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correct terms for code level design and functional design?

  • 22-07-2009 4:17am
    #1
    pwd
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭


    What are the correct terms to distinguish these activities:

    Designing the classes/architecture of a system
    and
    Designing what the sytem should actually do
    - Code design and functional design?

    designing an user interface and implementing an user interface?


Comments

  • #2
    stevenmu
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,689 Mod ✭✭✭✭stevenmu


    Specification and implementation ?


  • #3
    pauldiv
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 197 ✭✭pauldiv


    If OP expects any help then please make more effort to explain the problem.
    All we have is a couple of software engineering phrases pulled out of thin air and posted without context.


  • #4
    pwd
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭pwd


    ok. Here are examples:

    jack has an idea for a program. He knows what he wants it to do and describes that in his design, but he doesn't know how to make it do it.
    Jill then designs the system in the sense of designing classes, services, database, architecture and so on.

    Then Pinky draws out a user interface for the system.
    Perky describes how to make it; classes and service calls etc.

    Specification and implementation is probably correct I think.


  • #5
    ron_darrell
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 351 ✭✭ron_darrell


    A well designed system wouldn't look at a UI as something that happens after the design of the system (though the actualities of it's appearance would happen later in the design chain) - it would be part of the design and specification. You'd be hard pressed to design a system with no idea of how people were going to interact with it :) This would be part of the Use Case Diagrams surely?


  • #6
    dazberry
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,152 ✭✭✭dazberry


    Business specification vs technical specification ?


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  • #7
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    If this is a question for college then the answer might be entirely different to one for a working project. You could call it a whole load of things, some which overlap. Depends how far you want to go. Because it could be a one page document or hundreds of pages.

    Design Spec, Use Case, Business Proposal, Business Specification, Scope etc. Business requirements.

    Developer Spec, Technical Specification. Implementation.


  • #8
    fergalr
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,922 ✭✭✭fergalr


    pwd wrote: »
    ok. Here are examples:

    jack has an idea for a program. He knows what he wants it to do and describes that in his design, but he doesn't know how to make it do it.

    I'd say Jack is doing 'specification' here.

    Maybe he's producing a 'functional specification', depending on what level of detail Jack describes things do. (It'll probably change later though, inevitably!) He may also do some UI design as part of his functional specification.

    If Jack does less work, he maybe have just produced a high level requirements doc, or a project outline, or pitch, etc.
    pwd wrote: »
    Jill then designs the system in the sense of designing classes, services, database, architecture and so on.

    I'd call this the system architecture, and say Jill did the high level architecture of the system.

    If she goes right down to saying how the classes do each of their tasks, she might be doing low level architecture, api design, or even programming.
    pwd wrote: »

    Then Pinky draws out a user interface for the system.
    Pinky is a UI designer.
    pwd wrote: »
    Perky describes how to make it; classes and service calls etc.
    Perky seems to overlap a bit with Jill here, I imagine they'll need to work together. Perky is doing low level architecture, or module design, or programming or all three.
    pwd wrote: »
    Specification and implementation is probably correct I think.

    All these terms are a little fuzzy.
    You can define them, but in reality different people and teams tend to use slightly different, slightly overlapping meanings.
    Main thing is that they are agreed on in a specific case, and people understand what they are each supposed to be doing.


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