads with winds of 0 kilometers per hour.
The car shall be able to accelerate from 100 to 150 kilometers per hour at a rate of 5
kilometers per second on standard flat roads with winds of 0 kilometers per hour.
The car shall be able to accelerate from 150 to 200 kilometers per hour at a rate of 3
kilometers per second on standard flat roads with winds of 0 kilometers per hour.
2.2 Control car
2.2.1 Switch on car
The car shall be able to discriminate which authorized people shall be able to switch on and
operate the car.
2.2.2 Control speed
The car shall have a foot mechanism to control the speed of the car.
The speed control shall be infinitely variable from zero to maximum speed.
The speed of the car shall be controllable by automatic means.
2.2.3 Brake car
The car shall be able to stop from 10 kilometers per hour to 0 kph in 2 seconds.



Modeling in Requirements Engineering

Requirements specification – use cases and scenarios for describing user interactions
Functional analysis – functional flows, interface definition, documented rationale
Requirements verification – testing of requirements through model execution



Systems Engineering workflow

MBSE complements traditional Stakeholder
requirements analysis techniques Requirements

During Requirements Analysis, we
organize requirements into functional Requirements
groups (use cases) Analysis

During Functional Analysis, we identify System Functional
system functions and explore the system’s Analysis
dynamic behavior using sequence
diagrams and model execution Design Synthesis
– refines and improves upon the system’s
requirements



Rational solution



Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) at Rational

MBSE is a standards based Systems Engineering practice that incorporates:
Modeling language – SysML
Modeling process – Rational Systems Engineering Practices
Modeling tools – Rhapsody Designer for Systems Engineers

uses

describes governs
The Model Rational SE Practices

implements manages
leverages

Rhapsody



Rational SE Practices provides step-by-step guidance
Helps you identify and derive system functions, identify associated system modes,
and allocate system operations to decomposed architectures, while retaining the
option to verify the model through execution
The Rational SE Toolkit automates many of the steps



Innovation for a smarter planet


Model handoff from Systems Engineering to Software
Typical handoff includes system architecture, interfaces,
and services allocated to blocks (the architecture)



Summary

Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) complements traditional requirements
definition and management techniques
Rational provides a SysML-based Systems Engineering practice library with
application guidance
Functional Analysis …
is a Requirements Engineering activity
emphasizes the transformation of functional system requirements into a coherent and
dynamic description of system functions
improves upon the quality of system requirements



© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011. All rights reserved. The information contained in these materials is provided for informational purposes only, and is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind,
express or implied. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, these materials. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have
the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM
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availability in any way. IBM, the IBM logo, Rational, the Rational logo, Telelogic, the Telelogic logo, and other IBM products and services are trademarks of the International Business Machines
Corporation, in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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Ed Mayer- Getting from Good Requirements to Good Code

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