Essentials of systems analysis and design. Chapter 1 Terms

The extent to which subsystems depend on each other.

Coupling

Building a scaled-down version of the desired information system.

Prototyping

The overall goal or function of a system.

Purpose

A centralized database that contains all diagrams, forms and report definitions, data structures, data definitions, process flows and logic, and definitions of other organizational and system components; it provides a set of mechanisms and structures to achieve seamless data-to-tool and data-to-data integration.

Repository

Second Phase of SDLC

System Analysis

The organizational role most responsible for the analysis and design of information systems.

Systems analyst

The line that marks the inside and outside of a system and that sets off the system from its environment.

Boundary

Systems development methodology created to radically decrease the time needed to design and implement information systems.

Rapid application development (RAD)

A group of interrelated procedures used for a business function, with an identifiable boundary, working together for some purpose.

System

Third Phase of SDLC

System Design

SDLC

System Development Life Cycle

Fourth Phase of SDLC

System Implementation and Operation

First Phase of SDLC

System planning and selection

The series of steps used to mark the phases of development for an information system.

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Phase of the SDLC, in which the current system is studied and alternative replacement systems are proposed.

Systems analysis (Phase 2)

Phase of the SDLC, in which the system chosen for development in systems analysis is first described independently of any computer platform and is then transformed into technology-specific details from which all programming and system construction can be accomplished.

Systems design (Phase 3)

A standard process followed in an organization to conduct all the steps necessary to analyze, design, implement, and maintain information systems.

Systems development methodology

Final phase of the SDLC, in which the information system is coded, tested, and installed in the organization, and in which the information system is systematically repaired and improved

Systems implementation and operation (Phase 4)

The first phase of the SDLC in which an organization's total information system needs are analyzed and arranged, and in which a potential information systems project is identified and an argument for continuing or not continuing with the project is presented.

Systems planning and selection (Phase 1)

Current approaches to systems development that focus on adaptive methodologies, people instead of roles, and an overall self-adaptive development process.

Agile Methodologies

Everything external to a system that interacts with the system.

Environment

The process of developing and maintaining an information system.

Information systems analysis and design

Point of contact where a system meets its environment or where subsystems meet each other.

Interface

Dependence of one part of the system on one or more other system parts.

Interrelated

Dividing a system up into chunks or modules of a relatively uniform size.

Modularity

A systems development approach that originated in northern Europe, in which users and the improvement of their work lives are the central focus.

Participatory design (PD)

Software designed to process data and support users in an organization. Examples include spreadsheets, word processors, and database management systems.

Application software

The extent to which a system or subsystem performs a single function.

Cohesion

An irreducible part or aggregation of parts that make up a system, also called a subsystem.

Component

Software tools that provide automated support for some portion of the systems development process.

Computer-aided software engineering (CASE)

A limit to what a system can accomplish.

Constraint

The process of breaking the description of a system down into small components; also known as functional decomposition.

Decomposition

A structured process in which users, managers, and analysts work together for several days in a series of intensive meetings to specify or review system requirements.

Joint application design (JAD)