Software Development method

(This lesson you will find in Computer based training at Basic 1 level)

Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) is a graphical programming language that uses icons instead of lines of text to create programs.

You can use a software development method to create LabVIEW solutions.

This method helps programmers in developing code that has greater potential to solve a problem as compared to writing code without a plan. This method also helps to make code more readable, scalable, and modifiable.

At the end of this topic, you will be able to identify steps in the software development method.

The software development method simplifies problem solving using software. The method uses a set of steps that has been refined over the years by software engineers. It is a strategy used by programmers of any programming language to create solutions. You use the software development method to create a solution to your problem

Steps in the Software Development MethodTo use the software development method, you need to complete the following steps.

Define the Problem

During this stage, you define what your problem is so that you can approach it with all the necessary factors identified. You can remove extraneous factors during this phase and focus on the core problem that you must solve. How you identify the problem initially can save you time when you design and implement a solution.

Design a Solution

After you determine the scope of the problem, you can design a solution by analyzing the problem. Part of analyzing the problem is identifying the inputs and outputs of the software, as well as any additional requirements. After you define the inputs and outputs, you can design an algorithm, flowchart, and/or state transition diagram to help you arrive at a software solution.

a.Identifying Inputs

b.Identifying outputs

c.Identifying additional requirements.

Design an Algorithm

After determining the inputs, outputs, and additional requirements, you can create an algorithm. An algorithm is a set of steps that process your inputs and create outputs.

Design a Flowchart

A flowchart displays the steps for solving the problem and can be considered as a visual design of an algorithm. Flowcharts are useful because you can follow complex processes of an algorithm in a visual way. For example, you can consider whether a specific step has two different paths to the end solution and you can plan your code accordingly.

Design a State Transition Diagram

State transition diagrams are a specific type of flowchart that are commonly used when creating LabVIEW state machines. State transition diagrams clearly indicate the states of a program and what causes the program to transition from one state to the next.

Implement the Design

In the implementation stage, you create code for your algorithm or flowchart. When writing code in a text-based language, the algorithm elegantly translates into each line of code, depending on the level of detail shown in the algorithm. Because LabVIEW is a graphical programming language, the flowchart works much the same way, where each block of the flowchart elegantly translates into each icon on the block diagram.

Test and Verify the Implementation

Testing is an important part of the software development method. By testing logical and illogical data, you can ensure that the inputs produce the expected result and that the code has effective error handling

Maintain and Update the Implementation

Maintenance is an ongoing process of resolving programming errors adding parallel construction changes to the original solution for a problem. For instance, in the furnace example, you may discover that after writing the code the customer wants to add a temperature sensor to another area of the oven to add redundancy to the system. Adding features to the program is easier if you plan for scalability in your software from the beginning.