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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.

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