Discussion Questions for Fowler, Chapter 9-10
Use Cases
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Fowler states that the UML only defines use case diagrams, but not the text
that they contain. He spends most of chapter nine, however, giving
guidelines for writing text. Are these just his opinions, or are they
likely to be added to the UML in the future. (John)
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Can you please explain the different levels of use cases? (Monica)
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Why does Fowler say on Page 104, that most of our cases should be at
sea-level?(Gaurav)
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Fowler states on pg. 103 that a common problem with use cases is one can
neglect situations in which a change to a process may be the best way to
deal with a problem. What is an example of this? Should one use the use
case text if the main success scenario is extremely long and detailed (like
playing a video game that a user can spend several hours going through
different options and scenerios)? (Mike C)
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It seems like the number of use cases would grow exponentially. How do we
handle use cases for a system with more than just a few options? (Andy)
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Fowler says that we shouldn't try to break down use cases into sub-use
cases and subsub-use cases?. But isn't this what happens when a use cases
'includes' another use case? (Jonathan)
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What advantages over a pure text document does the UML representation of
use cases have? (Andy)
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What does it mean for one use case to include another? (Mike L.)
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UML it seems has a very clear cut way of doing most things, why do they
even include use cases in UML if they don't clearly define how they should
be done correctly? seems kinda wishy washy... (Dave V)
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What are all the uses of the use cases and why have they not been fully
develloped? (... "there's been little standardization on their use."
Fowler,105) (Dimitar)
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Can you do an example of a Case Diagram? (David D)
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Use case diagrams seem like they would be useful in non-computer science
areas. For example, to design those charts tech-support uses. Has UML made
broken into these markets at all? (Elijah)
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I'm unclear on what the author means by "features" and how they differ from
use cases. He says they have different purposes. What is the purpose of
using features instead of use cases? (Lorelei)
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Earlier, we learned about UML as a programming language. We could automate
parts of a UML model and turn the parts into executable code. Could the
same be done for a use case diagram? (Alex)
State Machine Diagrams
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Can you do an example of a State Diagram and include all the different
states? (David D)
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Are states just a term used to help explain a system, or is each state
represented by on object? (Jonathan)
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The state pattern diagram on page 114 doesn't list the actions taking
during each state transition. Is this information just being supressed? If
so, how is it normally displayed on a state pattern diagram? (Lorelei)
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It seems that a major limit of the state machine diagram is that it cannot
easily show situations in which there are multiple "if" statements
(guards). Is there no way to do this and yet still make it readable,
perhaps by 'collapsing' part of the diagram? (Elijah)
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Are there any differences in terms of being more advantageous between the
three different ways a state diagram is implemented? (Gaurav)
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Could you explain the orthogonal state diagrams and how they might relate
to our projects? (Mike L.)
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If we what a system that would potentially runs with out interruption,
should we avoid "final state"? (Chayapan)
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Could you talk more about do-activities and regular activities with using
multi-thread? (Sheng)
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can you please explain further how to implement state diagrams? (monica)
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On page 109, the author talks a little about entry activity and exit
activity. What does he mean by entry activity executed? (Saugar)
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I don't understand the term "history pseudostate" in the textbook, Could
someone explain to me? (Sheng)
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Can the initial pseudostate have a labeled transition (maybe to say that
the state machine can?t start up under certain circumstances, or it always
performs some action upon initialization)? (John)
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Why does the "transitions" seem to be laying around every where in the
diagram? Is there a better framework to ddescribe transitions in a more
orderly fashion? (Chayapan)
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Are their any situations or advantages for using the nested switch
implementation of a state diagram over a state pattern or state table? How
would code generated for a state table differ from that of the state
pattern implementation? (Mike C)
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When talking about state machine diagrams the author advises us not to use
it for every class. How do we know that the state diagram is best suited
for a particular class? (Saugar)
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Can exit and entry functions in an internal activity be gaurded the same
way that standard actions are gaurded in a state machine diagram? (Eric)
Relationships with Other UML Elements
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Are the use cases unique, or can they be substituted by other UML elements?
(Dimitar)
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In what kinds of situations would it be beneficial to combine state
diagrams with other UML techniques? (Alex)
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how do the state machine diagrams relate (in the classic sense of UML) to
class diagrams? are the supplementary, or replacements? (Dave V)
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How are the standards for the content of UML case diagrams set, or do they
even exist? (Eric)
This document is available on the World Wide Web as
http://www.cs.grinnell.edu/~walker/courses/223.sp05/readings/fowler-.shtml
