Essentials of Systems Analysis & Design – 6th Edition

Book Preface

In today’s information- and technology-driven business world, students need to be aware of three key factors. First, it is more crucial than ever to know how to organize and access information strategically. Second, success often depends on the ability to work as part of a team. Third, the Internet will play an important part in their work lives. Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design, Sixth Edition, addresses these key factors.

More than 50 years’ combined teaching experience in systems analysis and design have gone into creating Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design, Sixth Edition, a text that emphasizes hands-on, experimental learning. We provide a clear presentation of the concepts, skills, and techniques students need to become effective systems analysts who work with others to create information systems for businesses. We use the systems development life cycle model as an organizing tool throughout the book to provide a strong conceptual and systematic framework.

Electronic commerce coverage is provided in each chapter via an integrated, extended illustrative case (Pine Valley Furniture WebStore) and an end-of-chapter case (Petrie’s Electronics).

Many systems analysis and design courses involve lab work and outside reading. Lecture time can be limited. Based on market research and our own teaching experience, we understand the need for a book that combines depth of coverage with brevity. So we have created a ten-chapter book that covers key systems analysis and design content without overwhelming students with unnecessary detail.

New to the Sixth Edition

The following features are new to the Sixth Edition:

â–  Expanded coverage of business processes. Process modeling is at the heart of systems analysis and design. Data-flow diagrams have been a staple of this book since its first edition, but now they are framed in the context of business process diagramming. The beginning of Chapter 6 has been rewritten to show how data-flow diagrams are just one of many common methods for modeling business processes.
Business processes are defined and illustrated before the discussion of data-flow diagrams begins.

â–  Updates to the WebStore running case. Since the advent of electronic commerce, this book has featured an end-of-chapter Pine Valley Furniture (PVF) case focused on the WebStore, an e-commerce application for PVF. In the current edition, the WebStore case has been expanded to include the analysis, design, and testing of a new mobile app for PVF. Development of the e-commerce application and the mobile app now go hand-in-hand in the revised case.

â–  Updated illustrations of technology. Screen captures have been updated throughout the text to show examples using the latest versions of programming and Internet development environments, and user interface designs.

â–  Updated content. Throughout the book, the content in each chapter has been updated where appropriate.

Brief Contents
PART I Foundati ons for Systems Development 28
1 The Systems Development Environment 28
2 The Sources of Software 54
3 Managing the Information Systems Project 72
PART II Systems Planning and Selection 112
4 Systems Planning and Selection 112
PART III Systems Analysis 150
5 Determining System Requirements 150
6 Structuring System Requirements: Process
Modeling 180
7 Structuring System Requirements: Conceptual Data
Modeling 220
PART IV    Systems Design 264
8 Designing the Human Interface 264
9 Designing Databases 306
PART V    Systems Implementati on and Operati on 352
10 Systems Implementation and Operation 352
Appendix A Object-Oriented Analysis and Design 395
Appendix B Agile Methodologies 415
G lossary of Acronyms 429
G lossary of Terms 431
Index 437