Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!xanth!rlb
From: rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert L. Bailey)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Contemplating Purchase of "Excelerator" CASE Tool
Message-ID: <12650@xanth.cs.odu.edu>
Date: 31 May 90 03:02:03 GMT
References: <10@ai.etl.army.mil>
Reply-To: rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert L. Bailey)
Organization: Old Dominion University, Norfolk Va.
Lines: 64

In article <10@ai.etl.army.mil> richr@ai.etl.army.mil. (Richard Rosenthal) writes:
>I am comtemplating the purchase of a CASE tool for use on
>a PC platform.  Excelerator seems to lead the list of choices.
>
>I would like to hear your comments about Excelerator.
>
The "best" CASE tool is the one that suits your needs and development
environment.  There are a lot of choices on the market.  Before you
can make an intelligent decision about which CASE tool is "best" for
you, you need to ask yourself several questions:

	1.  Is this going to be used for new development? life cycle
		support/re-engineering an existing system? both?

	2.  What formal development method do you use?  Is this the
		best for your development environment?  Which CASE tools
		support that method/environment?  If the tool you think
		is best doesn't support that method, are you willing
		to change it?

	3.  Do you have TOTAL commitment to the underlying philosophy
		of CASE technology?  Less than TOTAL commitment is
		doomed to failure.  80% of all CASE software ends up
		being shelved due to lack of TOTAL commitment.

	4.  Are you and your colleagues/employees willing to TRAIN, TRAIN,
		TRAIN?  CASE tools require a lot of training up front.

	5.  Do you know what features you want in a CASE tool?  Some 
		provide only partial development support.  Some provide
		a fully integrated environment from design through
		code generation.  Do you want a front-end CASE tool?
		A back-end CASE tool? Middle CASE? ALL?  If you don't
		know the answer to these questions, (or if you aren't
		sure of the implications of these questions) you are
		not ready to choose a CASE tool.

	6.  Are you willing to READ, READ, READ?  Choosing a CASE tool
		requires a thorough understanding of what you want from
		a CASE tool and what features each tool provides.

If you want a good article to read, try the April 1989 BYTE.  It has a
thorough discussion of CASE in several articles of that issue.  A very
useful checklist is provided for the evaluation of CASE tools.

Excelerator is a very good front-end CASE tool.  It also interfaces with
the largest number of other CASE tools. (very important)  I used it
several years ago to do an analysis of a couple of systems.  I found it
easy to use, although I would have liked it better if it had an integrated
code generator.  I think that the newer versions provides more features
than the one I used, but, I haven't seen it lately to make an evaluation
of its current capabilities.

Asking about a particular CASE tool is somewhat like the old adage:
"If you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it."  With CASE,
"If you have to ask 'is this a good tool', you aren't ready to decide."
A given CASE tool may be absolutely perfect for one application/method/
company/person, while it might me absolutely lousy for another!  Know
what you are looking for, and evaluate MANY CASE tools based upon that
criteria. THEN you will know which one is best for you.  In some instances,
it may be NONE!  In others, you may be able to choose from several.


Bob Bailey (rlb@cs.odu.edu)