OOAD - Object Oriented System

We know that the Object-Oriented Modelling (OOM) technique visualizes things in an application by using models organized around objects. Any software development approach goes through the following stages −

• Analysis,
• Design, and
• Implementation.

In object-oriented software engineering, the software developer identifies and organizes the application in terms of object-oriented concepts, prior to their final representation in any specific programming language or software tools.

Phases in Object-Oriented Software Development

The major phases of software development using object–oriented methodology are object-oriented analysis, object-oriented design, and object-oriented implementation.

Object–Oriented Analysis

In this stage, the problem is formulated, user requirements are identified, and then a model is built based upon real–world objects. The analysis produces models on how the desired system should function and how it must be developed. The models do not include any implementation details so that it can be understood and examined by any non–technical application expert.

Object–Oriented Design

Object-oriented design includes two main stages, namely, system design and object design.

System Design

In this stage, the complete architecture of the desired system is designed. The system is conceived as a set of interacting subsystems that in turn is composed of a hierarchy of interacting objects, grouped into classes. System design is done according to both the system analysis model and the proposed system architecture. Here, the emphasis is on the objects comprising the system rather than the processes in the system.

Object Design

In this phase, a design model is developed based on both the models developed in the system analysis phase and the architecture designed in the system design phase. All the classes required are identified. The designer decides whether −

• new classes are to be created from scratch,
• any existing classes can be used in their original form, or
• new classes should be inherited from the existing classes.

The associations between the identified classes are established and the hierarchies of classes are identified. Besides, the developer designs the internal details of the classes and their associations, i.e., the data structure for each attribute and the algorithms for the operations.

Object–Oriented Implementation and Testing

In this stage, the design model developed in the object design is translated into code in an appropriate programming language or software tool. The databases are created and the specific hardware requirements are ascertained. Once the code is in shape, it is tested using specialized techniques to identify and remove the errors in the code.