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SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Patterns for Effective Use Cases Steve Adolph and Paul Bramble. 2003. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. 216 pages.ISBN: 0-201-72184-8. (CSQE Body of Knowledge areas: Software Engineering Process)
There are numerous books currently available that focus on writing use cases. However, there are few books that examine the problems that individuals encounter when writing use cases. This book is one of the latter. Not only does it consider the problems people face while writing use cases, but it also describes simple, elegant, and proven solutions to the specific problems described. The authors recommend Alistair Cockburn's book, Writing Effective Use Cases, to those who are unfamiliar with use cases.
The initial premise is that use cases are helpful not only for designing business processes but also for developing software or eliciting requirements. The second premise is that patterns exist that essentially describe a guideline (a sign of quality) that one can use to evaluate a use case. The third premise is that the reader will grasp the patterns and the signs of quality by experiencing them rather than by reading about them. Thus, the authors have identified approximately 36 patterns that they have organized into categories-organizational patterns, process patterns, and use-case...