Project 1 -- Meows and Mutts : Frequently Asked Questions

1) How do I get started at my project?

For any piece of software this is the sequence of steps that are followed:

Problem Analysis

The project description given to you describes a problem that you are supposed to solve. So in the problem analysis phase, you should study the problem carefully and figure out what all needs to be done to solve the problem. So the analysis will tell you what you need to do to solve the problem. One helpful technique is to break up a big problem into smaller ones and analyse each of the smaller problems. In short analysis tells you what needs to be done.

Design

Design provides a mapping from the problem domain to the implementation domain. So in the design phase you should figure out how to implement the solution you arrived at after the analysis phase. This is where you choose your data structures and algorithms. This is where you decide the roles and responsibilities of your classes and how they interact. So in summary, the design phase answers the following question : "How do I implement the solution"?

Implementation

Here you actually create your programs using your design. and the programming language of your choice.

2) Should I use any coding conventions?

There is no strict requirement that you should use one. But it makes the code readable and easier to understand. Whatever convention you decide to use , be consistent in its use throughout your program. Here is one suggestion:

All class names begin with an upper-case letter.
All functions begin with a lower-case letter. This includes class member functions, except constructors.
Multiword names use an underscore between words. Uppercase is used only for the first word of a class name.

3) Should I use any specific notation to depict my design ?

Typically you will be using the following two relationships in your design

"IS A" relationship (inheritance)
"HAS A" relationship (containment)

Notation to depict inheritance

class Base <-------- class Derived

If more than one classes are derived from the same base class, show it as follows:

             class Base <---------   class Derived1
                                                                    class Derived2
                                                                    class Derived3

        If one class is derived from more than one base class i.e muiltiple inheritance, show it as follows:

               class Base 1 <------------ class Derived
               class Base 2
               class Base 3

Notation to depict containment

        Eg: class Cage contains an object of class Animal as a data member ( Containment by Value )

            class Cage [ class Animal ]

       If class Cage contains a pointer to object of class Schedule , then show it as follows:
     ( Containment by Reference )

class Cage [ class Schedule* ]

You can combine the above two examples as:

class Cage [ class Animal, class Schedule* ]

Note 1: Don't go below one level of nesting. Eg: if class Animal has some other objects as data
members, show them in a different sketch.

Note 2 : You can combine the notations till the whole thing is readable.
Eg: the following is fine

class CObject <--------class Cage[class Animal, class Schedule*]

SGI Webpage is a good reference site for STL.