Assignment: Visible Analyst and Rational

Assignment: Visible Analyst and Rational

NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:Assignment: Visible Analyst and Rational

The various types of tools can be referred to as upper-CASE tools or lower-CASE tools. The upper-CASE tools support the analysis and design phases, whereas the lower-CASE tools support implementation. The tools can also be general or specific in nature, with the specific tools being designed for a particular methodology.

Two examples of CASE tools are Visible Analyst and Rational Rose. According to Andoh-Baidoo, Kunene, and Walker ( 2009 ), Visible Analyst “supports structured and object-oriented design (UML),” whereas Rational Rose “supports solely object-oriented design (UML)” (p. 372). Both tools can “build and reverse database schemas for SQL and Oracle” and “support code generation for pre-.NET versions of Visual Basic” (p. 372). Visible Analyst can also support shell code generation for pre-.NET versions of C and COBOL, whereas Rational Rose can support complete code for C++ and Java. In addition, Andoh-Baidoo et al. found that Rational Rose “[p]rovides good integration with Java, and incorporates common packages into class diagrams and decompositions through classes” (p. 372).

CASE tools have many advantages, including decreasing development time and producing more flexible systems. On the down side, they can be difficult to tailor or customize and use with existing systems.

Open Source Software and Free/Open Source Software

Another area that must be discussed with SDLC is  open source software  (OSS). An examination of job descriptions or advertisements for candidates shows that many ISs and IT professionals need a thorough understanding of SDLC and OSS development tools (e.g., PHP, MySQL, and HTML). With OSS, any programmer can implement, modify, apply, reconstruct, and restructure the rich libraries of source codes available from proven, well-tested products.

As Karopka, Schmuhl, and Demski ( 2014 ) noted,

Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) has been successfully adopted across a wide range of different areas and has opened new ways of value creation. Today there are hundreds of examples of successful FLOSS projects and products. . . . Especially in times of financial crisis and austerity the adoption of FLOSS principles opens interesting alternatives and options to tremendously lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and open the way for a continuous user-driven improvement process. (para. 6)