Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!ncar!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!decwrl!sun!wdl1!rhj
From: rhj@wdl1.UUCP (Bob Jones)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: What is CASE
Message-ID: <3850005@wdl1.UUCP>
Date: 21 Mar 88 19:32:50 GMT
References: <1458@vaxb.calgary.UUCP>
Lines: 68

> I have started hearing a lot about CASE. What is it?

The term CASE stands for Computer Aided Software (or Systems) Engineering.
It is a generic term (like the term 4GL) and applies loosely to the set of
tools which collectively enhance the process of software and software based
systems development.
 
> My understanding is that a CASE system should support all
> > aspects of the software development life cycle. What does CASE
> offer that we don't already have? Or does CASE require more
> things to be described in a form that can be processed and
> maintained by a computer? What CASE tools support which portions
> of the development cycle?

Various CASE software toolkits support different phases of the software
development effort.  Many focus heavily on the early analysis and design
phases because a small reduction in design errors yields a big reduction
in development costs.  Most CASE toolkits are simply modeling tools that
allow the systems designer to understand the proposed target system better.

Various methodologies such as Structured Analysis and Structured Design
or Entity Relationship Diagrams are incorporated along with graphics-based
user interfaces into toolkits which allow the designer to model the target 
system using formal modeling tools.  Some of the toolkits can transform
one type of model (a Data Flow Diagram, for example) into another type of
model (say a Module Heirarchy). Some tools even incorporate language
sensitive editors or syntax directed parse trees and support the actual
code generation process.  

The goal of all of these tools is to reduce the cost and improve the
quality of the software developed using these tools.

> What is the difference between CASE and CAPM (Computer Aided
> Project Management :-))? By this I mean what benefits could I
> expect from using a CASE system that I would not get from using
> a set of computer based tools for requirements analysis,
> interface typing, test case generators, configuration
> management, etc.

Project Management is also a form of modeling, but it models the software
development process (or darn near any other process) rather than the 
system being developed by the process. To my view, a project management
tool is a part of the overall CASE process, but it is not a tool that
is usually thought of when we talk about CASE tools.

The second part of your question (what benefits could I expect ...) is
more subjective.  Nobody today is marketing a single CASE product or even
a complete set of CASE tools which give you everything you need to build
software.  All CASE products are just tools.  A well integrated toolkit
is easier to use, but harder to come by, but the tools you identify
(requirements analysis, test case generators, configuration management, etc.)
are important pieces in the overall process.  

> Finally, are there any commercial CASE systems? 

There are many commercially available CASE toolkits (I wouldn't call any
of them complete systems).  Here are some names:

  Software Through Pictures from IDE (runs on Suns and VMS Vaxstations)
  Teamwork from Cadre (runs on several platforms)
  Excelerator fro Index Technology
  CASE 2000 from Nastec
  Promod (has several integrated tools)

This is only a partial list.  There are many other good products.

Bob Jones
Ford Aerospace Corporation