Unit 22 Application Development (Y/618/7436) Assignment Brief 2026

Unit 22 Application Development Assignment Brief

Introduction

Application development is a process of planning, creating, testing, and deploying an information system. Often applications are developed to automate a process, build a product to address business need or to get ahead of the competition by being innovative. Professionalism and critical thinking supported by an ability to work independently and as part of a team are core skills for a developer.

This unit introduces students to application development. It is designed to simulate the roles and responsibilities of a commercial developer working in a suitable business environment, with access to a small team of colleagues. Initially, students are introduced to a business-related problem and will need to adopt and use appropriate methods and practices to analyse, break down and discuss the issues – then decide, design, create and test a possible solution. Students should be free to debate, evaluate and select different design and development methodologies, depending on their own judgement and consideration.

Among the topics included in this unit are design and developer documentation; problem analysis; research, system and user requirements; design methodologies and principles; security considerations; development methodologies; software development lifecycles; teamwork, peer reviews, development tools and techniques; integrated development environments; debugging, testing, software versions and quality assurance.

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to produce a software design document by analysing a business-related problem and deduce an appropriate solution, including a set of initial requirements. They will be able to select and use design and development methodologies, with tools and techniques associated with the creation of a business application. They will also be able to work individually and as part of a team to plan, prepare and produce a functional business application with support documentation, and assess and plan improvements to a business application by evaluating its performance against its software design document and initial requirements. As a result, students will develop skills such as communication literacy, critical thinking, analysis, reasoning and interpretation, which are crucial for gaining employment and developing academic competence.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit students will be able to:

LO1 Produce a software design document for a business-related problem based on requirements

LO2 Research design and development tools and methodologies for the creation of a business application

LO3 Plan and produce a functional business application with support documentation

LO4 Evaluate the performance of a business application against its software design document and initial requirements.

Essential Content

LO1 Produce a software design document for a business-related problem based on requirements

Business-related problem and solutions:

Problem definition statement including highlighting and describing the issues that need to be addressed.

Consider possible business application solutions which address problem.

Predict the overall success of the application.

Produce a software design document:

Proposed solution including relevant details on requirements, system analysis, system design, coding, testing and implementation.

The value of software design documents with regard to application development.

Research and use information relating to software testing to create a suitable test plan for a business application.

LO2 Research design and development tools and methodologies for the creation of a business application

Discuss different design and development methodologies:

Consider current design and development methodologies e.g. Agile, DevOps, Rapid Application Development (RAD), Waterfall

Strengths and weaknesses commonly associated with each methodology.

Security implications of design and development methodologies.

Selection of a design and development methodology for use with the creation of a proposed application development.

Use appropriate tools and techniques:

Different tools and techniques available to create a business application.

Advantages and disadvantages of your preferred or selected tools and techniques.

LO3 Plan and produce a functional business application with support documentation

Work as a small team to plan and prepare a business application:

Peer review a development plan.

Interpret and implement a given design whist remaining compliant with security and maintainability requirements.

Communicate and defend effectively the ideas in a software design document.

Discuss differences with regards to the possible strengths and weakness of each software design document.

Modify software design document to reflect any new insights or considerations.

Prepare and produce a functional business application:

Use a software design document with a preferred design and development methodology and selected tools and techniques.

Functional business application including data set for testing.

Apply appropriate algorithms, logic and data structures as required in the development of an application.

Build, manage and deploy code for the business application into a relevant environment and link code to data sets.

Create and quality check appropriate support documents for an application.

LO4 Evaluate the performance of a business application against its software design document and initial requirements

Assess the performance of a business application:

Factors that influence the performance of a business application with regard to its system requirements.

Review of the performance and development of a developed application against all identified factors and any adopted design and development methodologies.

Measure the overall success of the application against original prediction and identify any new areas of personal insight.

Plan improvements to a business application:

Strengths and weaknesses of a business application against its software design document and initial requirements.

Detailed planning of possible revisions (including implementation) in terms of improving application’s performance.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Recommended Resources

Textbooks

Cormen, T. et al. (2009) Introduction to Algorithms. USA: MIT Press.

Martin, R. C. (2011) The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers. USA: Prentice Hall.

McConnell, S. (2004) Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction. USA: Microsoft Press.

Links

This unit links to the following related units:

Unit 6: Planning a Computing Project (Pearson-set)

Unit 7: Software Development Lifecycles.

Answer

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