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Pace 406

The Key to Success with CASE Is

In this first
of six articles
on integrated
software engi-
neering, or I-
CASE, tools,
James Martin
discusses the
strategic impor-
tance of I-CASE
technologu.

Much has been
written about
what, is wrong
with data pro-
cessing today. There are backlogs of sev-
eral years. It takes too long to build sys-
tems and the cost is too high. The diffi-
culties of maintenance are outrageous.
Management can't get information from
computers when needed. Tape and disk
libraries are a mess of redundant, chaot-
ic data. Many programs are fragile spa-
ghetti code.

When management; needs to change
business procedures or introduce new
products and services, data processing
freguently cannot, make the reguired
modifications.

Today, computers are assuming more
important roles in business, government
and the military. We have entered the
age when computing and information

MARTIN

systems are strategic weapons, not back-

room overhead. The terms '"mission-criti-
cal" and "strategic systems" have be-
come popular.

There are many examples of corpora-
tions that have grown faster than their

competitors because they had better in-

formation systems. In some cases, corpo-
rations have been put, out of business by
competitors with better computing re-
sources. As computing becomes critical
to competitive thrusts, it is vital to both
develop and modify applications

-guickly.

Many of today's competitive business
thrusts reguire application software far
more integrated and complex than in
the past. It's necessary to build —in a
short time and without, excessive cost —
applications that are highly complex, of
high guality and that truly meet the
needs of end users. These applications

must, be easy and guick to modify and.

maintain.

It's important for executives to realize
that, there are solutions for software-de-
velopment, problems.

A sweeping revolution has begun in
the methodologies of putting computers
to work. This revolution depends on

power tools. The methodologies of the —

past, used pencils and templates; the
methodologies of the future use design
automation technigues linked to code
greneralora, along with computer-aided

It would 24 be ooasble (o buli lo.
day's cities or microchips or jet aircraft

without. power tools. Our civilization de-

pends on power tools; yet, the applica-
tion of computing power to corporate
systems is done by hand methods.
Design of the interlocking computer
applications of a modern enterprise is
no less complex than the design of a
a dei bv hand metno o o sk

the changes is a busin

PC WEEKNAPPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

APPLIED INTELLIGENCE

for trouble.
The use of power tools changes the
methods of construction. Now that, such

; tools exist, it's desirable that the entire

application-development process be re-
examined and improved. Advanced
power tools rise to the need for an
engineeringlike discipline.

From the business point of view, it is
vital that power tools change what can
be constructed.

To stay competitive in the future, cor-
porations will depend on being able to
create effective computer applications
guickly. In addition to the use of tools
for designing and building programs,

methodologies are needed to take advan-

tage of these tools and harness the

Key

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Anal Vsis ':. < ME
Workbench | zi si

| Workbench

modeling, computer-aided design linked
to code generation, documentation gen:

eration and project-management, aids.
I-CASE represents. one of the most im-

portant changes in the software-develop-
ment process to date. The technology
overcomes many of the limitations that
prevented the widespread acceptance of
fourth-generation language (4GL) tools.
A primary limitation of 4GL tools is
that they do not cover the entire life-cy-
cle process. In other words, they don't
adeguately support the analysis and de-
sign phases. In addition, 4GL tools do
not produce code that; runs as fast as
hand-generated code. For many applica-
tions, 4GLs do not provide adeguate
run-time performance.

Components of an
Integrated CASE Product

'— Code
Optimizer

paleo

: čaji h

Generator

Generator

V Documentation
| Generator

Project

Management
 Aids

David Harmum

In addition to the tools themselves,
CASE reguires a pe og to harness.
(ne z and en e of users.

knowledge and creativity of computer
users. Along with the revolution in pow-
er tools, we are likely to see a revolu-
tion in development, methodology.

These changes need to be understood
by management at every level. Making
ess-eritical success
factor. Top management; needs to ensure
that its information-systems organiza-
tion is adopting the new solutions as
guickly as possible, |.

The term CASE has become popular
for describing the new generation of
power tools. The term I-CASE is used to
describe a workbench environment inte-
grating tools for all aspects of the soft

| waredevelopmenit life cycle.

I-CASE tools overcome these limita-
tions by supporting all phases of the
life-cycle process and by generating
highly efficient code. Front-end compo-
nents of IIGASE tools provide the ability
to specify applications in diagram form,
using an integrated set of planning,
analysis and design tools.

As shown in the accompanying figure,
a tightly integrated back-end code gener-
ator produces program code that runs
efficiently.

Additional automated tools support
database and documentation generation
and project-management aids. /GASE
tools offer the best of both worlds—sup-
port; for the entire life-cycle process and
Sla run: name nca

JANUARY 9, 1989

Integratlon

The systems analyst interacts with a

CASE design Vor kbench tool by means

of diagrams. Diagrams are used to repre-

sent planning o danji an overview
of systems, data models and data flows,
detailed designs and program structures.
A principle of CASE is that, whenever
possible, diagrams are used as an aid to
clear thinking.

A critical characteristic of an ICASE
tool (as opposed to CASE) is that it gen-
erates executable programs. A code gen-
erator is driven by design information
stored in a central design repository.

The design information in the repository
is created via interaction with front-end
workbenches. The use of a common re-
pository ensures that the code is gener-
ated directly from information devel-
oped by the front-end design tool. The
tight integration of the planning, analy-
sis and design tools with a code genera-
tor gives much higher productivity than
the use of tools that are not closely
coupled.

Benefits of I-CASE Technology

I-CASE tools use automated tech-
nigues to reduce the cost and time to
develop and maintain programs. Due to
'the use of automated analysis tech-
nigues, program guality is substantially

improved. Potentially, ICASE' can accel-
erate development, drastically reduce
maintenance costs; simplify develop-
ment technigues; free developers to fo-
cus on the creative aspects of develop-
ment; facilitate end-user involvement;
improve software guality; and improve
software portability.

The use of I-CASE technology pro-
vides a wide range of additional bene-
fits. It enforces discipline; enforces
good structuring of data and code and
promotes rigor in design; catches most
design and coding errors; enables de-
sign modifications to be made guickly
and conseguences checked for validity;
automates documentation; creates
standards for diagrams, technigues
and documentation; accommodates an
encyclopedia, which is essential for
building a fully computerized organiza-
tion; and aids project management and
control.

Today, business, government and the
military need highly complex and inte-
grated computer applications. The size
and complexity of these applications are
too great for there to be any hope of ac-
curate diagramming without the aid of
a computer. The magnitude of the dia-
grammatic reguirements for information
engineering dictates that automated
tools be used.

Next, week, I'll look at the technigues
that are used to convert specifications
in 4 form directly into operation:
al code. H

The James M artin Productivity Series,
an information service updated guar-
terly, is available through High Pro-
ductivity Software Inc., of Marole-

head, Mass. (800) 242-1240. For infor-
mation on seminars, please contact
Technology Transfer Institute, 741

10th St., Santa Monica, Calif. 90402
(213) 394-8305. In z kej contact Sa-
vant, 2 New St., Carnf' PE)
 LA5 9BX United Kingdom (os? (0524) 734