CASE is the use of computer-based support in the software development process.
This definition includes all kinds of computer-based support for any of the managerial, administrative, or technical aspects of any part of a software project.
What Is a CASE Tool? Since the early days of writing software, there has been an awareness of the need for automated tools to help the software developer. Initially the concentration was on program support tools such as translators, compilers, assemblers, macro processors, and linkers and loaders. However, as computers became more powerful and the software that ran on them grew larger and more complex, the range of support tools began to expand. In particular, the use of interactive time-sharing systems for software development encouraged the development of program editors, debuggers, code analyzers, and program-pretty printers.
As computers became more reliable and in greater use, the need for a broader notion of software development became apparent. Software development came to be viewed as:
A large-scale activity involving significant effort to establish requirements, design an appropriate solution, implement that solution, test the solution's correctness, and document the functionality of the final system.
A long-term process producing software that requires enhancement through out its lifetime. The implications of this are that the structure of the software must enable new functionality to be added easily, and detailed records of the requirements, design, implementation, and testing of the system must be kept to aid maintainers of the software. In addition, multiple versions of all artifacts produced during a project must be maintained to facilitate group development of software systems.
A group activity involving interaction among a number of people during each stage of its life. Groups of people must be able to cooperate, in a controlled manner, and have consistent views of the state of the project.
This view of "programming in the large" resulted in a wide range of support tools being developed. Initially, the tools were not very sophisticated in their support. However, two important advances had the effect of greatly improving the sophistication of these tools:
Research in the area of software development processes gave rise to a number of software design methods (e.g., Jackson Structured Programming, the Yourdon Method) that could be used as the basis for software development. These methods were ideally suited to automated tool support in that they required step-by-step adherence to methods, had graphical notations associated with them, and produced a large number of artifacts (e.g., diagrams, annotations, and documentation) that needed to be recorded and maintained.
.....personal workstations and personal computers. These machines have relatively large memory storage capacities, fast processors, and sophisticated bit-mapped graphics displays that are capable of displaying charts, graphical models, and diagrams.
We refer to all of the above tools as CASE tools and posit the following definition:
A CASE tool is a computer-based product aimed at supporting one or more software engineering activities within a software development process.
Other authors have attempted to make finer-grained distinctions between differ ent classes of CASE tools along a number of dimensions. The most common distinctions are:
Between those tools that are interactive in nature (such as a design method support tool) and those that are not (such as a compiler). The former class are sometimes called CASE tools, while the latter class are called development tools.
Between those tools that support activities early in the life cycle of a soft ware project (such as requirements and design support tools) and those that are used later in the life cycle (such as compilers and test support tools). The former class are sometimes called front-end CASE tools, and the latter are called back-end CASE tools.
Between those tools that are specific to a particular life-cycle step or domain (such as a requirements tool or a coding tool) and those that are common across a number of life-cycle steps or domains (such as a documentation tool or a configuration management tool). The former class are sometimes called vertical CASE tools, while the latter class are called horizontal CASE tools.
Reference: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/legacy/case/case_whatis.html
This definition includes all kinds of computer-based support for any of the managerial, administrative, or technical aspects of any part of a software project.
What Is a CASE Tool? Since the early days of writing software, there has been an awareness of the need for automated tools to help the software developer. Initially the concentration was on program support tools such as translators, compilers, assemblers, macro processors, and linkers and loaders. However, as computers became more powerful and the software that ran on them grew larger and more complex, the range of support tools began to expand. In particular, the use of interactive time-sharing systems for software development encouraged the development of program editors, debuggers, code analyzers, and program-pretty printers.
As computers became more reliable and in greater use, the need for a broader notion of software development became apparent. Software development came to be viewed as:
A large-scale activity involving significant effort to establish requirements, design an appropriate solution, implement that solution, test the solution's correctness, and document the functionality of the final system.
A long-term process producing software that requires enhancement through out its lifetime. The implications of this are that the structure of the software must enable new functionality to be added easily, and detailed records of the requirements, design, implementation, and testing of the system must be kept to aid maintainers of the software. In addition, multiple versions of all artifacts produced during a project must be maintained to facilitate group development of software systems.
A group activity involving interaction among a number of people during each stage of its life. Groups of people must be able to cooperate, in a controlled manner, and have consistent views of the state of the project.
This view of "programming in the large" resulted in a wide range of support tools being developed. Initially, the tools were not very sophisticated in their support. However, two important advances had the effect of greatly improving the sophistication of these tools:
Research in the area of software development processes gave rise to a number of software design methods (e.g., Jackson Structured Programming, the Yourdon Method) that could be used as the basis for software development. These methods were ideally suited to automated tool support in that they required step-by-step adherence to methods, had graphical notations associated with them, and produced a large number of artifacts (e.g., diagrams, annotations, and documentation) that needed to be recorded and maintained.
.....personal workstations and personal computers. These machines have relatively large memory storage capacities, fast processors, and sophisticated bit-mapped graphics displays that are capable of displaying charts, graphical models, and diagrams.
We refer to all of the above tools as CASE tools and posit the following definition:
A CASE tool is a computer-based product aimed at supporting one or more software engineering activities within a software development process.
Other authors have attempted to make finer-grained distinctions between differ ent classes of CASE tools along a number of dimensions. The most common distinctions are:
Between those tools that are interactive in nature (such as a design method support tool) and those that are not (such as a compiler). The former class are sometimes called CASE tools, while the latter class are called development tools.
Between those tools that support activities early in the life cycle of a soft ware project (such as requirements and design support tools) and those that are used later in the life cycle (such as compilers and test support tools). The former class are sometimes called front-end CASE tools, and the latter are called back-end CASE tools.
Between those tools that are specific to a particular life-cycle step or domain (such as a requirements tool or a coding tool) and those that are common across a number of life-cycle steps or domains (such as a documentation tool or a configuration management tool). The former class are sometimes called vertical CASE tools, while the latter class are called horizontal CASE tools.
Reference: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/legacy/case/case_whatis.html
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