Its hard to imagine life today without computers. Virtually any transaction that takes place today, whether it is on a personal level or for business, it is safe to say that computers are involved. However, in order for computers to work properly, there are several things that need to come together. One of them is software. In order to create software, they will need system analysis and design or (SAD). When someone says systems analysis and design, there are three things happening here as the words show. As far as systems are concerned, it is a collection of procedures put in place to do a specific activity.
This activity could be to do a simple math calculation or to find something on the internet. Systems analysis and design 6th edition put together are when a methodology gets applied in an existing system to either enhance the system or to create a new one. To give a simple example, let’s say there is a current software being used to calculate tax on sold items. At some point, this system will become obsolete or it will need to be changed for new tax rates. In this example system analysis means the present tax calculation method, and whatever the future changes or requirements will be.
Also, in this simple example, design would refer to whatever solution is used to deal with any change. In other words, it is about finding out how a given input will affect the output. After all, that is what most software is designed to do. To take in an input, then do some sort of calculation and then display an output. Therefore, Systems analysis and design involve all of these processes put together. Hence, in the context of software development, it is imperative to have all three aspects done well.
The 6th edition of SAD is a mix of the old and the new. It still offers users the older editions hands-on approach but also emphasizing the basic skills any decent analyzer will need to have. Authored by award winning professors Alan Dennis, Roberta Roth and Barbara Wixom, they have put together this book based on their experiences while working in the field. The best part of this book is that it is not put together in an abstract way, that is difficult to understand. It is written in a way that is easy and straight forward to understand.
A lot has to be said for technical books written by people who actually have a lot of experience in the real world. The three of them do an amazing job of filtering out useless theory that rarely gets used at the work place. They have identified problem areas and even include short cuts to help the user save a lot of time and headache. This edition of SAD provides users with a more structured way to deal with SAD, but at the same time not forgetting to put in object-oriented methods, whenever appropriate.