ERD, Flowcharts and Other Documentation

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foolab.ca | @foolabca ERD, Flowcharts and Other Documentation php[tek], St. Louis - May 25, 2016

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What It’s Not About • Not a full analysis and design course. • Not a demo of modelling tools. • Not a detailed explanation of symbology. 2

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What It Is About • Which diagrams serve what purpose. • Tie diagrams together. • Real world examples. 3

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Anna Filina • Developer • Problem solver • Teacher • Advisor • FooLab + ConFoo 4

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Why No Diagrams? • Don't know where to begin. • It's boring. • Get out of date. • Nobody reads them. • There’s no point. • Lean and mean. 6

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Not Always Boring 7

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The Real Problem • Don't understand diagrams. • Diagrams serve no purpose, not helpful. • Mistake diagrams for waterfall model. • Inadequate tools. 8

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Conference Management Software

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Use Case 10

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ER Diagram 11 0 or more (many) 1

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ER Diagram 12 Non-identifying Identifying

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ER Diagram 13

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Data Flow Diagram 14 External entity

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Data Flow Diagram 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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Data Flow Diagram 16

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Common Mistakes • Data not stored. • Black hole. • Grey hole. • Spontaneous generation. 17

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Flowchart 18 Input Output

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Mockups 19

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Mockups 20

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Function Reference • Session ◦ bool isSelected() ◦ void mailConﬁrmation(), check logs ◦ bool saveVote($user, $vote) • Automate tests of input/output. 21

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Source Comments • // Simple and short explanations. • /**  * Document the "why" more than the "what".  */ • Comment when it’s fresh. • Big functions with lots of comments = split function. • Better naming > comments. 22

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Putting it All Together A.K.A. “The Manual”

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Manual • Deﬁne chapters. Example: 1.Scope (Use Cases) 2.Database (ERD) 3.Processes (DFD + Flowchart) 4.Mockups (later screenshots) 5.Classes + usage 24

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Manual • Write topics in bullet point. • Add diagrams. • Write paragraph under each bullet. • Move topics and chapters around. • Fill in with details. 25

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How Much to Write?

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Application Complexity 27 More docs Less docs Grandma’s recipes  vs  Facebook

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Security Requirements 28 More docs Less docs Grandma’s recipes  vs  IAFIS ﬁngerprints

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Financial Impact 29 More docs Less docs Grandma’s recipes  vs  Forex currency trading

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Team Size 30 More docs Less docs Yourself  vs  20 devs

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Team Proximity 31 More docs Less docs Same ofﬁce  vs  Remote

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Good Documentation • Makes your software easier to build and maintain. • Makes your team more effective. • Discover new features before implementation. 32

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FooLab Mind Maps

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Takeaways • Systems Analysis and Design and/or UML book. • Get professional software, like Astah. • Diagrams are part of the process, not extra work. • Good diagrams increase dev speed and software quality. 34

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Anna Filina • Development. • Fix bugs & performance issues. • Workshops on testing, frameworks & APIs. • Advisor on testing strategy, legacy code. 35

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@aﬁlina aﬁlina.com joind.in