14.4 Software System Specifications
As stated earlier, the software system specification is a full and complete description of the software architecture. It is a dynamic, technical document, produced by the design team for, and as a result of, software design. It starts life as the software section of the initial proposal document. In its final form, it becomes a major document in its own right, describing precisely:
- What the design does?
- Why it does it?
- How it does it?
The contents of the structure specification documents are shown in Figure 14.8:
Figure 14.8: Documentation for the design phases
Modern frontend integrated development environments and design tools play an important part here. Most of the required documentation can be produced automatically as part of the system design process. Chapter 9, Software Analysis and Design – Methods and Methodologies, emphasized the diagramming aspects of design methods, but now it can...
