System Analysis Cinema Booking Information Technology Essay

Waterfall Life Cycle: Waterfall life cycle is the most familiar and classic life cycle model. It is sometimes referred to as the classic life cycle or the linear sequential model. It the simplest type of life cycle and very easy to use and understand. In the waterfall life cycle, each phase needs to be completed before the next phase can start. Each phase is separate and does there’s no overlapping.

Requirements Analysis

System Design

Implementation & Unit Testing

Integration & System Testing

Operation & Maintenance

Phases:

Requirement Analysis: Requirements are collected from end-user consultations and then analyzed. A requirement Specification Document is created which guides the next phases of the model.

System Design: System design is prepared by studying the requirements specification from the 1st phase. The hardware requirements are specified in this stage and a picture of the overall system architecture is produced.

Implementation & Unit Testing: In this phase, the work is divided in small units; actual coding starts. Testing makes sure that the software successfully meets the required specification; and that any errors are identified.

Integration & System Testing: All units are integrated and tested to ensure that the system meets the requirements. At the end of this stage, the software is delivered to the customer.

Operation & Maintenance: This is the longest phase in the model. The software is updated in this phase to correct any errors, make the software more efficient and to meet the changing needs of the customers.

Advantages:

It is a linear sequential model

Very easy & simple to implement; therefore well suited for small projects

It is also cheaper

Minimal amount of resources are required to implement this model

Testing is done after each phase to ensure the project is on the right path

Easily manageable because model is rigid; each phase has certain deliverables & a review process after a phase is over, which makes understanding of the designing procedure simpler.

Disadvantages:

High risk & uncertainty.

Not suited for long projects where the requirements may change.

The working software is only produced late during the life cycle.

It is difficult to estimate the cost and time for each stage.

No back tracking possible; if an error occurred in the earlier stages of the cycle, it can’t be corrected for that batch.

V-Shaped Model: The V-Shaped Model is very similar to the Waterfall model life cycle, but testing is done upfront instead of later in the life cycle like in Waterfall model. Like Waterfall model, V-Shaped Model is also a sequential cycle and a new phase is only started after the completion of the previous phase. Each development stage is matched with its respective testing stage; Requirements ƒ  System Testing, High-Level Design ƒ  Integration Testing, Low-Level Design ƒ  Unit Testing. V-Shaped model is very useful for systems which require high reliability.

System Testing

Requirements

Integration Testing

High-Level Design

Low-Level Design

Unit Testing

Implementation

Phases:

Requirements: Commences the life cycle; system test plan is created.

High-Level Design: Focuses on design & system architecture; integration tests are created.

Low-Level Design: Software components are designed & unit tests are created.

Implementation: Coding takes place in this phase.

Advantages:

It’s easy to use; but not as easy as the waterfall model.

More chance of success than the waterfall model due to the early testings.

Project moves quickly to the implementation stage.

Useful for small projects; considering the requirements are easily understood & known upfront.

Disadvantages:

Bugs in the final stage are very costly to fix.

Total development time of v-shaped model is more than the waterfall model.

Does not contain any risk analysis activities

Throwaway Prototyping model: Very useful in situations the user’s needs and requirements are not clear. The main objective of this model is to validate or drive the system requirements. This model is developed to reduce the requirement risks. This prototype is developed and then delivered to the user for experiments and then it is discarded, hence ‘throw away’ prototype; and it should not be considered as a final system.

Advantages:

Requirement risks are fewer

If delivered model does not meet the user’s needs, then it can be discarded and new models can be developed.

Disadvantages:

Can be undocumented

Developers may be push to deliver the throw away prototype as the final system, which is not recommended.

System structure may be degraded due to the changes made during the software development process.

Evolutionary Prototyping model: In evolutionary prototyping, the initial prototype is developed and it is then refined through number of stages to final stage. The main objective is to deliver the working system to the user. Verification is not possible because there is no specification.

Requirement gathering,

Refinement

Quick Design

Building Prototype

Refine Requirement

End-User Evaluation

End

Product

Refine

Prototype

Advantages:

System development involves the user

Working system is delivered fast

A more useful system can be delivered

Disdvantages:

Time required to complete project is unknown.

May have problems; Management, Maintenance and Verification problems.

Incremental model: The incremental model is similar to the Waterfall life cycle model, but there are multiple development cycles here, which makes it a ‘multi-waterfall’ cycle. It has an iterative approach (repeating), and each iteration passes through each of the phases. A working version of software can be produced during the first iteration, which means a functioning software is available early in the cycle.

1st Increment

Analysis

Test

Code

Design

1st Increment delivery

2nd Increment

2nd Increment delivery

Analysis

Test

Code

Design

nth Increment

Test

Code

Design

Analysis

nth Increment delivery

Time

Advantages:

Working Software can be developed quickly & early during the life cycle.

Its less costly to change requirements therefore; Flexible.

Easier to test and fix errors

End-users get to see working software early in the software development life cycle.

Disadvantages:

The total development cost is higher

Well defined project planning is required to distribute the work properly.

Spiral Model: Also known as ‘Spiral lifecycle model’. This model combines the features of the waterfall model and the prototyping model. The Spiral Model is most commonly used in large, complicated and expensive projects; and constant review is needed to stay on target. The main area in which Spiral model is used is Game development due to the constantly changing goals & size of the large project.

Cumulative Cost

Progress

1. Determine Objectives, Alternatives, Constraints

2. Evaluate alternatives.

Identify, and resolve risks.

Review

3. Development & Tests

4. Plan next Phases

Advantages:

Important issues can be discovered earlier, which makes estimation of budget & schedule more realistic & reliable.

Good amount of risk analysis

Really good for large projects

Software can be conceived early in the life cycle.

Flexible & allows for multiple iterations.

Disadvantages:

Not suitable for smaller projects

Success of the project depends on the risk analysis

Costly

Requires knowledgeable staff; for risk analysis.

2. Identification of the Functions and Purpose of a Systems Life Cycle.

The systems life cycle is a series of well-defined phases in the development of systems. It is very important that a project should meet the required specification, should be within budget and delivered on time. Large system developments can take a long time to be developed and can be very costly too; therefore most organisations use the systems life cycle (stages) to develop systems because it saves time & isn’t as costly.

Programming

Maintenance

Installation

Design

Feasibility Study

Analysis

1. Feasibility study

Different solutions are examined in this stage. First step of this stage is to discover the funds available and then compare with the benefits of the company, in view of their requirements because sometimes in order to arrive at final decision a trade-off (give and take) has to be accepted e.g. less functionality for less cash.

There are three different options that a company could choose:

Options

Benefit

Cost

Performance

Company does not change anything

No interference to the business. Least cost

System remains outdated. Less efficient

N/A

Company updates half of the system

Least efficient parts are redesigned to improve performance while best parts of the system are not changed

Moderate, light training for staff

40% improved

Complete upgrade

More profitable

High, New equipments, Upgraded Software, Training for staff.

80% improved (over the old system)

2. Investigation and Analysis

Investigation

First step of this stage is to investigate the old system and problem it is causing.

There are different ways to find out the problems:

Questionnaires and Interviews

Observing people using the old system

Following the information from the point it enters the system till the point of output.

Taking the cause of the problem

These steps should lead toward the true cause of the problem

Analysis

The next part is to analyze how the existing system works how information is handled and how people interact with it.

To Analyze, different methods are used e.g.

System diagrams

This shows the dealings between different systems in the company or outside. System diagram shows how they interact and what depends on what and so on.

Data Flow Diagram

This shows the movement through the system, how the system deals with the information, how information flows through the system, how dose it connect and disconnect and what the outputs are.

Process Diagram

This shows how people interact with the system for example an employee makes a claim, first it will go to manager who will counter-sign the claim it will then go to account manager who authorizes payment and so on.

3. Design

This stage defines the system in greater detail and the best way to start this stage is to write down exact details of the new system e.g.

The data Inputs

The data Outputs

Screen Layouts

Documents that are printed out

Procedure of the data that flows through the system

The structure of any files that store data

How information is accessed

And so on

The testing procedure comes after the system has been built. In my opinion it is really useful to build a test procedure before starting to build a system because, if you know how the system will be tested, it will lead you towards a better design.

Prototype

Prototype is something that allows you to build a program without having to worry about the details, it is to confirm that design is likely to work. The master document created in this stage is called System Requirement Document.

4. Programming

This stage takes the design forward and put it into practice and this stage take place when the client has agree on what needs to be done (Requirement Specification) and the Analyst has clearly described what needs to be done(System Requirement Document).

There are several terms involved in this stage so it is reasonable to break down the System Requirement Document into sections that each can develop.

At this stage following things may take place:

The software developers write code

The hardware people develop equipment

The testing team develops test plans

The user-testing groups follow the test plans and check the system works as expected

5. Installation

Now the system is developed and tested and it is working correctly and doing what client wanted.

The key events in this stage are:

Data conversion: Data stored on the old system are now converted into the correct format for the new system.

System Change Over: switch off the old system and turn on the new system, which is not as simple as it sound.

Alternatives

Run the old and new system in parallel for a time

Customer does not care what your IT system is made up of, they are only concerned about their order. One method is to run the old system along the new one, then in the quiet time the new system store the old system data and is then fully loaded and ready to go.

Training

Training is the vital part of this stage, staff training must take place.

Staff needs to be shown how to use the new system

How to access help when they run into difficulties

Member of a development team should be available on call

A user manual should be available for staff

6. Maintenance

The new system is running smoothly and it will need to be looked after so maintenance stage takes care of the following that can take place:

Problems are cleared as they occur

Tweaks to the system are applied to improve performance

The system has to be moved due to office movement

Data is backed up and kept safe

Equipment are replace as required

Basically this stage never ends until the new system becomes old and is then switch with new system.

3. Undertake a User Needs Analysis (UNA) for your system.

SYSTEM USED: CINEMA BOOKING SYSTEM

UNA is the first stage in the system development process. UNA in system developing includes task that is demanded by the user for new or different system. Requirements must be actionable, measurable, and testable and must be related to user needs.

The best way to undertake UNA in my view is to have a workshop with the users who will use the new system. This will give me one clear idea of what the new system must do. When working on developing the new system I’ll have a better idea of what users wants from the new system, keeping every user’s requirements in mind.

So I’ll set up a workshop, in which I’ll ask users what they want from the new system. I will document their requirements as I go along. Basically I’ll ask different questions from the users and then the users themselves will work out what kind of a new system they want.

Questions that I’ll ask users:

What the new system should do?

Do you want it to be networked with other computers?

How long the information needs to be saved?

Should staff login when using the system?

Anything needs to be printing?

What information needs to be print out?

Payment procedure/ types of cards?

Discounts: student

Inputs, process and outputs

Internet booking/ serial number only for internet booking

This is how I’ll design the system, keeping in view the users requirements. It will be an advanced system which will be quite reliable and it will be easy for the users to use this system.

System Requirements:

Inputs

Serial number only for Internet booking

Name

Payment

Age/ discount

Name of the movie

Date

Process

Theater Number

Discount reduction

Output

Movie ticket for customer

Information saved in the system

This program is supposed to save the information of the customer and print out a movie ticket containing the required information.

Print out of the ticket

Name

Age

payment

Discount

Payment after discount

Theater Number

Movie’s name

Date

System will show this information on the Ticket.

4. Produce a Systems Context Diagram for your system.

User/ Staff

New system

Customer

Info given

Input filled

Data saved

Ticket

Process

Calculate discount if applied and check for seats in theatre

Saved in server for 3 days and is access able by any member of staff

Checks the Ticket

Ticket given

Check movie and time

Login

Administrator Login

Update Movie Data

Delete Old Data

Updates the system

This Diagram explains the program I am building for the Cinema. Circles in the diagram mean the first thing is done by Administrator, User/ Staff and the customer.

Explanation:

Administrator must update the system by inserting new movies and deleting old movies.

User/ Staff is the person who can access the system by login in and takes the details (info given) of the customer. User/ Staff then enter the details (input filled) in the system.

News System will process the input and process it, calculate discount if applied and check for seats available in theatre. It’ll then give two outputs Data Saved and Ticket.

Data Saved meaning the data will be saved in a server for three days and is access able by any member for staff but the saved data cannot be changed after the Ticket is printed out.

Ticket will be printed out and is going to be checked by the staff. Staff will give the ticket to the customer.

5. Produce a Level 1 Current Physical Data Flow Diagram for your system.

D1 User/ Staff/ counter

Enquires

Deposits and Withdrawals

Process customer data

Tickets recheck

Data store

System

Cash

Customer

Customer details/ data

Print

Ticket

Details are checked

Ticket handed to the customer

Resource Flow

Data Flow

Outside data

Process

D2

In this Physical Data flow diagram customer, who is outside data, goes to the counter to purchase a ticket for the movie. Counter/ staff take his query and process it, system then stores the data and process a ticket, which is given to the customer.

6. Produce a Level 1 Required Logical DFD for your system.

Admin

User/ Staff

Customer

System

Process

Data Stored

Ticket

Updates the System

Customer details/ data

Ticket

Input customer detail/ data

Calculates discounts & Theatre No.

Store’s in a server

Print out

Ticket details are checked by user/ staff

Data Flow

Source of Data

In this Diagram Admin is updating the data for the system and user is taking the detail/ data of the customer and entering it in the system to process a Ticket for customer.

7. Decompose one of the processes to a Level 2 Required Logical Data Flow Diagram for your system.

Admin

System

Process

Data Stored

Updates the System

Adding new movie data

Deleting old movie data

Stores admin new data

Stores customer data

Movie is suitable for customer (age)

Theatre availability

Calculate discounts

Store data in server

Auto deletes 3 days old customer data

Access to old data

In this Diagram Admin is updating the data for the system and system is processing customer details against admin updated data and it is then stored in a server for three days.

8. Construct a Logical Data Structure for the system you are producing.

Customer

Staff/ counter

Ticket

Enquires

Ticket

Customer will seek staff on counter for any enquiry or to purchase a movie ticket

Provide service to customer

Staff will take customer details from customer for a movie ticket

To process a Ticket, staff will have to enter customer details in the system for a movie ticket

Ticket is handed to the customer after staff checks for any errors

9. With the aid of your Logical Data Structure, produce an Entity/Event Matrix for your database system.

Customer

Purchasing a ticket for a movie

Enquiry

Staff/ Counter

Staff/ Counter

Solve the issue

Yes

No

Job done

Admin

Enter customer details in the system

System process

Ticket

Data stored

Staff (checks it)

Customer (takes ticket)

Server

10. Describe the ‘Required Physical Data Model’.

Customer details/ data

Admin

Admin login

Update new movie data

Delete old movie data

Problem solving

Staff

Customer service

System operator

Staff login

handle customer details

Ticket

Cashier

Customer

Enquires

Ticket purchaser

Updates the System

Input customer detail/ data

System

Customer internet serial no.

Customer name

Customer age

Payment method

Discount

Amount paid

Name of the movie

Theatre number

Date

Stores admin updated data

Access to old data

Check for any errors on the ticket

Process

Movie is suitable for the customer (age)

Discount reduction

Theatre number

Draft ticket

Print out

Data stored

Stored in server

Access able

Auto delete 3 days old data

Ticket

Customer name

Customer age

Payment method

Discount

Amount paid

Movie’s name

Theatre number

Date

Admin updates the system and solve problems

Staff handles the customers and input the customers details in the system

System processes the data and check for availabilities

Data is stored for 3 days

Ticket is issued for customer as a receipt