FOOM - Functional and Object-Oriented Analysis and Design of Information Systems

Abstract

We propose FOOM (Functional and Object-Oriented Methodology), an integrated methodology for information systems analysis and design, which combines two essential software-engineering paradigms: the functional/data approach (or process-oriented) and the object-oriented (OO) approach. System analysis phase, where user requirements are set and defined, includes functional analysis and data modeling activities. This phase produces a hierarchy of data flow diagrams (DFD) and an initial OO schema, which can be created directly or from an entity-relationship diagram (ERD). The design phase is performed according to the OO approach, producing a complete OO schema and a behavior schema. The seamless transition from analysis to design is enabled thanks to ADISSA methodology, which facilitates the design of the menus, forms and reports classes, and the system behavior schema, from the DFDs and the application transactions. The paper introduces the motivation for the combined approach, outlines the methodology, and presents an example that demonstrates it.