International Diploma in Computer Studies
Systems Analysis and Design
The marks given in brackets are indicative of the weight given to each part of the question.
Answer ALL questions.
Time: TWO hours and 10 minutes reading time
Reference materials are NOT allowed.
Part – I (20 Marks)
1)
Which of the following can be defined as the series of steps followed in a regular,
specified order to accomplish one end result?
A) System
B) Process
C) Procedure
D) Operation
2)
Which of the following modeling tools is NOT used in System Analysis?
A) Object Diagram
B) Functional Diagram
C) Data Flow Diagram
D) Class Diagram
3)
Which design phase is referring to the creation of a blueprint of the system?
A) Logical Design B) Physical Design C) Conceptual Design D) Technical
Design
4)
Which of the following is NOT supported by Data Flow Diagram?
A) Analysis
B) Design
C) Documents
D) Implementation
5)
In E-R diagram, which of the following refers to a subject, a duty, or an event that has
a significant meaning to the future system?
A) Entity
B) Attribute
C) Relationship
D) Data Flow
6)
Which of the following referred as a measure of the strength of the connections
between components?
A) Modularity
B) Cohesion
C) Coupling
D) Granularity
7)
The ability of any objects to respond to the same message and of each object to
implement it appropriately is called ___________.
A) Inheritance
B) Polymorphism C) Encapsulation
D) Overriding
8)
Object oriented analysis and design can be viewed as __________ approaches.
A) Data-driven
B) Functional-driven C) System-driven
D) Object-driven
9)
Which of the following refers to a level-oriented design approach?
A) Top-Down
B) Bottom-Up
C) Unlevel
D) Two directional
10)
A process by which you identify and correct inherent problems and complexities in
your record designs is known as:
A) Abstraction
B) Normalization C) Encapsulation
D) Inheritance
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Part – II (80 Marks)
Question 1 (20 Marks)
a)
Define the term ‘system’.
Answer:
[4 Marks]
A system is a regular interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified
whole. It is also a set of procedures used to accomplish specific results.
b)
List the major phases of the system development life cycle.
[6 Marks]
Answer:
or
1. Initial Investigation
2. Feasibility Study
3. General Design
4. Detailed Design
5. Implementation
6. System Audit
1. System Planning
2. System Analysis
3. System Design
4. System Implementation
5. System Testing
6. System Maintenance
c)
What do you understand by structural system analysis?
Answer:
[4 Marks]
It is a modern approach to different analysis and design phases of the system
development process which is accepted because of its strong points over traditional
approaches. Structured system analysis is developed in a top-down order.
d)
How is system analysis related to system design process?
Answer:
[6 Marks]
It is two different activities but both are intertwined that no one exactly say when
analysis ends and design begins. The design of an appropriate IS requires analyst to
understand goals and objectives of management. In short analysis is the driving force of
a design phase. Wrong analysis means wrong design.
Question 2 (20 Marks)
a)
What is the main objective of the Feasibility Study?
Answer:
[4 Marks]
The objective of feasibility study is to analyze the viability of proposed project to a
software producing company and to the client. It produces a cost benefit report and a
project charter to be used as a guide during the analysis phase.
b)
List and briefly describe the four areas of feasibility.
Answer:
[6 Marks]
Technical Feasibility  it will find out whether current technical resources can be
upgraded or added in a manner that fulfills the request under consideration.
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Economic Feasibility  It will look on the total cost of doing full system study, cost of
business employee’s time, estimated cost of hardware and that of the software
development.
Operational Feasibility  It will be dependent on human resources available for the
project. It also involves projecting whether the system will operate and be used once it is
installed.
Scheduled Feasibility  It will study if the proposed schedule or developing and
installing the proposed system is realistic and reasonable in relation to business
requirements.
c)
What are the major issues that should be raised when the system designer design the
system process?
[4 Marks]
Answer:
Cost  Designer should choose the most economical solution
Efficiency Designer is concerned with the response time for computer systems.
d)
Distinguish between logical and physical design phase. What are the processes that
take place during both phases?
[6 Marks]
Answer:
Logical Design  It develops a design which is directed by an abstract machine and
operating environment. Some of the processes that take place are the following:
Developing preliminary design
Define man-machine and machine-machine boundaries on DFD
Transform ERA Model into Relational Model and other processes
Physical Design  It creates a blueprint of the system. Some of the processes are the
following:
Revise implementation estimates
Model Construction
Question 3 (20 Marks)
a)
Why is interface design important?
Answer:
[4 Marks]
It is important because the more intuitive the interface the easier it is to use and the
easier it is to use the cheaper it cost. The better the interface the easier it is to train
people to use it.
b)
What are the objectives for input design?
Answer:
[4 Marks]
The objective of the input design is to be able to properly structure and design the
system based on data capture, data input and data entry. Input design allows to
effectively creates input interfaces for user to interact with.
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c)
What do you understand by structured design technique?
Answer:
[4 Marks]
It is a data flow oriented design approach and one of the most popular methodologies of
software design. Basically it develops system using top-down stages. It has three
important rationales: composition and refinement of design, separation of issues into
abstraction and implementation, lastly evaluation of results.
d)
What is an abstraction in software design?
Answer:
[4 Marks]
Abstraction is a design approach that emphasizes essential external features and
behavior as well obscures details about internal structures and logic. It is a basic
concept in modern design and it design by hiding details of a module not needed by the
user.
‘A good system design will have strong cohesion and weak coupling’.
Justify the above statement.
Answer:
e)
[4 Marks]
It means that the system measure the program modules in terms of its cohesion and
coupling. But there are instances in which the system will have a weak connection of
the components but modules are in some point glued together. Each module performs a
single specific function and all its arguments are individual data elements resulting to a
strong cohesion but weak in coupling.
Question 4 (20 Marks)
a)
What are the main components of a data flow diagram? Illustrate your answer by
means of symbols.
[6 Marks]
Answer:
Process
Data
External/Entities
Data Store
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b)
Describe the purpose of the entity relationship diagram (ERD) in the structured
development strategy.
[4 Marks]
Answer:
ERD is one of the most useful models in structured development because it describes
stored data of a system at high level of abstraction. It highlights the data between data
stores o DFD which is only be seen in the specification process. The main objective of
ERD is to show the relationship among the entities that exist in a system.
c)
Explain how the following terms contribute to system development:
i) User Acceptance Testing
Answer:
It is the final stage in the testing process before the system is commissioned for
operational use. The system must go through this stage to ensure the full
implementation process of the system.
ii) System Maintenance
[2 x 5 Marks]
Answer:
It is the last stage of System Development and it basically looks on the modification of
the system, finding and fixing errors as well as system upgrades. All the implementation
of the assumption in the system goes through the maintenance phase.
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