Problem Frames: Analysing & Structuring Software Development Problems (ACM Press) - Softcover

Jackson, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 020159627X ISBN 13: 9780201596274

Publisher: AddisonWesley Professional, 2000

Synopsis

This book is about Problem Frames a concept developed by Michael Jackson. It is a practical book which demonstrates how to classify problems that occur during the development of software and how to recognise the correct solution to each problem

About this title

About the Author

  Michael Jackson has worked in software for over thirty years, during which time he has been involved in all aspects of program and system development. In 1971 he started his own company offering courses, project support and tools for software developers. He now works as an independent consultant in London, and works part time in software development at AT&T Research in New Jersey. He played the leading role in developing the JSP and JSD methods of program and system develpment.

From the Back Cover

“Understanding and using problem frames will likely become an essential skill of all good software system designers. Jackson's book provides a beautifully crafted pathway into this world.”

―David Garlan, Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University

“In 'Problem Frames' I believe that Michael Jackson has taken the mysticism that surrounds design patterns and constructed a much more accessible technique utilizing a frame metaphor.”
―Warren Keuffel, Senior Contributing Editor, Software Development Magazine

It is tempting when approaching a software development problem to rush headlong into the trap of thinking too soon about the solution. Software development problems are about the world outside the computer ― the real environment in which the system must have its effect ― and demand consideration of the surrounding characteristics, relationships and context. Problem frames are a tool for classifying, analyzing and structuring such software development problems. Whereas object oriented patterns are primarily concerned with solutions, problem frames focus on the problem itself, enabling you to understand and address it clearly and directly.

This book is a must-have for all IT professionals facing software development problems on a daily basis. If you are a systems analyst or requirements engineer it will provide an essential, practical guide from the task of identifying the problem to making the descriptions needed to resolve it.

It will help you:

• decompose complex problems into simpler sub-problems and see how the subproblems fit together
  
• build up a repertoire of simple, clear and easily applicable problem classes which you can access and reuse, drawing on the experience associated with each class

Edition details

• Publisher: AddisonWesley Professional
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 020159627X
• ISBN 13: 9780201596274
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 412