6.2 Method to be followed
Since MetaEdit+ is a multi-method environment it would be
possible to use many methods for designing the Ball Game. In fact, it would even
be possible to apply a user-defined method that has been implemented into
MetaEdit+ with MetaEdit+ Method Workbench. For the tutorial we have selected
UML, an object-oriented method by Booch et al
[1].
The tutorial and the design of the Ball Game follow some
of the key tasks of UML based object-oriented analysis and design. You can also
use any other of the methods included in MetaEdit+, or even do the tutorial
several times with different methods to help you compare and evaluate the
methods. However, if you are reading the tutorial for the first time we
recommend that you follow the UML method.
The modelling tasks of UML applied in the tutorial
include:
 | Finding
and defining
classes |
 | Identifying
relationships between
classes |
 | Defining
attributes |
 | Defining
operations |
 | Defining
behaviour of
classes |
 | Documenting
the designs
|
 | Generating
code
skeletons |
 | Building
own report specifications |
Each of these phases
is supported with a number of modelling techniques. The techniques support the
basic concepts of the object-oriented approach, such as abstraction, reuse,
encapsulation, inheritance and message passing.
Most work in CASE tools is centred around modelling the
implementation, and thus in this tutorial we concentrate on the following two
notations:
 | Class
Diagram |
 | State
Diagram |
During the Ball Game example we apply
the notations and phases of the method with MetaEdit+. If you need more detailed
information about the method applied please refer to the method bibliography in
the preface.
[1] Unified
Modeling Language: User Guide, Booch, G., Rumbaugh, J., Jacobson, I., Addison
Wesley Longman Inc., 1999.