COLLEGE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION
DAR ES SALAAM CAMPUS
PROGRAMME(S): BIT I
INTAKE: OCTOBER
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
MODULE: SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
MODULE CODE: ITU07212
Question one
a. Discuss five primary skills needed to be a successful systems analyst.
b. What are the six factors affecting selection of the project methodology for the
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?
c. With diagrammatic illustrations, briefly explain three (3) methodologies that are
based on Rapid Application Development (RAD).
d. Describe a challenge associated with each system development methodology
explained in 1(a) above.
Question Two
a. What is a system prototype, and describe its three principal characteristics?
b. Scenario: Consider a bookshop specified below;
The bookshop has several books from different titles. Each book may appear in two
versions: hard-cover or soft-cover, and thus may have two different prices.
A user shops for a book by searching for the book title and receiving the prices of
available versions of the title. Afterward, the user either pays the price and buys the
book using a credit card or cancels the purchase. Credit card payment concerns a
credit card number, owner's name, expiration date, and the amount to be
withdrawn. The bank should authorize a credit card payment. The bookshop owner
can add books (of possibly new titles) to its stock.
i. Draw a use case diagram for the system.
ii. Give a detailed description of each use case.
c. Describe the "open-items list" and subsequently explain its essentiality in
interviews.
Question Three
b. Define a term system.
c. Describe nine (9) features defining a system.
d. What is the system design process?
e. Describe an excellent system development methodology for the following
conditions and state a concrete reason for a choice.
i. The system is with unclear user requirements.
ii. The development team is unfamiliar with the technology employed.
iii. The system is huge and complex.
iv. A need for an accurate and reliable system.
v. A project has a short time schedule for development.
Question Four
a. List and briefly describe six (6) information gathering techniques.
b. Describe at least four (4) advantages of having a Group Support System (GSS)
during the Joint Application Development (JAD) session?
c. What is the difference between "validation" and "verification" of the system
requirements?
d. Describe the two (2) main steps in the planning phase of the SDLC and explain
the main activities taking place in each step.
e. What are the three (3) major deliverables in the mentioned phase in 2(d) above?
Question Five
a. Describe six (6) reasons of creating models during the analysis phase.
b. One of the toughest problems in investigating system requirements is to make sure
they are complete and comprehensive. How would you ensure that you get all the
right information during an interview session?
c. Scenario: As a system analyst, you are required to document operations for
computing roots for the quadratic equations (ax2 + bx + c = 0) into an Activity
Diagram. The system is entitled to be used by form two students in secondary
schools.
A student provides the coefficients of the quadratic equations i.e. (a, b and c) and
the system must validate to check whether all inputs are integers and a ≠ 0. If it
happens a=0 or inputs are not integers, the system should display that “The
equation is not a quadratic” and terminate. Otherwise, the system should compute
the discriminant (b2 – 4ac) and subsequently check whether it is less than zero or
otherwise. If it is less than zero or negative (b2 – 4ac < 0), the system should
display the message that “The equation has complex roots, it is out of your learning
scope”. Else, the system proceeds to compute the roots for the given equation by
using the general formula below, before displaying the roots and terminate.
−𝑏 ± √𝑏 2 − 4𝑎𝑐
𝑥=
2𝑎
Question Six
a. Distinguish between a Data Flow Diagram (DFD) and a flow chart.
b. What do you mean by balancing a DFD? Illustrate your answer with a suitable
example.
c. What do you mean by the term "data dictionary" in the context of structured
analysis?
d. Scenario: The Voltage-Root Mean Square (V - RMS) Computing System:
As a junior system analyst, you are required to develop a system that would assist
electrical engineers to compute the root mean square of the Alternating Current
(AC) flowing via the cables so that they could estimate the constant value of the
Direct Current (DC) that would produce the same power dissipation in a respective
resistive load. The system analyst elicited the functionalities from various
engineers and modeled the requirements in the mathematical models below;
𝑛
∑𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 2
Mean-Square (VMS)=
n
VRMS = √ VMS
The system shall read three different AC values from an external system in the
range of -1000 volts to +1000 volts, determine the root mean square voltage, and
then display it. The design needs to validate the inputs before computing the V RMS
and presenting it. From the scenario above;
i. Design a DFD level 0 (Context Diagram) for the V-RMS Computing System.
ii. Draw the DFD level 1 for the so mentioned system above.
iii. With an assumption, the computation of the VRMS was captured in a single
bubble in the DFD level 1 above. Decompose the process and draw the
DFD level 2 for the V-RMS Computing System.
NB: Include the data dictionary for the Bubble charts.
Question Seven
a. Draw and explain five (5) symbols used in drawing Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs).
b. How is the data dictionary useful in different phases of the System Development
Life Cycle (SDLC)?
c. What are the three (3) main shortcomings of Data Flow Diagram (DFD) as a tool
for performing structured analysis?
d. Consider the following Context Diagram for the Sales Order System (SOS) at
Kikuu e-commerce site. Study the figure below and tell whether the following
statements are “correct” or “wrong”.
i. The context diagram is incomplete since it does not show where the data
reside and how they flow.
ii. The context diagram is incomplete because it is missing the cardinalities.
iii. The context diagram is at the right level of detail, such that all the
stakeholders can understand it.
iv. The managers, employees and customers can also be modelled using other
symbols, other than boxes.
v. The context diagram is complete without the detailed processes showing
operations happening in the background of the system.
e. Assume you are the IT Manager at the College of Business Education (CBE). As
part of a training program, you decide to draw a DFD that includes some obvious
mistakes to see whether your newly hired junior analysts can find them. You came
up with the DFD level 0 shown below. Based on the rules, Identify five (5) problems
with this diagram.
Question Eight
a. Describe two (2) particular issues that may be important to list on a system
request.
b. What is the difference between functional requirements and non-functional
requirements?
c. Draw and explain five (5) symbols used in drawing Activity Diagrams.
d. Create an Activity Diagram for the online service intended for processing
customer's quotes. A customer requests a quote from a salesperson; If it is a
simple request, the salesperson can enter the data and create the quote. If it is a
complex request, the salesperson requests assistance from a technical expert to
enter data and generate the quote, the technical expert checks for the quote
requirements before attempting to do anything. In both cases, the computer
system calculates the quote's details and sends back results to a customer for
reviewal. If changes are made, a customer implements them, requests a quote
again, and follows the same path. But if otherwise, he/she accepts a quote as a
legit order and terminates the process.
Hint: Agents in the system are: Customer, Salesperson, Technical Expert, and
the System.