CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2007/wiki2 4 dj

Assignment
Use cases. There are even more pages on the Web on use cases than on MVC. If someone wants to learn about them, what should (s)he do? Look at the first few hits in Google? I expect we can do better than that. Write a review of the use-case sites on the Web. Which are best for learning about the concept? Which have the most instructive examples? Which teach advanced concepts that are not apparent in perusing most use-case sites? Read at least several dozen pages before deciding how to organize your overview.

Best for learning about the concept

Use case Wikipedia

Likes

Provides good basic understanding
Also provides Use case templates
Discusses benefits and limitations of use cases.
Provides good references and External links.

Drawbacks

Information maybe incorrect/ old
No examples are provided to ease learning.

Review

Wikipedia, the most common information source, seems to carry lot of information on Use Cases and also goes into discussing their benefits and limitations. The page also provides references and external links

Use Case Diagram Wikipedia

Likes

-Precise explanation of Use Case Diagrams and its notations.
-Also explains advanced concepts like different types of relationships.
-Illustrates the concept with an easy example making it easier for first time readers.

Drawbacks

-Does not provide a basic understanding of why use cases are required. -The page uses technical language which might be deterrent for novices. -Again since it is a wiki page the information could be tampered by anyone.

Review

-Though the page contains all elements which are instrumental in understanding use cases and use cases diagrams the semantics of use cases could have been better expressed if simple language was used.

Teaches advanced concepts

Structuring use cases with goals – AC

Likes

Written by Alistair Cockburn, the author of Jolt Productivity Award winning book Writing Effective Use Cases.
Provides a more detailed and practical view of Use Case usage.
Describes scenarios and howto control Scenario explosion
Also talks about cases where goal-phrase structure can be used
Identifies shortcomings of Use Case

Drawbacks

Maybe too much information for some people.
Text is difficult to understand and read.
Text is not formatted, to make it visually appealing

Review

A very good page written, by a well known person on Use cases. The page has been written in a very informal tone and contains more information than the space. However, the page is not properly formatted which desont make reading it very intresting.

Has the most instructive examples

Writing effective Use Case Examples

Likes

Gets right to point without any fluff
Easy to understand, with diagrams and examples

Drawbacks

Has lot of ads and the “Try it” (example) link takes you somewhere else.

Review

Simply loved the website, its just what someone like me looks for to gets things done. Explains howto write Use Cases alongwith an example.

Use Cases for Example ATM System

Likes

One of the best pages found, which explains an example in full length

Drawbacks

Has no diagrams
Skips on basic explaining basic terms
Has no inline links to explain, some of the terms used.

Review

A very good page for anyone who’s looking for a Use Cases for Example ATM System or for an example Use case application for that matter

External Links

http://www.protoolkits.com/Analysisandrequirements/Analysistechniques/usecases.html
http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~maier/386/usecase06.pdf