Principles of Object-Oriented Software Development
[] readme course preface 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 appendix lectures resources

talk show tell print

Summary

This chapter has dealt with business objects, business applications and the issues involved in business process redesign. Since business process redesign may be motivated by changes in technology, we also discuss the migration from legacy applications.

Business objects -- SanFrancisco framework

1



slide: Section 11.1: Business objects -- SanFrancisco framework

In section 1, we discussed the need for business objects and looked at the San Francisco framework, which aims to provide a generic solution to creating business applications.

Business process modeling

2



slide: Section 11.2: Business process modeling

In section 2, we looked at the issues involved in business process modeling, which we consider as a prerequisite for business process redesign. We dealt with the simulation of the logistic aspects of business processes and concluded with a small example.

Object-oriented simulation

3


  • simulation classes -- event, entity, generator, resource, queue
  • event scheduling strategy -- conditional, passive, pending
  • dining philosophers -- events versus processes

slide: Section 11.3: Object-oriented simulation

In section 3, we treated object-oriented simulation in somewhat more detail. An overview was given of useful simulation classes. We discussed event scheduling strategies, and looked at the classic dining philosophers example, both from an event-based simulation perspective and a process-based simulation perspective.

Visualization support

4


  • So many users, so many perspectives
  • DIVA -- distributed visualization architecture

slide: Section 11.4: Visualization support

In section 4, we looked at interactive information visualization as a means to support business process redesign and decision making. An overview was given of the DIVA software architecture, which allows for distribution, user perspectives and collaboration.

Migrating from legacy applications

5


  • fat versus thin clients -- screen scraping
  • Web-aware applications -- wrapping the legacy

slide: Section 11.5: Migrating from legacy applications

We concluded, in section 5, with a discussion of the opportunities to migrate from legacy applications to a modern, object-oriented, Web-aware architecture.

Questions


  1. Why would you need business objects? Discuss this from the perspective of the end-user as well as from the perspective of management.
  2. What are the motivations underlying the San Francisco framework?
  3. Give an overview of the component layers constituting the San Francisco framework.
  4. Explain the goals of logistics-based business modeling. Discuss possible means to support business modeling.
  5. Give an example of business process simulation.
  6. What classes can you think of for a library supporting object-oriented simulation?
  7. What are the requirements for visualization support? Can you think of actual classes?
  8. Discuss the issues that may arise in migrating from legacy applications. What possible solutions can you think of?

slide: Questions

Further reading

For more information on business process redesign, consult  [Davenport90],  [Hammer90] and  [Wastell94]. For an in-depth treatment of simulation, you may read, for example,  [Watkins93].



[] readme course preface 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 appendix lectures resources
eliens@cs.vu.nl

draft version 0.1 (15/7/2001)