Use Case Modeling

Developers who effectively employ use cases deliver better applications - on time and under budget. The concept behind use cases is perhaps as old as software itself; they express the behavior of systems in terms of how users will ultimately interact with them. Despite this inherent simplicity, the use case approach is frequently misapplied, resulting in functional requirements that are confusing, cumbersome, or redundant. In Use Case Modeling, experienced use case practitioners Kurt Bittner and Ian Spence share their tips and tricks for applying use cases in various environments. They delve into al aspects of use case modeling and management, demonstrating how development teams can capitalize on the approach's simplicity when modeling complex systems. In this ready reference, readers will discover how to: Introduce a development team to use cases and implement a use case approach; Identify the key elements of a use case model, including actors; and the components of a use case, including basic flow, preconditions, post-conditions, sub-flows, and alternate flows; Master the objectives and challenges of creating detailed descriptions of use cases; Improve their descriptions' readability and consistency; Prevent and remedy common problems arising from the misuse of include, extend, and generalization use case relationships; Organize and conduct a review of a use case model to realize the best possible approach. The book draws extensively on best practices developed at Rational Software Corporation, and presents real-life examples to illustrate the considerable power of use case modeling. As such, Use Case Modeling is sure to give development teams the tools they need to translate vision and creativity into systems that satisfy the most rigorous user demands.