| Author | Message | |||
     Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 110 Registered: 10-2002  |
I'm posting this question here instead of in HELP cuz I dont think anyone who reads help is likely to be able to help me. I'm posting this note here cuz I think you guys, geeks as it were, might have a clue as to what I need info about. Of course I can just go out to the internet and search til I'm blue in the face, but I'm hoping to hear from a few knowledgable people who might be willing to go back and forth on this subject with me and make me conversant in a short time and very informally. So heres the question: Who knows about RUP and what can you tell me about it? I will of course respond with questions that I hope will facilitate discourse. Thanks for listening, Curt | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 930 Registered: 7-2003 |
Wow, that’s a little more difficult of a topic them “Finding a tile guy”. I’ve used the Rational process quite extensively for two years while managing projects overseas. It significantly reduces the time for development and gives coders a very exacting specification to follow therefore reducing the amount of “Back and forth” when the project is delivered. Unfortunately the design process is long and requires tons of review and adjustment. Conveniently the Use Cases can easily be converted to Test Cases for the QA team. We use Rational Rose for design and send our developers to Rational University. | |||
| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 112 Registered: 10-2002 |
Brett, Thanks for responding! I had my doubts if I was going find anyone who uses RUP. So whats: Rational Rose and where is Rational U? Curt | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 931 Registered: 7-2003 |
To really explain I have to start at the beginning. I’m not sure where your at with RUP (I call it UML Unified Modeling language) so I may not explain it well. When we start developing a system we start by creating a model. So in this case let’s say I’m going to write a program that will log a user into the system. So the Model would say we need a login screen, a business class to encrypt the password so it isn’t in plain type in the database, and finally check to see if the password matches the database. With the model done we need to write a “Use Case” . This is a very detailed outline of the steps we want to take. 1) User enters user name 2) System sets focus to password field on Tab or Enter 3) System checks CAPS LOCK and informs user if true 4) User enters password 5) ……… Now we take the Use Case and create a Diagram using Rational Rose. The diagram is a modified flow chart. It reads left to right and then down, and is broken down to the smallest steps. So for this example we will list three classes across the top of the screen. LoginUI EncryptBS CheckdataDS The fist method we write under LoginUI is submit. An arrow from submit goes right to a method in EncryptBS called Encrypt. On this line we write the arguments that we’re passing and the return type (Username, password, return boolen). We define the method body of Encrypt – Add 1 to all numbers and subtract 1 from each letter – (pretty simple encryption) Now we draw a line to Checkdata called checkpassword with the arguments and return type. Chechdata has three methods connect, read, compare. These are connected by horizontal lines. And we define these methods Connect – make connection to oracle – Read – select Password from usertable where id = Compare – if password = LNK (MOL after encryption) then return true Rational Rose helps me to write this chart. It also prints out the methods and signatures so that I can hand three developers 1 class each that I need written. The developers know the names, arguments, and return types so they don’t need to wait for a piece to be developed before they start. We hire a guy to come to the office and teach Rational U and we have also sent people to classes in the city. Check out http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/developer/modeler/ I think they have a few tutorials. I have a book also if you would like to check it out. | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 932 Registered: 7-2003 |
Just wanted to add….. If you’re interested in UML because you think you may be on the receiving end (i.e. getting a model from a client to write the code) you can learn enough in 30 minutes to do the job. If you plan on developing a project in UML you’re in for a large investment in time. | |||
| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 113 Registered: 10-2002 |
Thanks again Brett, this is good. Let me tell you why I need an understanding of RUP. I may soon be interviewing for a job as a U/I designer... I've been designing user interfaces since 1985 when I started developing video games with two programmers so I know how to do the task and I know what to look out for and all that. But, as Information Architecture has become a science one needs a psychology degree to be considered expert, so I see RUP and other methodologies coming into play in the business world. I've been designing web sites for eight years, I've seen a lot, but I've never done anything like Amazon.com. My company was one of the first in my area (Delaware) however to build an ecommerce site from scratch and we even tied it into the customers inventory database. So I did all the U/I for this project and many others and managed many many others, yet you ask me to list RUP qualified on my resume' and I go, "DUH!" From what I'm seeing so far RUP is more like what web developers do anyway. That is, as opposed to programmers from the old school. I'm babbling... Do you see where I'm coming from? Curt | |||
| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 114 Registered: 10-2002 |
Oh yeah I forgot... What when and where does the U/I designer come into play in RUP? Will he mostly be storyboarding use cases? Curt | |||
| Dave Citizen Username: Dave Post Number: 6812 Registered: 4-1998  |
Not easy to get programmers to talk about GUIs. That's why they should hire you. You should probably focus less on RUP and more on usability in general if that's what they want. You will be expected to know about this guy. I consider him a bit of a self absorbed looney but what do I know... (don't mention that in the interview, btw, unless they say it first). Here's a good resource on GUIs: http://www.uiweb.com/ And another: http://www.usabilis.com/gb/links.htm And this will be vital to know: http://www-306.ibm.com/ibm/easy/eou_ext.nsf/publish/558 Good luck! | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 934 Registered: 7-2003 |
That’s a good question. The short answer is none or allot. I agree with Dave that usability is one of the main things to focus on, and most of the UI part of the Use Case is cut and pasted from other use cases. For instance 2) System sets focus to password field on Tab or Enter Would be standard in all applications, just change password to something else. On the other hand if you’re going to be using Jakarta Struts, and JSPs. The UI designer is in charge of the “Form” and “Action” classes and will have to be the final review on all diagrams. I’ve never had someone list UML on their resume but it would turn my head if I did see it. Do you know what language you would be developing in? | |||
| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 115 Registered: 10-2002 |
Dave, I have Nielsens book "Designing Web Usability" copyright 2000. I agree with you. I'm more a Steve Krug myself. When I first read Krugs book though, I said to myself, "I could have written this". Brett, Dont know what language...but I'll poke around and see if I can get a clue to that. Curt | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 936 Registered: 7-2003 |
The reason I ask about the language that you will be using is because it may give insight into where you should spend you time, for instance if the company is a java house a good grasp of “Tag Libraries” would be a huge boost to your resume. On the other hand .NET would have you concentrating on how the GUI can aid the system with database access (I know that seems weird but how and when you ask for info is a big speed issue). You would also need to pick a path for the page design, Cascading Style Sheets or Templates. And finally it would indicate how heavily you may rely on XML. Or we could keep this thread where it started on UML. I would suggest using that term because it’s more generic and doesn’t limit you to the Rational suite of development tools. | |||
| Dave Citizen Username: Dave Post Number: 6816 Registered: 4-1998 |
Here's a sample visual of the process and where UI fits in.
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| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 116 Registered: 10-2002 |
Check this out
testing pdfs on MOL | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 938 Registered: 7-2003 |
Curt, Close, usersname, password, return boolean should be written over the line that points to Encrypt. Connect Read and Compare should be separate boxes listed horizontally down the page from CheckPasswd. Dave, yours appear to be a project plan not UML. | |||
| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 117 Registered: 10-2002 |
Like this?
This is some fun... keep it coming Brett! | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 939 Registered: 7-2003 |
I used the word “Close” meaning “Were getting Close” so take that out. Now put the exact same arguments over the next arrow, because we want to pass all of that stuff to CheckdataDS. All the data has now been passed to CheckdataDS so we want to list the arguments that each method should use. Connect will have none, but return a Connection. Read will take in a connection and ID and return a password. Compare will take in a password and an encryptedPassword and return a Boolean. You can write this stuff right in the boxes under the method name. | |||
| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 118 Registered: 10-2002 |
Doooo! Close... I thought you meant like, "Close the window" ... okay I'll fix. Can you give me an explanation of "method"? Is this like JavaScript where you have a function and a method or is this something else? Curt | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 940 Registered: 7-2003 |
A java class is made up of a Constructor and Methods. The constructor holds all of the Global variables that the class will use. Each method is a different set of instructions. {import sun.net.smtp.SmtpClient; import java.io.*; import com.core.bean.FormData; public class errorMailer { CONSTRUCTOR public errorMailer() { String from="cwayne@cwayne.com"; String to="cwayne@cwayne.com"; } METHOD public void sendMail(FormData formData) { try{ SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient("POP3Server"); client.from(from); client.to(to); PrintStream message = client.startMessage(); message.println("To: " + to); message.println("Subject: Methods"); message.println("Email for you concerning Methods"); message.println("Over and out"); client.closeServer(); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } String from; String to; } To call this class and method we would type errorMailer eMail = new errorMailer(); email.sendMail(); In effect it’s the same as a JavaScript function. | |||
| Curt Wayne Citizen Username: Cswayne Post Number: 119 Registered: 10-2002 |
I see (he said in an HTML hacker sort of way). No really ... that makes sense to me when I study it hard enuff. So, when they refer to a class in RUP they're speaking of a Java Class, is that right? ... or is this dependent on programming language? and 2. Whats up with the "UI" "BS" "DS" suffixes on the method names above the boxes? Curt | |||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 941 Registered: 7-2003 |
I use class because we write in java, I need to look into the terminology for ASP and .NET. When we design a system we use a three tiered architecture. Well we did until J2EE caught on, and that’s a little heavy to start on. So I used an older method that’s easy to convert to J2EE. UI – User Interface level – This section of the system should be as quick and light as possible. We don’t want to bog this down with any unnecessary code. It could be a GUI in a browser, RF gun, mobile phone, or a phone system. BS – Business Server – This is where all the real work is done. Conversions, math, data crunching. DS – Data Server – This section reads, updates, inserts, and deletes your data. So if we were to design a system like this and I wanted to convert it to J2EE the DS layer becomes the Beans. BS becomes sessions. And the UI becomes the JSPs. |
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