[Year 12 SofDev] SD exam 2013 - A2 - a curly question

[Mark]

*A software project has been completed and the software solution has been
running successfully for a few months. Simon is collecting all the
documentation that was created during the project. In one of the documents
he notices this statement: 'When executed, the program must occupy no more
than 10 MB of main memory.'*
*During which stage of the problem-solving methodology was this statement
most probably written?*
*A. design*
*B. analysis*
*C. evaluation*
*D. development*

A student wrote asking why I said 'analysis' (because it's a non-functional
requirement) rather than 'design' (because it's an evaluation criterion.)

This made me think...

How *do* you tell the difference between a solution's non-functional
requirement (e.g. 'it must be easy to use') and an evaluation criterion
(e.g. 'Is it easy to use?')

Surely one depends on the other... and one is produced during analysis, the
other during design.

The question does not give any clue about when the statement was written.
The fact that the statement was *noticed *after implementation does not
mean it was intended to apply to the evaluation phase of the PSM.

It could just as easily have been written during analysis in the SRS's
solution requirements and meant to be formally tested at the end of
development.

I still believe the answer is analysis, because as a non-functional
requirement its success of failure can be tested immediately during
development (does it run in 10M RAM?) whereas an evaluation criterion would
usually be evaluated over time (e.g. costs/reliability over several months.)

I believe a non-functional requirement is more a measure of 'Is the
solution working properly?' (ie. determined during testing... i.e. it's a
functional requirement... i.e. it was written in the analysis phase) rather
than 'Is it meeting the organisational goals that led to its creation?'
(i.e. determined during evaluation... i.e. it's an evaluation criterion...
i.e. it was written in the design phase.)

Has the question shot itself in the foot?

Ideas?

--
Mark Kelly
mark AT vceit DOT com
http://vceit.com

Day 19, I have successfully conditioned my master to smile and write in his
book every time I drool.- Pavlov's Dog
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