Unit 22 Application Development Assignment Brief
| Qualification | Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing |
| Unit Number | 22 |
| Unit Title | Application Development |
| Unit code | Y/618/7436 |
| Unit type | Unit level 5 |
| Unit level | 5 |
| Credit value | 15 |
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
| Pass | Merit | Distinction |
| LO1 Produce a software design document for a businessrelated problem based on requirements |
LO1 and LO2 D1 Evaluate the solution to a business-related problem and the preferred software development methodology by comparing the various software development tools and techniques researched. |
|
| P1 Produce a well-defined problem definition statement, supported by a set of user and system requirements for a business problem.
P2 Review areas of risk related to the successful development of a proposed application. |
M1 Analyse a businessrelated problem using appropriate methods to produce a well-structured software design document. | |
| LO2 Research design and development tools and methodologies for the creation of a business application | ||
| P3 Research the use of software development tools and techniques for the development of a proposed application. | M2 Justify the software development tools and development methodology selected. | |
| Pass | Merit | Distinction |
| LO3 Plan and produce a functional business application with support documentation |
LO3 and LO4 D2 Justify improvements to the business application system made because of feedback and also feedback which was not acted upon, including opportunities for improvement and further development. |
|
| P4 Conduct a peer review of the problem definition statement, proposed solution and development strategy, documenting any feedback given.
P5 Develop a functional business application with support documentation based on a specified business problem. |
M3 Interpret peer-review feedback and identify opportunities not previously considered.
M4 Develop a functional business application based on a specific software design document, with supportive evidence of using the preferred tools, techniques and methodologies. |
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| LO4 Evaluate the performance of a business application against its software design document and initial requirements | ||
| P6 Review the performance of the business application against the problem definition statement and initial requirements. | M5 Critically review the design, development and testing stages of the application development process including risks. | |
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 guide for this brief: see how to plan and structure your submission, with criteria explained and worked examples.
