Southern Cross University CMP73010 Assignment 1: Software Development

This report, submitted as part of the CMP73010 Managing Software Development course at Southern Cross University, analyzes various aspects of software development. It begins with an examination of assignment submission systems, including file format checks, time and date tracking, word count calculations, and draft submission functionalities. The report then delves into black-box testing, using the print dialog box as an example, and explores the nightly build system, a software development approach enabling continuous integration and testing. Furthermore, the report includes a request for proposal (RFP) from Gold Technology, a company seeking solutions for customer relations, marketing, stock management, and report creation systems. The RFP outlines the company's requirements, evaluation criteria, and deadlines for potential vendors. The report also includes references to relevant academic sources.

SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY
ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET
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of your assignment – do not send it as a separate document.
Your assignments MUST be submitted as either Word documents, text documents with .rtf
extension or as .pdf documents.
Student Name:
Student ID No.:
Unit Name:
Unit Code:
Tutor’s name:
Assignment No.: Assignment 1
Assignment Title:
Due date:
Date submitted:
Declaration:
I have read and understand the Rules Relating to Awards (Rule 3 Section 18 –
Academic Misconduct Including Plagiarism) as contained in the SCU Policy
Library. I understand the penalties that apply for plagiarism and agree to be bound
by these rules. The work I am submitting electronically is entirely my own work.
Signed:
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your name)
Date:
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Assignment Submission System Acceptance Test
The acceptance test described in this section is best utilized for online assignments
submission. In order to consider a particular assignment as having been completed, particular
information needs to be checked to ascertain acceptance or rejection (Tayntor 2007; Koelsch
2016). The following features describe the student submission system’s capabilities.
i. Checking the formats of the submitted files: The system should check the extension
of each file to verify whether it matches any of the acceptable extension formats
(Lockwood 2013; Reggie and Joseph 2005). For example, in a situation where only
Microsoft word files are acceptable, only files with a .doc or .docx extensions will
pass the submission test and may be uploaded (Miller and Bryce 2016).
ii. Tracking submission time and date: Assignment submissions are characterized with
deadlines. Therefore, any submission system should log all uploads by their
respective time stamps (Beazley 2009; Donahoo and Speegle 2010). Documents
uploaded after the deadline should be rejected automatically or categorized as late
submissions.
iii. Provide word count calculations: A student may submit a blank document
intentionally or by mistake. A good assignment submission system should check and
validate the number of words contained in every word document or text file (Schafer
2007). It may check the word count against an acceptable threshold and reject
automatically or mark the submission as an incomplete assignment (Dayley 2014).
iv. The system should also allow for draft submissions. A document or upload may either
be saved as a draft automatically upon two criteria:
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a. A document submitted before the deadline may be saved as a draft to be edited
later, which may be confirmed automatically upon the deadline.
b. A document that is incomplete and has been submitted as a partial file may be
saved as a draft, but demand a manual confirmation of completion.
v. Submission receipt confirmation: An assignment submission system should be able to
produce a summary report of the document assessment. The submitter should receive
a confirmation report that the document has been verified and submitted successfully.
Detailed Black-Box Test Plan
Unlike the submission system described above, a black-box test assumes that the user
understands the requirements of the system and that the system has been configured to produce
the desirable results (Austin 2013). The print dialog box is an example of a black-box system.
The print function contains various validation buttons. The various buttons validate
documents that are due for printing.
Print button: The print button checks whether the document has been selected. It also
checks the hardware necessary to perform the printing function. It has functions such as ‘print to
file’ and ‘send to pdf’ if the printer hardware is unavailable. It responds to a dynamic user input
labelled ‘copies’, which describes the number of copies the printer should produce, if the
hardware is available.
The Printer dropdown list is used to select the method of output, whether pdf or
hardcopy. The output may be organized according to the settings shown at the bottom of the
dialog box.
Nightly Build System
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The Nightly build system is an approach to software development that allows
programmers to push the latest versions of the software to the market while allowing continuous
development on a daily basis (Maraia 2006). It enables continuous testing and integration of
software to ensure that the dependencies are matched correctly and that the bugs and glitches are
eliminated within the shortest time. Companies that have adopted this method of software
integration are characterized by a large number of employees who work on the same piece of
software or project. In such a scenario, minor bugs could cost the company significant amounts
of money in breaches or loss of customers through bad experience. Through nightly builds, a
company compiles, links, and tests the latest version so that each developer understands the role
of his or her code and the contribution to success or failure so that such issues can either be
accepted or rectified respectively (Wingerd, 2005). The software development methodology has
evolved significantly over the years to become one of the most efficient.
Also referred to as the ‘smoke test’, the nightly builds system includes various tests that
enable developers to determine whether the system is not only safe for release but also worthy
enough to warrant progress. Once the tests are passed, the code base is updated and may be
released periodically to the market in updates.
Despite the refinement of the nightly builds system, more efficient collaborative
approaches and platforms have been developed in the recent past. For instance, continuous
integration , which allows for instantaneous code review and integration. The software
monitoring is performed automatically and may be reviewed by a project initiator or manager for
merging or release. The latter method is more efficient compared to the nightly builds system
because it enables code review of only the changes, which takes a shorter time and are easier to
evaluate. Examples of tools that are used in modern software development include Maven and
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Ant. Tests may be performed as many times as may be desired by independent experts at the
same time while reintegrating their changes to the main code base.
Version control systems such as Git are supported on various commercial and freemium
platforms such as Github, Bitbucket, and AWS codeCommit. They have opened up the efficient
software development tools to enable continuous scaling and integration to small and medium
enterprises that may not have the resources to build private version control systems. Their
continued and increasing usage across the world have ensured that version control and
collaborative software development become the industry standard approach to making software
products. The system saves the company a significant amount of time that would have been
wasted in reiteration of research and reimplementation of software solutions. Such time is
allocated in developing new ideas that are relevant to the niche market.
The nightly build system is used predominantly by Microsoft. After compiling and
testing several versions of a software, the most stable one that has passes the highest security test
with a high efficiency rate is released to the public.
Request for Proposal
Date of Issue: August 18, 2019
Introduction
Gold technology is a small company that has served residents of this beloved city for the
last five years. The company has received accolades from various partnering companies that
range from manufacturing to service provision in technology. It has partnered with schools,
industries, and local government institutions to provide information technology hardware devices
as well as their maintenance. The ambitious teams across all tiers of the company work hard to
ensure that every customer feels important and part of the firm. The management of the company
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has decided to scale up operations by opening a series of branches in order to reach more
customers. In this process, we need to partner with equally ambitious firms that offer excellent
solutions.
Requirements
Gold Technology requires the following:
Item Description Criteria for selection
Customer
Relations Database
The database will store all information
pertaining to the company’s products
and transactions. Data to be stored
includes customer contact details,
purchase history, problems encountered,
and work details
The company intends to
support small technology
startups. This tender will be
awarded to entities that can
be legally categorized as
small companies. The
proposal should include the
total budget along with its
breakdown. The company
with the best portfolio will be
selected.
Marketing System The marketing system will allow the
company to expand its customer base
through the social media outreach,
email, and other modern communication
platforms. It will be integrated with the
Customer Relations Database.
Companies with long-term
success in marketing are
welcome to apply. The
portfolio alongside the least
cost are the crucial
determinants in this category.
Stock
Management
System
This system will contain all information
regarding sales, inventories, repair
expenses, vendors, and other business
partners.
A technology company that
has had long-term experience
dealing with logistical
operations and supply chain
management are welcome to
apply. The winner of the bid
will be one that offers the
most optimal solution at a
reasonable price.
Reports creation
system
This system will enable instantaneous
and periodical creation of reports to
enable better business decision making.
Particular stakeholders will receive
periodic reports while others will be
allowed full rights to the system.
Any bespoke or existing
software system that may be
configured to generate
meaningful reports may be
presented for adoption in a
proposal for this category.
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Companies fitting the described profiles in the above table are welcome to apply. The
tender application fee is $100 (Non-refundable). Small companies with less than 2 years of
operation and applying for the first category will be exempted from the application fee
requirement. Every company should include the possible technical specifications within the
proposal, which will be vetted by the tender committee.
Deadline: 30th August, 2019 at 11:00 am GMT
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References
Austin, R. D., 2013. Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations. s.l.:Addison-
Wesley.
Beazley, D., 2009. Python Essential Reference: Python Essentia Referenc _4. s.l.:Addison-
Wesley Professional.
Dayley, B., 2014. Node.js, MongoDB and AngularJS Web Development. s.l.:Addison-Wesley.
Donahoo, M. J. & Speegle, G. D., 2010. SQL: Practical Guide for Developers. s.l.:Elsevier.
Koelsch, G., 2016. Requirements Writing for System Engineering. s.l.:Apress.
Lockwood, F., 2013. Open and Distance Learning Today. s.l.:Routledge.
Maraia, V., 2006. The Build Master: Microsoft'S Software Configuration Management Best
Practices. s.l.:Pearson Education India.
Miller, P. & Bryce, C., 2016. Learning Python for Forensics. s.l.:Packt Publishing Ltd.
Reggie, K. & Joseph, F., 2005. Web-based Learning: Technology And Pedagogy - Proceedings
Of The 4th International Conference. s.l.:World Scientific.
Schafer, S. M., 2007. Web Standards Programmer's Reference: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl,
Python, and PHP. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons.
Tayntor, C. B., 2007. Six Sigma Software Development. s.l.:CRC Press.
Wingerd, L., 2005. Practical Perforce. s.l.:O'Reilly Media, Inc.
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