CASE: CASE stands for Computer Aided Software Engineering which is software that supports one or more software

engineering activities within a software development process, and is gradually becoming popular for the development of software as they are improving in the capabilities andfunctionality and are proving to be beneficial for the development of quality software. CASE TOOLS: Whenever a new system is installed, the implementation integrates a number of related and different tasks. he process has to be efficiently organi!ed and it is for this very reason that CASE tools are developed. With the help of CASE, the installation process can be automated and coordinated within the developed and adopted system life cycle. CASE tools are the software engineering tools that permit collaborative software development and maintenance. Almost all the phases of the software development life cycle are supported by them such as analysis" design, etc., including umbrella activities such as pro#ect management, configuration management etc. $n general, standard software development methods such as %ackson Structure programming or structured system analysis and design method are also supported by CASE tools. CASE tools may support the following development steps for developing data base application& Creation of data flow and entity models Establishing a relationship between requirements and models 'evelopment of top(level design 'evelopment of functional and process description 'evelopment of test cases.

Why CASE tools are developed: CASE tools are designed to enhance and upgrade the computing system adopted and used. his is very important with regards to the dependence on a computer(based environment for business and)or personal pursuits. $t is an important part of various business growth strategies. he CASE tools are developed for the following reasons& 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
*irstly +uick $nstallation. ime Saving by reducing coding and testing time. Enrich graphical techniques and data flow. ,ptimum use of available information. Enhanced analysis and design development. Create and manipulate documentation. ransfer the information between tools efficiently. he speed during the system development increased.

How the Organization uses CASE tools: -ere are the ways where the CASE tools are used& 1. To facilitate single design
ethodology:

CASE tools help the organi!ation to standardi!e the development process. $t also facilitates coordinated development. $ntegration becomes easy as common methodology is adopted.

2. !apid Application "evelop ent:

o improve the speed and quality of system development organi!ations use CASE tools.

3. Testing:
CASE tools help in improving the testing process through automated checking and simplified program maintenance.

4. "ocu entation:
$n a traditional software development process, the quality of documentation at various stages depends on the individual. At various stages of S'.C CASE tools improve the quality and uniformity of documentation. $t also ensures the completeness of the documentation.

5. #ro$ect %anage ent:

$t improves pro#ect management activity and to some e/tent automates various activities involved in pro#ect management.

6. !educe the

aintenance cost:

0se of CASE tools makes the software easy to maintain and hence reduce the maintenance costs. 1. &ncrease #roductivity: Automation of various activities of system development and management processes increases productivity of the development team.

Environ

ent having CASE:

!ole of CASE tools: CASE tools play a ma#or role in the following activities&
2ro#ect management 'ata dictionary Code generation 0ser interface design

Schema generation Creation of meta(data for data warehouse 3everse engineering 3e(engineering 'ocument generation 4ersion control ,, analysis and design Software testing 'ata modeling 2ro#ect scheduling Cost estimation

'eed of CASE tools: he software development process is e/pensive and as the pro#ects become more comple/ in nature, the pro#ect implementations become more demanding and e/pensive. hat5s why software developers always looking for such CASE tools that help them in many different ways during the different development stages of software, so that they can understand the software and prepare a good end product that efficiently fulfill the user requirements. CASE tools provide the integrated homogenous environment for the development of comple/ pro#ects. hese tools provide computeri!ed setting to software developers to analy!e a problem and then design its system model. he CASE tools also provide the environment for monitoring and controlling pro#ects such that team leaders are able to manage the comple/ pro#ects. (asically) the CASE tools are used to
3educe the cost as they automate many repetitive manual tasks. 3educe development time of the pro#ect as they support standardi!ation and avoid repetition and reuse. 'evelop better quality comple/ pro#ects as they provide greater consistency and coordination. Create good quality documentation. Create systems that are maintainable because of proper control of configuration item that support traceability requirements.

Categories of CASE Tools: Sometimes CASE tools are classified in to following categories due to their activities& 1. 022E3 CASE ools 2. .,WE3 CASE ools 3. $6 E73A E' CASE ools

*pper CASE tools: hey support the analysis and the design phase. hey include tools for analysis modeling, reports and forms generation. Lower CASE tools: hey support the coding phase, configuration management, etc.

&ntegrated CASE tools: $t is known as $(CASE and also supports analysis, design and coding phases. he phases that are supported by the .ower and upper CASE tools are shown in the Waterfall model as under&

#ositioning of CASE tools in a Software Application develop

ent:

Advantages and "isadvantages of CASE Tools:

Characteristics of a successful CASE Tool: A CASE tool must have the following characteristics in order to be used efficiently&
A standard ethodology: A CASE tool must support a standard software development methodology and standard modeling techniques. $n the present scenario most of the CASE tools are moving towards 08.. +le,i-ility: *le/ibility in use of editors and other tools. he CASE tool must offer fle/ibility and the choice for the user of editors5 development environments. Strong &ntegration: he CASE tools should be integrated to support all the stages. his implies that if a change is made at any stage, for e/ample, in the model, it should get reflected in the code documentation and all related design and other documents, thus providing a cohesive environment for software development. &ntegration with testing software: he CASE tools must provide interfaces for automatic testing tools that take care of regression and other kinds of testing software under the changing requirements. Support for reverse engineering: A CASE tools must be able to generate comple/ models from already generated code. On.line help: he CASE tools provide an online tutorial.