Structural models in software engineering are used to represent the organization of a system in terms of its components and the relationships between them. These models provide a visual depiction of the system's structure, helping stakeholders understand how different parts of the system are organized and how they interact with each other.
Structural models can be categorized into static models and dynamic models, each serving a specific purpose in the software development process:-
Static Models: Static models illustrate the structure of the system design at a fixed point in time. They capture the components of the system and their relationships without considering the system's behaviour during execution. Static models are typically created during the early stages of system development and are used to establish the overall architecture and design of the system.
Dynamic Models: Dynamic models, on the other hand, depict the organization of the system when it is executing or in motion. These models capture the behaviour of the system over time, showing how components interact and exchange information during runtime. Dynamic models are particularly useful for understanding system behaviour, identifying potential issues, and optimizing performance.
Structural models are created during the system design phase to help stakeholders discuss, analyze, and refine the system architecture. They serve as valuable documentation artefacts, providing a clear and concise representation of the system's structure and behaviour. By using structural models, software engineers can better understand the system's complexities and make informed design decisions to meet the project's requirements and objectives.
The structural model is further classified into three types:-
Class diagram.
Generalization.
Aggregation.
Now let us discuss the several parts of the structural models:-
Class diagrams:-
These are fundamental tools used in object-oriented software development to represent the structure and relationships of classes within a system. They provide a visual blueprint of the classes in a system and the associations between them, aiding developers in understanding the organization and behaviour of the system.
Object Classes and Real-World Entities: During the early stages of software engineering, objects represent real-world entities or concepts when developing models such as class diagrams. These objects are mapped to classes in the system model, with each class representing a general definition of one type of system object. For example, a Patient class represents the concept of a patient in the real world, encapsulating attributes such as name, age, and medical history, along with behaviours like scheduling appointments and receiving treatments.
Benefits of Class Diagrams:
Abstraction: Class diagrams help in abstracting the essential components and relationships of a system, allowing developers to focus on high-level design concepts.
Visualization: They provide a visual representation of the system's structure, making it easier for stakeholders to understand and discuss the system's architecture and design.
Communication: Class diagrams serve as effective communication tools between developers, designers, and stakeholders, facilitating discussions about system requirements and design decisions.
Modularity: They support modular design by organizing classes into logical groupings and defining clear relationships between them, promoting code reusability and maintainability.
Analysis: Class diagrams aid in analyzing the system's complexity by identifying dependencies between classes and potential design flaws or inefficiencies.
Class diagrams are integral to the object-oriented design process, providing a structured approach to modelling the classes and associations within a software system. They enable developers to conceptualize, design, and communicate the architecture of the system effectively.
Generalization:-
Generalization is a common technique used to simplify and manage complexity in everyday life.
Rather than learning the detailed characteristics of every individual entity, we categorize them into more general classes or categories, such as animals, cars, or houses.
By learning the characteristics of these classes, we can infer common traits shared by different members of these classes. For example, squirrels and rats are both rodents, sharing common characteristics.
Generalization in System Modeling:
In system modelling, it's often beneficial to examine the classes within a system to identify opportunities for generalization.
By employing generalization, if changes are proposed, developers don't need to inspect all classes individually to determine if they're affected by the change.
Implementation of Generalization in Object-Oriented Languages:
Object-oriented languages like Java implement generalization through class inheritance mechanisms.
Inheritance allows classes to inherit attributes and operations from their parent classes, facilitating the reuse of code and promoting a hierarchical structure.
Attributes and Operations in Generalization:
In a generalization hierarchy, higher-level classes (superclasses) define attributes and operations that are common to all subclasses.
Lower-level classes (subclasses) inherit these attributes and operations from their superclasses.
Subclasses can then add more specific attributes and operations to refine their behaviour.
Generalization is a powerful technique for managing complexity in both everyday life and software engineering. By categorizing entities into more general classes and using inheritance mechanisms in object-oriented programming languages, developers can simplify system design, promote code reuse, and facilitate the maintenance of software systems.
Aggregation:-
System modelling is a relationship between two classes where one class is a part or component of another class. It represents a "whole-part" relationship, indicating that one class (the whole) is composed of or contains one or more instances of another class (the part). Aggregation is often depicted in UML (Unified Modeling Language) diagrams, such as class diagrams, to illustrate the structure and composition of a system.
Key points about aggregation in system modelling include:
Whole-Part Relationship: Aggregation represents a relationship where one class (the whole) contains or is composed of other classes (the parts). The parts are typically dependent on the whole and cannot exist independently.
Directionality: In aggregation, the direction of the relationship is typically from the whole to the part. This means that the whole class has a reference to the part class, indicating ownership or containment.
Multiplicity: Aggregation relationships can have multiplicity, indicating how many instances of the part class are associated with a single instance of the whole class. Multiplicity can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many, depending on the requirements of the system.
Representation: In UML diagrams, aggregation is represented by a hollow diamond shape on the side of the whole class and a solid line connecting it to the part class. The diamond shape is placed near the whole class and the line connects to the part class.
Example: An example of aggregation in system modelling could be a Car class containing instances of Wheel, Engine, and Body classes. The Car class represents the whole, while the Wheel, Engine, and Body classes represent the parts. The Car class has an aggregation relationship with the Wheel, Engine, and Body classes, indicating that it is composed of these parts.
Ownership: Aggregation implies a form of ownership, where the whole class is responsible for managing the lifecycle of the part class instances. This means that when the whole class is destroyed or goes out of scope, the part class instances may also be affected.
Overall, aggregation in system modelling is a powerful concept for representing complex relationships between classes, particularly when modelling systems composed of interconnected components or parts. It helps to visualize the structure of the system and understand how its components are organized and interconnected.
This is all about the Structural model. We will learn about the Behavioural model in our next blog.