Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The seven operational modules are implemented/integrated bottom-up,
receiving a thorough testing, and therefore can be used with confidence in other
products.
9.10.4 Integration of Object-Oriented Products
Objects can be integrated either bottom up or top down. If top-down integration is
chosen, then stubs are used for each method in the same way as with classical
modules. If bottom up integration is used, the objects that do not send messages to
other objects are implemented and integrated first. Then, the objects that send
messages to those previous objects are implemented and integrated and so on, until
all the objects in the product have been properly implemented and integrated.
Because top-down and bottom-up integration are supported, sandwich integration
can be used. If the product is implemented in a hybrid object-oriented language
like C++, the classes generally are operational artifacts and, therefore, integrated
through the means of bottom up (Schach
2007
).
9.10.5 Integration Management
A problem for management is discovering, at integration time, that the code
artifacts simply do not fit together. A problem like this can arise when a change is
made to only one copy of the design document, without informing all the members
of the development group. Both the programmers know that they are right; neither
is prepared to compromise, because the programmer who gives in must recode
large portions of the product. To solve these and similar problems all the code
artifacts have to be tested and combined into single product (Schach
2007
).
9.11 Implementation Workflow
The aim of the implementation workflow is to implement the target software
product in the selected implementation language. A large software product is
commonly partitioned into smaller subsystems, which are then implemented in
parallel by coding teams. The subsystems, in turn, consist of components or code
artifacts. As soon as the code artifact has been coded, the programmer is satisfied
that the code artifact is correct. It is then passed onto the quality assurance group
for further testing. A number of different types of testing have to be performed
during implementation workflow including unit testing, integration testing, prod-
uct testing and acceptance testing.
