Table Of Content

About This eBook Page: 2 Writing Effective Use Cases Page: 3 Copyright Page Page: 4 The Writing Process Page: 5 Contents Page: 7 Preface Page: 10 Audience Page: 10 Organization Page: 10 Heritage of the Ideas Page: 10 Samples Used Page: 11 Use Cases in The Crystal Collection Page: 11 Acknowledgments Page: 12 Chapter 1. Introduction Page: 13 1.1. What Is a Use Case (More or Less)? Page: 13 1.2. Your Use Case Is Not My Use Case Page: 14 1.3. Requirements and Use Cases Page: 17 1.4. When Use Cases Add Value Page: 18 1.5. Manage Your Energy Page: 18 1.6. Warm Up with a Usage Narrative Page: 19 1.7. Exercises Page: 20 Part 1: The Use Case Body Parts Page: 21 Chapter 2. The Use Case as a Contract for Behavior Page: 22 2.1. Interactions between Actors with Goals Page: 22 2.2. Contract between Stakeholders with Interests Page: 24 2.3. The Graphical Model Page: 24 Chapter 3. Scope Page: 26 3.1. Functional Scope Page: 26 3.2. Design Scope Page: 26 3.3. The Outermost Use Cases Page: 30 3.4. Using the Scope-Defining Work Products Page: 31 3.5. Exercises Page: 31 Chapter 4. Stakeholders and Actors Page: 32 4.1. Stakeholders Page: 32 4.2. The Primary Actor Page: 32 4.3. Supporting Actors Page: 34 4.4. The System Under Discussion Page: 34 4.5. Internal Actors and White-Box Use Cases Page: 34 4.6. Exercises Page: 34 Chapter 5. Three Named Goal Levels Page: 36 5.1. User Goals (Blue, Sea-Level) Page: 36 5.2. Summary Level (White, Cloud/Kite) Page: 37 5.3. Subfunctions (Indigo/Black, Underwater/Clam) Page: 37 5.4. Using Graphical Icons to Highlight Goal Levels Page: 38 5.5. Finding the Right Goal Level Page: 38 5.6. A Longer Writing Sample: “Handle a Claim” at Several Levels Page: 39 5.7. Exercises Page: 42 Chapter 6. Preconditions, Triggers, and Guarantees Page: 43 6.1. Preconditions Page: 43 6.2. Minimal Guarantees Page: 43 6.3. Success Guarantee Page: 44 6.4. Triggers Page: 44 6.5. Exercises Page: 44 Chapter 7. Scenarios and Steps Page: 45 7.1. The Main Success Scenario Page: 45 7.2. Action Steps Page: 46 7.3. Exercises Page: 48 Chapter 8. Extensions Page: 50 8.1. Extension Basics Page: 50 8.2. The Extension Conditions Page: 50 8.3. Extension Handling Page: 52 8.4. Exercises Page: 53 Chapter 9. Technology and Data Variations Page: 55 Chapter 10. Linking Use Cases Page: 56 10.1. Sub Use Cases Page: 56 10.2. Extension Use Cases Page: 56 10.3. Exercises Page: 56 Chapter 11. Use Case Formats Page: 57 11.1. Formats to Choose From Page: 57 11.2. Forces Affecting Use Case Writing Styles Page: 59 11.3. Standards for Five Project Types Page: 60 11.4. Conclusion Page: 62 11.5. Exercise Page: 62 Part 2: Frequently Discussed Topics Page: 63 Chapter 12. When Are We Done? Page: 64 On Being Done Page: 64 Chapter 13. Scaling Up to Many Use Cases Page: 65 Say Less about Each One (Low-Precision Representation) Page: 65 Create Clusters of Use Cases Page: 65 Chapter 14. CRUD and Parameterized Use Cases Page: 66 14.1. CRUD Use Cases Page: 66 14.2. Parameterized Use Cases Page: 67 Chapter 15. Business Process Modeling Page: 69 15.1. Modeling versus Designing Page: 69 15.2. Linking Business and System Use Cases Page: 70 Chapter 16. The Missing Requirements Page: 72 16.1. Precision in Data Requirements Page: 72 16.2. Cross-linking from Use Cases to Other Requirements Page: 72 Chapter 17. Use Cases in the Overall Process Page: 73 17.1. Use Cases In Project Organization Page: 73 17.2. Use Cases to Task or Feature Lists Page: 74 17.3. Use Cases to Design Page: 75 17.4. Use Cases to UI Design Page: 76 17.5. Use Cases to Test Cases Page: 77 17.6. The Actual Writing Page: 77 Chapter 18. Use Case Briefs and Extreme Programming Page: 81 Chapter 19. Mistakes Fixed Page: 82 19.1. No System Page: 82 19.2. No Primary Actor Page: 82 19.3. Too Many User Interface Details Page: 82 19.4. Very Low Goal Levels Page: 82 19.5. Purpose and Content Not Aligned Page: 83 19.6. Advanced Example of Too Much UI Page: 83 Part 3: Reminders for the Busy Page: 86 Chapter 20. Reminders for Each Use Case Page: 87 Reminder 1: A Use Case Is a Prose Essay Page: 87 Reminder 2: Make the Use Case Easy to Read Page: 87 Reminder 3: Just One Sentence Form Page: 87 Reminder 4: “Include” Sub Use Cases Page: 87 Reminder 5: Who Has the Ball? Page: 87 Reminder 6: Get the Goal Level Right Page: 88 Reminder 7: Keep the GUI Out Page: 88 Reminder 8: Two Endings Page: 88 Reminder 9: Stakeholders Need Guarantees Page: 88 Reminder 10: Preconditions Page: 89 Reminder 11: Pass/Fail Tests for One Use Case Page: 89 Chapter 21. Reminders for the Use Case Set Page: 90 Reminder 12: An Ever-Unfolding Story Page: 90 Reminder 13: Both Corporate Scope and System Scope Page: 90 Reminder 14: Core Values and Variations Page: 90 Reminder 15: Quality Questions across the Use Case Set Page: 92 Chapter 22. Reminders for Working on the Use Cases Page: 93 Reminder 16: It’s Just Chapter 3 (Where’s Chapter 4?) Page: 93 Reminder 17: Work Breadth First Page: 93 Reminder 18: The 12-Step Recipe Page: 93 Reminder 19: Know the Cost of Mistakes Page: 93 Reminder 20: Blue Jeans Preferred Page: 94 Reminder 21: Handle Failures Page: 94 Reminder 22: Job Titles Sooner and Later Page: 94 Reminder 23: Actors Play Roles Page: 94 Reminder 24: The Great Drawing Hoax Page: 95 Reminder 25: The Great Tool Debate Page: 95 Reminder 26: Project Planning Using Titles and Briefs Page: 96 Appendices Page: 97 Appendix A. Use Cases in UML Page: 98 A.1. Ellipses and Stick Figures Page: 98 A.2. UML’s Includes Relation Page: 98 A.3. UML’s Extends Relation Page: 98 A.4. UML’s Generalizes Relations Page: 100 A.5. Subordinate Versus Sub Use Cases Page: 100 A.6. Drawing Use Case Diagrams Page: 101 A.7. Write Text-Based Use Cases Instead Page: 101 Appendix B. Answers to (Some) Exercises Page: 102 Chapter 3, Page 51 Page: 102 Chapter 4, Page 60 Page: 102 Chapter 5, Page 79 Page: 102 Chapter 6, Page 85 Page: 102 Chapter 7, Page 98 Page: 103 Chapter 8, Page 110 Page: 103 Chapter 11, Page 138 Page: 104 Appendix C. Glossary Page: 105 Main Terms Page: 105 Use Case Types Page: 105 Diagrams Page: 105 Appendix D. Readings Page: 106 Books Referenced in the Text Page: 106 Articles Referenced in the Text Page: 106 Useful Online Resources Page: 106 Index Page: 107 Pass/Fail Tests for Use Case Fields Page: 116

Description:

Writing use cases as a means of capturing the behavioral requirements of software systems and business processes is a practice that is quickly gaining popularity. Use cases provide a beneficial means of project planning because they clearly show how people will ultimately use the system being designed. On the surface, use cases appear to be a straightforward and simple concept. Faced with the task of writing a set of use cases, however, practitioners must ask: "How exactly am I supposed to write use cases?" Because use cases are essentially prose essays, this question is not easily answered, and as a result, the task can become formidable. In Writing Effective Use Cases, object technology expert Alistair Cockburn presents an up-to-date, practical guide to use case writing. The author borrows from his extensive experience in this realm, and expands on the classic treatments of use cases to provide software developers with a "nuts-and-bolts" tutorial for writing use cases. The book thoroughly covers introductory, intermediate, and advanced concepts, and is, therefore, appropriate for all knowledge levels. Illustrative writing examples of both good and bad use cases reinforce the author's instructions. In addition, the book contains helpful learning exercises--with answers--to illuminate the most important points. Highlights of the book include: A thorough discussion of the key elements of use cases--actors, stakeholders, design scope, scenarios, and more A use case style guide with action steps and suggested formats An extensive list of time-saving use case writing tips A helpful presentation of use case templates, with commentary on when and where they should be employed A proven methodology for taking advantage of use cases With this book as your guide, you will learn the essential elements of use case writing, improve your use case writing skills, and be well on your way to employing use cases effectively for your next development project.