Financial markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial markets - Essay Example So an in-depth analysis has been done to determine if debt or equity will be a good option for raising capital from the market. The data revealed that due to the environment of uncertainty it is better to maintain a portfolio of both debt and equity instruments. The different debt and equity options are discussed in the report so that companies can maintain tradeoff between risk and return and design the financial plans accordingly. ABC is an Australian company listed in Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The company is in service sector and enjoys a high credit rating. It has been found that ABC enjoys sound financial structure as well. At present the company is planning to undertake expansion strategy and for that it has to raise capital. Before finalizing any decision, the management would be interested to evaluate the future of Australian Interest rates in coming months. For determining the future interest rate, a thorough analysis of Australian market needs to be done; taking into consideration all those factors which directly or indirectly influence the interest rate. Emphasis should be given on both domestic as well as international market conditions. This paper will also research to determine the appropriate financing instrument for the company as per the future interest rate condition. The main aim of the management is to develop a balance between cost of capital and risk factors. The research information and data is documented under different section. The first section provides an in-depth analysis of present and future market condition in Australia. The future prospect of interest rate is forecasted undertaking all the factors which influences it. In the second phase a strategy will be developed that helps ABC to finance their business according to the future market scenario and finally in the last section a discussion to support the recommended strategy and how the

Structural Theories Essay Example for Free

Structural Theories Essay Motives are believed to be the reason behind the action of people. Whether negative or positive, they are the cause of an individual’s action. Since motives help us better recognize why a person would do something, a lot of research has been committed to understanding the pattern of people or group of peoples motives. Knowledge of patterns is crucial to many aspects of human behavior but especially those relating to crime. Knowing a pattern helps one to predict, and hopefully help educate others on future crimes. The research of crime is so extensive that researchers have created not only theories but also various subculture theories of crime. Subculture theory of crime is a set of theories arguing that certain groups or subcultures in society have values and attitudes that are conducive to crime and violence. Subcultural theories of Cloward and Ohlin, Wolfgang and Feracuti, Elijah Anderson, and Walter Miller offer a great deal of insight on why different groups of people choose to engage in the crimes that they participate in. Although these theories are broad and shed light on what certain groups will attribute to crime, it is not an exact science. A lot of these theories come along with critiques that question the basic points the researchers are trying to prove. Cloward and Ohlin theorized illegitimate opportunity structures, which argues that in order for someone to obtain and take advantage of the most rewarding illegitimate opportunities, aspiring delinquents often need an â€Å"in†. Within the illegitimate opportunity structure there are different subcultures and cub cultures. Cloward and Ohlin go on to split people into different subcultures of criminals who do not have an â€Å"in†. The subcultures of the criminal structure that are offered are Conflict subculture, conflict gang, retreatist gang, and retreatist cub culture. Those who fit in Conflict subculture turn their frustration at failure in both the legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures into violence and those that are in gangs aim to make money through a variety of illegitimate avenues. While conflict gangs engage in violent activities, doing whatever is necessary to maintain their status in the streets and finally retreatist gangs are considered â€Å"double-failures† no success in either legitimate or illegitimate opportunities turn to drugs. Some critiques to Cloward and Ohlin have been that they fail to realize that the different subcultures can overlap. For example, gangs involved in conflict subculture often deal in and use drugs, and make large sums of money in the process. Unlike Cloward, Ohlin, Wolfgang and Feracuti, Walter Miller argued that crime is simply an extension of normal working class values, not a distinctive set of alternative values. Miller argued that the lower classes create their different value system as a response to the monotony of working –class jobs and a life of poverty. Working-class subculture is a mechanism full of processes, which allow working-class people to cope with their situations. He termed this focal concern. These focal concerns are fate, autonomy, trouble, excitement, smartness, and toughness. Due to the fact that these characteristics can be distributed throughout society, Walter Millers theory is thought to be too fixated on working class values. His theory also has too much of a focus on boys. Wolfgang and Feracuti argue the subculture of violence; they believe that violence is a product of conformity to a pro-violent subculture that is in direct conflict with the dominant culture. They suggest that violent reactions to perceived threats to reputation or honor are culturally prescribed, given that a failure to react defensively may result in life-threatening consequences. These researchers even go on to apply this theory outside of disadvantaged neighborhoods, such as the American south, athletes, and postal workers. Still critiques feel as though Wolfgang and Feratuci infer the existence of subcultures of violence based on statistical indicators of high rates of violence in poor racialized neighborhoods. Another important critique is that not everyone follows the values and norms of violence. This critique was then explored in Anderson’s study. He revealed â€Å"street† and â€Å"decent† value orientations among families in Philadelphia neighborhood. In Elijah Anderson’s â€Å"code of the street† he proposes that the high  rates of violence amongst inner-city residents can be attributed to a â€Å"code of the streets.† This code, he notes, functions as a â€Å"set of informal rules governing interpersonal public behavior† that encourages the use of violence for the purposes of maintaining honor and defending reputation. Just like Cloward and Ohlin’s Conflict gang subculture and Wolfgang and Fercuti’s subculture of violence, Anderson believes that crime occurred in certain neighborhoods in order to maintain status and respect. However new improvements on this contemporary theory were added when Anderson included the variations of families that lived within this pro-violent culture. He concluded that while both contingents experience the hardships of race and class oppression, â€Å"rather than dwelling on the hardships and inequities facing them,† Anderson argues, â€Å"civilâ₠¬  individuals tend to â€Å"accept mainstream values more fully than â€Å"street families† and make the best of what they have (Anderson, 1999: 38). Although this theory goes on to prove that not everyone in a pro-violent environment upholds the same values, it fails to clarify the specific processes that had led the residents of Germantown Avenue’s inner city to embrace pro-violent values and attitudes. Subcultural theories do not adequately explain racial disparities in crime. All these theories have a focus on African-Americans in impoverish areas. The subcultural theories offered also have a concentration on street crime. No theory seems to offer reason as to why the elite commit white-collar crimes. Furthermore these various subcultures that focus on pro-violent cultures do not give insight on how the pro-violent cultures came to be in the first place.

Analysis of Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko :: Ceremony Essays

People often feel that their opinions do not matter, that they cannot make a difference. This is untrue, one person does have the ability to change an outcome, halt or finalize a decision, and even build or destroy a culture. In the novel Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko, this is witnessed in the character Auntie, a dominating, selfish woman who will do anything to gain a respectable status in the community. In an attempt to gain acceptance from both Native and Western societies, Auntie metaphorically "kills" her own child which in turn destroys the Native American culture. Auntie has a deep desire for belonging, not only in Western civilization, but in her own Native world as well. She is constantly preoccupied with the image of which she projects to the community, often worrying that the rumors of her family will bring about shame and dishonor. Although the community has far more important issues to deal with, Auntie feels that is necessary to escape the "alleged," judgment that is derived from her sister promiscuous behavior and her brother's affair. Her belief is that if she is acknowledged in Western culture, than her past will cease to follow her. To acquire respect from Western society, Auntie strongly encourages her son, Rocky, to pursue non-traditional ways yet in the process fails to realize that she is pushing him considerably away from his heritage. Rocky is an adolescent that other students would envy; he is intelligent athletic and competitive, a perfect example illustrating the effects of Western culture. Of course his school supports his so called success, but his mother is the real culprit in stripping him of the pride he should posses toward his treasured past. Silko explains, "All that summer, while Josiah and Tayo watched the cattle and the sheep camp, and Robert worked in the fields each day, Rocky read magazines and ran laps at the baseball diamond. Auntie made it clear to everyone that it was all necessary if Rocky were to keep his football scholarship to the University.

Marketing Plan for MarryBrown Essay

INTRODUCTION Ms Ponnoraliza says that Marrybrown is Malaysian home-grown restaurant chain. Founded in 1981, they have more than 350 outlets serving fried chicken, burgers, finger food, desserts and drinks. Marrybrown has extended the menu that includes seafood, rice based tproducts, noodles and porridge and they also offer a famous local Malaysian dish: Nasi Lemak (offered as â€Å"Nasi Marrybrown†). The restaurant’s one of the biggest advantage is offering halal food, to dominate halal based countries, and preventing weak direct competition with some larger fast food chains. In the 1980s Marrybrown became the first fast food chain to franchise in Malaysia (Marry Brown). Marrybrown is the largest home-grown quick service restaurant chain with a global reach of over 400 outlets in Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Marrybrown is a global food service organization and a worldwide brand. Currently, Marrybrown is in different countries such as Dubai, India, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Saud i Arabia, Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain, Syria, Republic of Tanzania, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Malaysia and Maldives (Marry Brown, 2012). According to Marrybrown’s official website Marrybrown is a winner of numerous awards, Malaysian International Home-grown Franchise of The Year, Malaysia Franchise of The Year, First Malaysian fast food franchise, Most Promising Franchise of The Year, pioneer member of the Malaysia franchise association and The Brandlaureate SMEs best brands Award 1007- Food and Beverage, fast food. As Marrybrown does provide franchise, the numbers of franchisees has currently increased upto 82. Marrybrown has great opportunities for both domestic and international markets. The concept of Marrybrown is to be business of the future, fast growing market, wider reach to the customers, high brand recall, cash business, lower investment and better returns and serve the food to the customers at petrol pumps, highways, and large railway stations. CURRENT MARKET SITUATION Marrybrown is a well-known as fast food restaurant internationally where they draw in clients by staying on the objectives like enhancing their position in the home-developed market and building their brand and in the meantime concentrate on the high quality of food serving by customers well.  Marrybrown’s main target is to improve their reputation amongst Malaysian’s customers, and to be recognized on what the restaurant is offering to attract more customers’ attention. On the other side, Marrybrown’s missions (2007) are to achieve a better standard in customer services, and increase sales and profits of the company. According to the official website of Marrybrown, their success is based on the high quality of foods, fast service and great value for money. Their products are prepared based on Malaysia’s Halal requirements. According to Ms Ponnorlize (2014) they provide fresh food in order to satisfy customers’ needs and make them enjoy wit h Marrybrown’s products. Furthermore, the restaurant likewise gives a brilliant, stylish and fresh look that supplements the lifestyle of today’s customers. This system attracts the attention of a certain group of customers such as kids and teenagers. Marrybrown is an example of overcoming adversity based on extraordinary tasting formulas that are unique and truly Malaysian. They work on approaches to make food, services, and establishment operations better to convey the highest standards of value. Secured in 1981, they have over 400 outlets internationally. Marrybrown has expanded the menu that offers exotic local delights such as seafood, noodles, rice based products and porridge. Nasi Lemak is one of the famous local Malay rice dish, based on the menu it is called as Nasi Marrybrown. Nowadays, Marrybrown offers a wide choice of unique, innovative products that focused on fast-food loving customers. Still, chicken presents the basic of the menu, including the signature Lucky Plate, Chicken Porridge, Nasi Marrybrown. Moreover, Marrybrown Sdn Bhd has turned into the first international company that opens an outlet in Myanmar. In three years Marrybrown has also targeted to set up 15 outlets in Southern Thailand, while this year from June until December it aims to open 15 new outlets in Malaysia. For now, there are more than 400 Marrybrown outlets in Malaysia, China, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, Kuw ABOUT THE COMPANY SWOT Analysis Malaysian based fast food chain started back in 1980s, Marrybrown is the nation’s largest fast food chain with 400 outlets in 11. Half of its outlets  are in Malaysia and others in abroad. It is the only fast food chain that satisfies halal food customers (Marrybrown.com.my, 2012). Marrybrown serves the food at affordable price and is the first Malaysian fast food franchise in the country. Marrybrown’s core values are high quality food, fast service, clean environment and great value for money. Marrybrown is expanding internationally to become a global fast food industry. Soon it will open in Syria, Azerbaijan and Iran. Marrybrown has been awarded Malaysia International Home grown Franchise of The Year in the years of 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and promising franchiser award in India. Strength a) High quality food b) Halal food c) Unique fast food concept-Marrybrown carries a unique concept which brings about a fun and exciting eat-out experience. d) Adaptability to the market. Weakness a) Niche target market b) Intense competition c) Competitors quality of products and services Opportunities a) Growing market b) Improve the infrastructure for the society around it. c) Job opportunities for more. Threats a) Competition b) Consumers looking for better deal. OBJECTIVES To make a successful marketing plan, firstly have to plan the objectives of  marketing plan. Followings are the objectives of Marrybrown’s marketing plan on the new product Nasi MarryBrown (Nasi Lemak). To make the traditional recipe as well-known and penetrate into international market. To increase sales by 50% in upcoming 6 months. To increase brand awareness among targeting customers. To cover the whole target market. To increase the number of new customers. To increase the visibility and memorability of brand identity. To create value and make a difference MARKETING STRATEGIES Planning the marketing strategies is the most important for a company in introducing the new products. To penetrate the new product into market, it is vital to plan the marketing strategies. There are 4 types of marketing tools in a marketing plan; which is called 4 Ps. In order to introduce Marry Brown’s new product Nasi MarryBrown (Nasi Lemak), the company decide to apply 4 Ps to contribute into a marketing mix. PRICING STRATEGY Pricing strategy is the chase of classifying the ideal price for a product. Pricing strategy in marketing combines with other principles which are known as product strategy, place strategy and promotion strategy so that a new set of product can penetrate into market in a short period of time and build customers’ satisfaction. Marrybrown decided to use three types of pricing strategy to introduce our new product: Nasi MarryBrown (Nasi Lemak). We decided to apply discount pricing, skim pricing and market penetrating pricing systems. Marrybrown applies discount pricing in order to increase traffic and attracting new customers. This discounted pricing magnets attention to the product and can be used as a catch to bring in customers who will possibly obtaining other items. We use the skim pricing system to find the ideal price point for our product, which is unique item with unknown consumer demand. Our goal is to maximize potential profits layer by layer until the ideal price is reached. The appliance of market penetrating plan is to gain market share early for Marry Brown. The introduction of Nasi MarryBrown to the market is provided at low end prices in hopes to gain the  attention, loyalty, and market share of the customer base. PRODUCT STRATEGY The product offering, the heart of an organization’s marketing program, is usually the starting point in creating a marketing mix. As a fast food restaurant Marrybrown offers variety of fast foods and other type of food which are uncommon for fast food restaurants. The products are not much different from its competitors like McDonald’s and KFC in Malaysia, especially products are much similar to KFC. The products offered are burgers, desserts, soft drinks, rice, chicken and sea food based menu. As it is mentioned above that Marrybrown operates its restaurants chains in mostly Asia, therefore Marrybrown’s new Nasi Marrybrown is segmented more for Asian customers. This is one of the reasons what makes Marrybrown stand out from its competitors. Especially, following its slogan: â€Å"Something different† which offers offers our new introduced product, despite that Marrybrown fast food restaurants, also offers different menu which are not common for fast food restaurants. The â€Å"Something different† menu are rice and noodle products, and specifically include the new introduced dish: Nasi MarryBrown. The reason for offering Nasi Marrybrown is because it is one of the local favourites and attracts Asians since the restaurants chain mainly operate in Asia. (Yuvaraj S, 2011). Zazali M. (2012) reports that Chan, the restaurant chain owner, says they had to be different, so instead of offering only fried chicken and burgers they also offer locals’ main diches such as Nasi Goreng, Nasi Lemak (Nasi MarryBrown) and Chicken and Satay. She continued claiming that their competitors from US started copying their business module. Moreover, Marry Brown’s the advantages on its products over its competitors offering only halal food in Muslim countries would help the newly introducing product to become marketable as they are halal food. The picture below is the newly introduced product DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY One of the important part of marketing is distribution or place some may say. Without it marketing would be almost impossible. Place or distribution, strategies are concerned with making products available when and where customers want them. Would you rather buy a kiwi fruit at the 24- hour  grocery store within walking distance or fly to Australia to pick your own? We have conducted an interview with an outlet operator of Marrybrown namely Ms Ponnorliza (2014). According to her, Marrybrown has tough time with distribution. Its outlets are not placed in much places needed, which means not many customers are accessible to Marrybrown restaurants. As she mentioned that one of its competitors, McDonalds, is placed almost every 5 kilometres while Marrybrown is hard to find. The picture above also proves that Marrybrown is not popular in many parts of Malaysia compared to its close competitors which are easily accessible. However, making Marrybrown more popular would cost time and more money. Therefore, we came out with the idea that Marrybrown should offer home delivery. Marrybrown does not offer home delivery service now, this is its one of downsides of it. Home delivery to near locations is good choice to customers who find inconvenient to go to nearest Marrybrown restaurants. Usually, restaurants accept orders via receiving calls from customers for delivery services. While Marrybrown should offer online sale which can be used by customers who have a little more time. Online order is more convenient than ordering by calling, because customers can easily choose which product to offer from online menu and they will have unlimited time to choose as well. PROMOTION STRATEGIES As we most of us know that promotion includes advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling. Promotion’s role in the marketing mix is to bring about mutually satisfying exchanges with target markets by informing, educating, persuading, and reminding them of the benefits of an organization or a product. Ms Ponnorliza (2014) says in the interview that Marrybrown does not do much about advertising on TVs or any other places. However, advertising new product (Nasi Marrybrown) heavily can help to draw attention to them. Since many people watch TVs, commercials on TV would be one of the best choices. Marrybrown should place more commercials on TV about Nasi  Marrybrown in order to attract more customers. Commercial timing is also important, therefore Marrybrown should consider it too. Placing its commercial about the new product before every meal time is the best choice, since people are feeling hungry and they need to eat. In today’s day, as it is information century people use internet, it is also a good opportunity to place web advertisement of the new product on most used websites, especially, social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Tweeter, Instagram and so on. This method helps Nasi Marrybrown to become more noticed. Road banners are also an effective way of advertising. Marrybrown should not forget about this too, placing its banners on the roads where traffic jam is more frequent is a good choice. Because when people are stuck in traffic jams there is more chance that they are paying attention to the advertisements. Especially, traffic jam where occur when people are coming back from their word, due to the fact that most people are hungry when they are coming back from work. Moreover, Ms Ponnorliza (2014) said that they visit and conduct different activities in different places in order to promote their products. This method is also useful and effective in promotion strategy. Additionally, telling about your about the product door to door is also one of effective ways of promoting. It can be done by mailing people’s mailboxes, mails which may include menus of the restaurant and pictures of the new promoted product. CONCLUSION According to our new marketing plan for Marrybrown product, we are planning to make it successful our plan within six months following by our objective. In our marketing plan, we are planning to apply our 4Ps marketing strategies properly so that our product can be selling well and increasing sales 50% in upcoming 6 months. Nowadays Marrybrown is using franchise system and open branches in other countries. So that we hope our marketing plan is going well not only in local market but also penetrating the international market. In conclusion, we hope our new product Nasi Marrybrown to be a best-selling product of Marrybrown in whole Malaysia and even internationally with suitable price. References Academia.edu (2014). Marketing research for Marrybrown. [Online] Available at: https://www.academia.edu/4918251/MARKETING_RESEARCH_FOR_MARRYBROWN [Accessed 18 July 2014] All Free Papers (2012). Missions, goals and values of Marrybrown. [Online] Available at: http://www.allfreepapers.com/English/Missions-Goals-Values-Marry-Brown/26848.html [Accessed 18 July 2014] MARRYBROWN. Awards. [Online] Available from: http://marrybrown.com.my/company/awards/. [Accessed: 29th July, 2014]. MARRYBROWN. Company History. [Online] Available from: http://marrybrown.com.my/company-history/. [Accessed: 29th July, 2014]. MARRYBROWN. Introduction. [Online] Available from: http://marrybrown.com.my/company/introduction/. [Accessed: 29th July, 2014]. PONNORLIZA. (2014) About Marrybrown. [Interview]. 23rd July 2014. YUVARAJ S. (2011). Marry Brown. [Online] Available from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/ 62773399/Marry-Brown. [Accessed: 24th July, 2014]. ZAZALI M. (2012) Marrybrown chain prospering after many trials and tribulations. The Star. [Online] Available from:http://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2012%2F3%2F28%2 Fmetrobiz%2F10997466. [Accessed: 24th July, 2014].

The Secret of Ella and Micha Chapter 18

Ella Micha won't text me back and it's eating away at my mind. I need to find out where he is, but Caroline's making it difficult. She's a photographer and wants to take pictures of the different views of our town. I take her to the lake first because it's the sunnier side of town, and pull over in a few different turnouts that give her various views. When we reach the bridge, she gets really enthusiastic and wants pictures of it too. â€Å"It has so much history to it,† she says. â€Å"And it probably carries a lot of memories for people.† I wonder if Caroline is a mind reader on top of a photographer. A thin cloud of dust surrounds us as I tap the brakes and park the car just at the brink of the bridge and she hops out with her camera bag on her shoulder. Lila and I trek after her, taking our sweet time, but I halt at the line that splits the road from the bridge. â€Å"So is this the bridge?† Lila asks, watching me through her sunglasses. I stare at the spot on the ground where Micha and I stood kissing in the rain. â€Å"Yeah, this is the bridge.† With a quiver in my heart, I step onto the concrete and walk up to the railing. Gripping the bar, I gaze out at the lake, glistening in the sunlight, so much brighter than that rainy night. Caroline clicks her camera, getting the lake at every angle while Lila roams to the other side. The wind blows through my hair and I shut my eyes, going back to that night. I'd been cleaning out my mom's medicine cabinet earlier that morning and had come across the bottle of pills she'd taken to keep her delusions under control. I'd wondered if they'd worked for her and how they made her mind see life. So I took one to see for myself and then headed off with Micha to a party. As soon as I'd climbed in his car, he'd sensed something was off with me. â€Å"You look out of it,† he said. â€Å"Maybe we should just stay in tonight.† I shook my head and motioned for him to drive. Frowning, he drove us to the party, but he kept a close eye on me almost the entire night, following me like a puppy. Usually, I didn't mind, but I grew restless with the desire to figure out what the hell my mother was thinking. So when Micha got preoccupied by a girl, I cornered Grantford and asked him to drive me to the bridge. He had happily obliged, thinking he was going to get some. When we arrived at the bridge it was raining buckets of water. I thanked him politely and told him he could go. He was pissed and started yammering something about why the hell did he drive me out here. I shrugged and slammed the door shut, stepping out into the rain. He spun away from the bridge, the tires of his pickup kicking up gravel and mud all over my boots. I walked over to the railing and stepped up onto the curb, observing the water through the veil of rain. But it wasn't close enough, so I stepped up onto the beam just like I remembered her doing. It still didn't make sense why she did it – why she thought she could fly and I don't think it ever will. I jerk away from my reminiscing and concentrate on Caroline, who's still snapping pictures, with the long lens of her camera close to my face. â€Å"You're a deep thinker,† she remarks and clicks her camera again. â€Å"And you photograph well.† I shake my head. â€Å"No, I'm not. Not really.† She snaps another picture and moves the camera away. â€Å"As a photographer I get to see through a totally different eye. I think it makes me see people differently – more clearly.† â€Å"Like a mirror?† â€Å"Yeah, kind of.† She turns the lens toward the lake and starts snapping pictures of it. I recline against the railing and scroll through my messages. I only have one, Micha's voicemail from a few weeks ago. I decide maybe it's time. I press dial and put it up to my ear. â€Å"Hey Ella, it's Micha,† he says nervously, unlike himself, and sighs â€Å"Well, that was a stupid opening line, so pretend you didn't hear that.† A smile tugs at the corners of my lips. That sounds more like him. â€Å"Anyway, I'm kind of irritated that you just took off and haven't called.† He pauses and I can hear Ethan in the background. â€Å"Actually, I'm fucking pissed off. I don't even know what to say. You just bail after everything we've been through. Do you know how crazy I've been wondering where you were or if you were even alive? My heart compresses in my chest. I've never heard him so upset. â€Å"You just bailed out on everyone and people need you, even if you don't think so. Grady's sick – he has cancer and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He inhales a shaky breath. â€Å"I still love you†¦ I don't know what else to say and there's probably not even a point of saying anymore†¦ you won't call me back.† It clicks and the message ends. It's not what I was imagining. I'd never once looked at it from his side – how worried he must have been. I send him another text, but again, he doesn't respond. *** One week passes and I still don't hear from Micha. He won't call me or answer my texts, and his phone is going straight to voicemail. His mom has no idea where he is either and she's starting to get really worried. Ever since I returned from the bridge, little images of what happened when Micha picked me up that night have been flickering through my head. Something infinite happened that night, not with Micha, but with me. I arrive at the conclusion, while I'm sitting out on my porch, staring at his vacant driveway, that it's time to get to the bottom of what's going on with Micha. There is only one person I could think of who might know where he is. Ethan. And I need backup. â€Å"What are we trying to get out of him?† Lila asks as I drive up to the shop Ethan works at. â€Å"Where Micha is.† I tell her, putting the shifter into park. â€Å"And I think Ethan might know.† Her forehead scrunches as she eyes the open garage door. Ethan is behind a car being worked on, tossing a screwdriver and catching it like a baseball. â€Å"But why am I here?† â€Å"Because you're my backup.† â€Å"And what exactly is it you want me to do?† â€Å"I'm not sure yet.† I bite my nail, assessing the situation. Ethan is dressed in a nice pair of jeans and plaid button-down shirt, not his work clothes, which means he can leave if he wants to and he probably will, making this as difficult as possible. Especially if Micha told him not to tell me. He tips his head back and laughs at something his dad said. Then his eyes find my dad's Firebird and his expression drops. I open the door and he throws down the tool and runs through the shop. I jog across the gravel and swing open the front door, leaving Lila behind. Sitting behind the counter is Mrs. Gregory, Ethan's mother who has the same dark hair and brown eyes as Ethan. She looks up quickly from a magazine and her eyes brighten. â€Å"Ella, is that you?† She gets up from the stool and rounds the counter to give me a hug. â€Å"I didn't know you were back, honey.† â€Å"For the summer, I am.† My eyes skim the room and the shop. â€Å"Is Ethan in there?† She points over her shoulder. â€Å"He just ran back into the storage room. You want me to go get him?† â€Å"Would you mind if I did?† I ask politely. â€Å"Sure, hun.† She steps aside and lets me behind the counter. The storage room is lined with rows and rows of shelves holding parts for cars. It's quiet, dark, and the sink has a drip. â€Å"Ethan,† I say, shutting the door quietly behind me. â€Å"I know you're in here.† â€Å"I hear a shuffle from the back corner diagonal from me. I hurry down the tire aisle, peeking through the shelf, and catch him running up the other side. I skitter backwards, hoping to cut him off at the end by the door. â€Å"Ethan will you please talk to me?† My voice echoes back at me. Looking left then right, I exit the aisle. â€Å"Look, I know he told you where he went, so will you please just tell me†¦ or at least tell me if he's okay.† He suddenly reveals himself from an aisle a few rows down. â€Å"He told me not to tell you where he was.† I press my lips together at the sting in my heart. â€Å"I need to know. I'm worried about him.† He props his elbow on the edge of a shelf. â€Å"Well, now you know how he's felt for the last eight months.† The painful feeling of reality sinks in. â€Å"Please, please, will you just tell me where he is. It's killing me not knowing.† He eyes me over, like he's hunting for my sincerity. â€Å"He went to see his dad.† My jaw almost hits the floor. â€Å"When did he find out where his dad was?† Ethan sighs and leans against the shelf. â€Å"He started calling the house a few weeks ago, asking to talk to Micha. Micha wouldn't talk to him, but then a few days ago, he finally decided it was time to go see him.† â€Å"Is he still with his dad?† I ask. He hesitates. â€Å"No†¦ Let's just say the visit didn't go very well.† I force the lump in my throat down. â€Å"Is he okay?† â€Å"I'm not sure†¦.He was staying with some of our old friends over at Farrows Park the last time I talked to him.† â€Å"Is he coming back?† â€Å"Again, I'm not sure.† I sink to the cold concrete floor and let my head fall into my hands. â€Å"Why didn't he tell me?† Ethan puffs out a loud breath and sits down beside me. â€Å"Because he didn't want you dealing with his problems on top of your own. He worries about you all the time. It's kind of annoying.† I raise my head and scowl at him. He chuckles and nudges me with his elbow. â€Å"What? I'm the one who's had to listen to him talk about you for the last eight months. At one point, I almost stabbed my ears out just so I didn't have to hear it.† I give a gentle pat to his knee. â€Å"Pretend all you want. You're not as bad of a guy as you want people to think.† He comprehends the deeper meaning to my words. â€Å"Yeah, yeah, say what you want, but deep down, I'm just your average douche bag, like every other guy out there.† Laughing, we get up and go out to the lobby, where there's a guy waiting at the front counter. He walks me to the door and stares out at Lila sitting out on the hood of my car examining her watch. â€Å"So what are you going to do?† he asks as I push open the door. â€Å"I'm not sure yet,† I say. â€Å"I doubt you're going to tell me where the house is that he's staying at.† â€Å"I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to go there. He needs to clear his head.† He backs up toward the register with his hands stuffed into his pockets. â€Å"I got customers to take care of.† I meet Lila at the car and she slides off the hood. â€Å"Did he tell you anything?† We climb in the car and I quickly explain to her the vague details of what happened. â€Å"So where are we going?† she asks, buckling her seatbelt. The sunlight sparkles through the windshield and into my eyes. â€Å"We're going home.† *** A couple more days drag by and I still don't hear anything from Micha. It baffles me how much I miss him, but I do my best to keep busy, not wanting to get sucked up in the loneliness and worry. Dean and Caroline went home about a week ago. Caroline told me they'd come back to visit before the summer was over or she would at least see me again at the wedding, which is in October. Lila is out for the day with Ethan, not on a date, something they both insisted when I brought it up. My dad is locked in his room. He had a rough night and got into a fight. I received a call from Denny at two o'clock in the morning telling me to come pick him up. Deciding I need a break from my house, I peek in on my dad who is fast asleep, and then drive over to Grady's house. Amy's car is parked in front of the trailer and the front door is wide open, swaying in the wind a little. I hop out of the car as she walks outside with a bag over her shoulder and a box of Grady's stuff in her arms. I fear the worst has happened. â€Å"Is everything okay?† She sighs, transferring the box to the side of her hip to free her hand so she can get the car door open. â€Å"He caught a bad case of pneumonia and he's been taken to the hospital over in Monroe.† I brace my hand on the trunk of the car for support. â€Å"Is he okay?† Shaking her head, she sets the box on the seat and slams the door shut with her hip. â€Å"His body's already fightin' cancer. This just makes things worse.† â€Å"I need to go see him,† I mumble and turn for my car. â€Å"He can't have visitors right now, Ella,† she says empathetically. â€Å"His immune system's too low.† I frown. â€Å"Will you let me know when he can?† She gives me a small smile, but there's something in her eyes I don't like. â€Å"Yeah, hun. I will.† As I back down the driveway, watching her lock up, I feel helpless and out-of-control. I want to run away, back to Vegas, or somewhere else equally as far away, so I won't have to feel it. But I don't. *** I try not to stress too much about Grady, but my thoughts keep drifting to him. Whether he's in a hospital bed with sterilized walls? Or did Amy take a box of his stuff to fix it up for him? â€Å"What song is this?† Lila is lying on her stomach in my bed, flipping through the pages of a magazine. â€Å"‘Black Sun' by Jo Mango,† I say, sharpening one of my charcoal pencils over the garbage in my bedroom. â€Å"It's sad.† She frowns, resting her chin in her hand. â€Å"It makes me want to cry.† â€Å"It's a good song to draw to.† I return to my drawing on the floor. The dark lines of it form pieces of a shattered mirror and I start sketching a picture of a guitar inside one of them. When I'm done, each piece will hold something about my life, but it might take me a while to finish it. Lila raises her head away from her hand and glances at the window. â€Å"Did you hear that?† There's shouting coming from outside, loud enough to be heard over the music. I shade one of the corners with my pinky. â€Å"It's probably just the neighbors.† The yelling gets louder and Lila sits up nervously and draws back the curtain. â€Å"Ella, there's a man and a woman fighting out in front of the driveway.† I set my pencil down on the floor and go over to the window. There's a short, fat man and a tall, slender woman yelling at each other just outside the boundaries of my front yard. â€Å"That's the Anderson's,† I explain. â€Å"They always do that.† â€Å"We should stop it,† she says worriedly. â€Å"He might hurt her.† â€Å"I'll take care of it,† I tell her. â€Å"You stay here.† I pad down the stairs, barefoot and in my boxer shorts and tank top, and poke my head out the door, but the Anderson's have vanished from the street. The lyrics and music of â€Å"Behind Blue Eyes† by The Who is blasting from the stereo in Micha's room next door. It's his sad mood song, the one he lets play over and over again when he's depressed. The lights aren't on in the house, but the one in the garage shines brightly into the night. Sticking out of the open door is the back end of his Chevelle. There's a large dent in the bumper that wasn't there when he left and a scratch on the corner of the fender. Walking down the steps the concrete is ice-cold against my bare feet. I spot him through the window of the garage, searching the shelf for something with a cigarette in his mouth. I watch him move, my pulse instantly speeding up, and I have to work to keep breathing. As he pulls away from the shelf with a box in his hand, he turns his head toward the window, like he senses me out here. Our eyes lock and collide. He sets the box down and disappears out of my view. A few seconds later he walks out of the garage. His jeans ride low on his hips and the porch light hits his chest, highlighting his well-defined muscles and the cursive font of the tattoo on his rib. â€Å"When did you start smoking again?† I inquire from my driveway. He takes the cigarette out of his mouth with his eyes on me. â€Å"I slipped up a few days ago†¦ There's just too much going on, I guess.† I take a few small steps across the driveway and my heart thuds in my chest. â€Å"Is it because of your dad?† Micha reaches the grass, just before the fence divides our houses. â€Å"How do you know about that?† I stop just short of the fence and wrap my arms around myself to keep warm. â€Å"Ethan told me.† He shakes his head, annoyed. â€Å"He's worse than a girl.† â€Å"Hey.† I feign offense, attempting to lighten his mood. â€Å"Not all girls are bad. I've always been an excellent secret keeper. You know that.† He places his hands on the fence and clutches at the links. â€Å"I don't know if that's true anymore.† He gestures his hand at me. â€Å"Maybe this was who you always were. Maybe this place was just getting in the way of you.† He's upset and I need to get to the bottom of why. â€Å"You could have told me about your dad.† â€Å"Could I of?† The front of his thighs push against the fence. â€Å"I don't think you can handle it right now – you can barely handle your own problems.† I reduce the small gap left between the fence and myself. â€Å"Try me.† His eyes examine my face, looking for something deep within me. Then his head falls down, defeated, and he lets out a slow breath. â€Å"It was almost as painful as that day you ran off. I mean, he has a whole other fucking family†¦.† His voice cracks and he clears his throat. â€Å"Like we weren't good enough or something.† The ache in his voice nearly kills me. I close my eyes and tell myself I can do this – that I'm the strong one at the moment. My eyes open and I put my finger under his chin, forcing him to look at me. His eyes are glassy, like he's about to cry, and he tries to look away. I place an unsteady hand on his cheek and maintain his gaze. â€Å"I know it hurts right now,† I say, grappling my voice even. â€Å"But it will get better. It'll just take some time and I'll be here for you this time. I promise.† He looks unconvinced. Not knowing what else to say, I stand on my tiptoes, lean over the fence, and lightly graze my lips across his. Heat caresses my mouth and skin. â€Å"I need you right now,† Micha murmurs against my lips with so much desire in his eyes that my knees buckle. â€Å"I need this right now.† His hand cups around the back of my neck, much gentler than the intensity in his voice, and he crashes my body against his. He tempts me with a soft brush of his lips and every ounce of sexual tension between us explodes. I can't help myself – I fall into him. My lips part willingly, lost in the mind-numbing moment as he slips his tongue deep inside my mouth, devouring me thoroughly. He tastes like cigarettes mingled with mint and the scent of his cologne is intoxicating. My hands trace up the front of his bare chest, and I loop my arms around his neck. The links of the fence dig into my skin as we crush it between our bodies, trying to bury ourselves into one another. Micha pulls away for a second and my lips falter in protest, but he lifts me up over the fence and encourages my legs around his waist. My inner thighs burn as they graze his hips. Every part of him touches me and it makes my body flame. I arch into him, moaning as his lips return to mine even more ravenously. â€Å"Oh my God, this feels so good.† He groans, before heading toward his house. â€Å"What are you doing?† I whisper against his lips, knowing where he's going, but I'm not sure I'm ready for it yet. â€Å"Shh†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His warm tongue slips deep inside my mouth and I forget about arguing. His hands hold me up by the ass as he kicks the back door open and stumbles into his kitchen. He knocks over a lamp and bumps into the wall as he carries me blindly down the hall and into his room. Then we collapse on the bed, tangled together. The music is loud and he reaches over to the stereo and turns it down so it filters through the room softly. â€Å"Ow,† I squeal, squirming. â€Å"Something just poked me.† â€Å"I'm pretty sure that's supposed to happen,† Micha jokes with feral eyes. I swat his chest and reach underneath me, retrieving a drumstick. He snatches it from my hand, laughing softly as he chucks it over his shoulder and it lands somewhere in the dark. His face turns serious as he smoothes my hair back, looking into my eyes so passionately, my nerves crack through. â€Å"Do you know I realized I loved you when we were like sixteen? But I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you'd run away.† I prop up on my elbows, making our faces inches away. Strands of his hair hang in my face. â€Å"But I was normal back then. Or at least partly normal.† He lets his forehead rest against mine. â€Å"Yeah, but I thought that's how things were supposed to happen when people were in love.† I realize how bad I must have hurt him when I ran off after he tried to tell me he loved me. â€Å"Micha, I'm sorry.† His jaw spasms and he tips his head back up. When he kisses me again, it feels different somehow – more intimate. My apprehension starts to emerge, but I choke it down and let my head fall back against the pillow. His lips follow mine and he kisses all the fear out of me. My chest presses into his as my neck arches against his trail of kisses along my skin, sucking and nipping at it all the way down. â€Å"Fuck,† he groans when his mouth reaches the curve of my breast. The fabric of my tank top is thin and I don't have a bra on. Hesitantly, his tongue lightly slides between my breasts. Instantly, my nipples harden and an irrepressible moan escapes from my lips as desire takes over my body. I sit up, stunning him, and he moves back. â€Å"What's wrong?† he asks. Sucking in a deep breath of air, I shut my eyes and wiggle my shirt off. My chest heaves, bare and exposed, as my lungs strain for air. I've never been this far with a guy before – never wanted to. Getting close to someone meant getting attached and getting attached has only brought me hurt in the past. But Micha's different. He always has been. I just didn't realize it until now. He takes me in deliberately and then covers his body with mine, colliding our bare chest together as we collapse back onto the mattress. My fingers tangle in his soft hair as his hands travel down my shoulders to my breasts. My back bows up, seeking to feed a starvation inside my body, but unsure how to do it. Pausing, I curve my hips and rub up against him. A shot of ecstasy swells through my body and a gasp fumbles from my lips. Hearing the unrestrained noise sends me into a state of anxiety and I fall back to reality. I'm not sure if my mind is ready to go where my body obviously wants to – whether I can allow myself to completely let go. â€Å"Micha wait,† I say in a strained voice. He jerks back quickly, his hand still cupping my breast. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"I'm sorry. I just can't†¦ I don't think I'm ready yet.† He kisses my forehead tenderly and boosts up on his elbows, his body still hovering over me. With his fingertip, he sketches a line from my temple to my jaw and my eyelids flutter. â€Å"Will you let me try one more thing?† I open my eyes, dazed from his touch. â€Å"I'm not sure if I can go any farther tonight.† â€Å"Just trust me, okay?† he says. â€Å"And if it gets to be too much, just say and I promise I'll stop.† I bite at my lip, knowing where he's going with this. â€Å"Okay.† Unhurriedly, with his eyes fastened on mine, he moves his mouth and kisses the hollow of my neck, sending shivers over my skin. His lips move downward and linger just above my breast. My eyes shut as his mouth touches my nipple and his tongue slips out over it. He sucks on it hard and I swear to God I can't breathe. My legs vice-grip around him and the longer he devours me, the fiercer his mouth gets. With each movement of his tongue, my thighs burn hotter. I need†¦ something. â€Å"Micha, I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Shh†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he whispers and trails rapturous kisses up my neck. â€Å"I'll take care of it.† His fingers slide down my bare stomach and to the bottom of my shorts, leaving a path of heat along my skin. As his lips find mine again, his finger slips deep inside me. The lyrics of the music fade away as my panic bursts into a thousand blissful pieces. Micha When Ella screams out my name, with her head tipped back, her eyes lost, it's unlike anything I've ever experienced before. She trusted me enough to do things to her that no one else has and it makes me feel alive again. Of course, my dick is so hard it actually hurts. â€Å"Behind Blue Eyes† by The Who is stuck on repeat and fills up the moment. It's the song I turn on when I feel down, but I don't think it's going to be that anymore – not after tonight. I brush her hair away from her forehead. â€Å"Are you okay?† Her green eyes are glazed over as she nods her head up and down. There's a look on her face that brings a smile to my lips. â€Å"I'm better than fine.† She leans up and kisses me. I draw her in, intensifying the kiss, then let her go, needing to cool down. â€Å"You should stay here tonight.† I expect her to protest, but she nods as she tugs her shirt back over her head. â€Å"Okay, but I'll have to use your phone to text Lila. I didn't bring mine with me.† I kiss her forehead, then her temple, breathing her in. â€Å"I'm gonna go take a shower. I'll be right back.† Confining a laugh, she reaches for my phone on my nightstand. â€Å"A cold one?† I grab some clothes out of my dresser and back out the doorway. â€Å"You better watch it, Ella May. Or I may decide against it and you'll just have to deal with me for the rest of the night.† She flops back on the bed as she sends a text. â€Å"Maybe that's what I'm hoping for.† Shaking my head, I throw my clothes on the floor and jump onto the bed, putting a knee on each side of her. She laughs as I playfully trap her arms above her head. I move my lips next to her ear and gently take a nip at her. I breathe on her neck, letting my warm breath cause her to shudder, teasing her and driving both our bodies crazy. She lets out a moan and I feel her legs start to move around me. Sighing, I pull away before I get even more wound up. â€Å"Okay, I have to go take a shower.† I climb off the bed, watching her all the way to the door. Once I'm out of the room, all of the pain I've been feeling about my dad smothers me again, but all I can do is keep breathing.

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Why Animal Experimentation Should be Banned Essay

Why Animal Experimentation Should be Banned - Essay Example This essay stresses that animal experimentation is an integral part of medical science. However, it seems to be that this is in part due to it being a scientific institution rather than something which is of great benefit. Medical research has relied on animals and animal models for such a long time that some scientists, perhaps, are unable to see the benefits of alternative means of experimentation. Animal models have been used for decades, and they are familiar, and even if they are not specifically accurate when it comes to modeling human disease, they are at least predictable and well-characterized. may be that many of the new techniques that have the potential to replace animal experimentation are simply not-well known enough to be considered acceptable replacements for animal models that are considered more reliable. This paper makes a conclusion that it is truly impossible to see how using animals in medical experiments can be considered ethical. When the results are so often misleading, sometimes to the point where harm is caused to humans, how can we possibly justify the suffering and slaughter of millions of animals worldwide every year? The simple answer is that we can’t. Animal testing is not effective or reliable enough, it is morally and ethically wrong, and there are increasing numbers of safe, accurate, and reliable alternatives to this practice. Animal experimentation must and should stop.

Contempory Issues in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Contempory Issues in Business - Essay Example Virgin Trains is known for its reliable, fast, and quality trains not only in the past but today as well. Moreover, it is now considered to be one of the most trustworthy and experienced train companies operating in Britain (Virgin Trains. 2005). Technology Used by Virgin Trains Virgin Trains is a perfect example of a business organization which has made use of technology in the most efficient manner. It has employed quite a few types of technologies to improve its areas of functions. Tilting technology employed by Virgins Trains has resulted in tremendous amount of boost in speed, thereby considerably reducing the journey times between different places on West Coast Main Line. Virgin Group is making the use of tilting technology in all of its upcoming models. Virgin Group has signed a contract with ALSTOM Transport, a French multinational company, to manufacture tilting trains for the West Coast Main Line. Virgin Trains also uses another interesting and highly interactive technology of Wi-Fi that allows passengers to swiftly access wireless internet on their laptops or electronic handheld devices while travelling on the train. In addition to that, Virgin Trains has opted for GOSS iCM (Intelligent Content Management) as its Web Content Management System. The installation of this intranet system has facilitated the utilization of Web 2.0 Applications which provides information related to weather, signals, train departures and arrivals. Virgin Trains has also been successful in developing a hi-tech system on its trains and stations such as Birmingham New Street. This system comprises of boards which display the departure and arrival times, and get automatically updated through the tracks on a live basis, thus exhibiting the effectiveness of Real Time Technology (GOSS, 2012). Impact of Technology on Virgin Trains When Virgin Trains executed its first project of implementing tilting technology in Advanced Passenger Train, the news promulgated around the world and t he company’s status enhanced with the word of mouth marketing done by the passengers. This technology also helped Virgin Trains in enhancing its relationships with Fiat Ferroviaria and ALSTON, the two gigantic corporations that had formed a mutual enterprise to supply tilting services to the models of Virgin Trains. They completed their first project of Virgin Trains which was quite a huge success for the company and at the same time proved a strong opponent against other high-speed trains in the country (Lagandijk et al. 2005). Use of wireless internet over the board has also enabled Virgin Trains to mark out their separate identity and has also proved to be a way of gaining greater market share by targeting business travellers who find this service very useful (BTN, 2011). The decision to setup Web Content management System (WCMS), which functions as an interactive Intranet has instilled the company with the components of social networking. In this manner, the improvements made in the online availability of information have certainly yielded positive results for the company. The transfer of data to the online system has resulted in more efficient use of time and resources for the organization with reduction in paper consumption and red tapes as well. There were several technical issues particularly related to communication associated with the traditional legacy notes system of Virgin Trains. However, the installation

Why Animal Experimentation Should be Banned Essay

Why Animal Experimentation Should be Banned - Essay Example This essay stresses that animal experimentation is an integral part of medical science. However, it seems to be that this is in part due to it being a scientific institution rather than something which is of great benefit. Medical research has relied on animals and animal models for such a long time that some scientists, perhaps, are unable to see the benefits of alternative means of experimentation. Animal models have been used for decades, and they are familiar, and even if they are not specifically accurate when it comes to modeling human disease, they are at least predictable and well-characterized. may be that many of the new techniques that have the potential to replace animal experimentation are simply not-well known enough to be considered acceptable replacements for animal models that are considered more reliable. This paper makes a conclusion that it is truly impossible to see how using animals in medical experiments can be considered ethical. When the results are so often misleading, sometimes to the point where harm is caused to humans, how can we possibly justify the suffering and slaughter of millions of animals worldwide every year? The simple answer is that we can’t. Animal testing is not effective or reliable enough, it is morally and ethically wrong, and there are increasing numbers of safe, accurate, and reliable alternatives to this practice. Animal experimentation must and should stop.

Employment Law for Managers ( See Assignment Criteria ) Essay

Employment Law for Managers ( See Assignment Criteria ) - Essay Example For one to be eligible to the claim that employee must have completed the qualifying or probationary period if the employer is small business type or six months in case the employer is a large enterprise (FWA, 2009). Claims are normally made to the Fair Work Australia and this should be within 14 days of being dismissed is the dismissal is unfair. This matter is then put to review by the conciliation conference where most of the issues that are involved in the case are normally resolved between the two feuding parties. If not solved at this level, then the applicant reserves the right to request for a proceeding of the case to a further full hearing (Elizabeth, 2009, pp.1-4). Unfair dismissal occurs if the FWA is convinced that the worker has actually been dismissed; it was harsh or unreasonable; was inconsistent with Small Business Fair Dismissal Code; and that it was not genuine redundancy case. Dismissal is simply the termination of one’s employment at the will of the employer and this does not include demotion. It also does not include a reduction from the person’s salary or duties in a significant manner and the person still is employed by the employer that did effect the demotion. In accordance with the current provisions various matters would be considered while addressing the issues of whether a given dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable. These considerations do include taking into account the reason for dismissal and whether this was valid or not for that dismissal that is duly related to the capacity of a given person or his/her conduct; in case that person being dismissed was actually given notice of the reasons that pertain to his or her dismissal; whether such a dismissed person was given a reasonable chance or opportunity to lodge a response to any of the reasons put forward that are related to the conduct or capacity of the person; if there are any unreasonable refusal by the person’s

Analysis and Design of Software Architecture Essay Example for Free

Analysis and Design of Software Architecture Essay Outline 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Development Process Requirements Quality Attributes Runtime QA Non-runtime QA Requirements Analysis: Example Architectural Analysis Design Architectural Views Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 2 / 78 Development Process Methodology Diï ¬â‚¬erent software development processes have software architecture as a part of the process Rational uniï ¬ ed process Spiral development method Agile development method Evolutionary rapid development Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 3 / 78 Development Process Place of SA in SDP Figure: Source: Software Architecture Primer by Reekie, McAdam Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 4 / 78 Development Process Methodology After the initial requirements analysis but before software design The ï ¬ rst architecture is also a communication basis with the customer Inputs for the development of the architecture: 1 2 Requirements Context (technical, organizational, business, ) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 5 / 78 Requirements Analysis At the beginning there is always a customer who wants a speciï ¬ c software system Customer â€Å"wishes† are always informal Interviews, some documents, some Excel tables, We need to analyze such informal records and structure it Requirements engineering is a huge ï ¬ eld but we just illustrate here one possibility Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 6 / 78 Requirements Analysis The results of the requirements analysis: 1 2 Functional requirements Non-functional requirements (a) Runtime qualities (b) Non-runtime qualities 3 Contextual requirements Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 7 / 78 Requirements Functional requirements A technical expression of what a system will do Arise from stakeholder needs Structured language: software requirements speciï ¬ cation Use cases: structured description of user interactions with the system Formal models: e. g. state-charts Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 8 / 78 Requirements Non-functional requirements Other needs than directly functional or business-related Generally expressed in the form of quality-attributes Runtime quality attributes Non-runtime quality attributes Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 9 / 78 Requirements Contextual requirements What technology is available? Expertise of the development team Previous experience of users/customers Technical, business, market, legal, ethical, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 10 / 78 Quality Attributes Need to address QAs Without any need for performance, scalability, any implementation of functionality is acceptable However, we always need to take into account the broader context E.g. hardware, technological, organizational, business, The functionality must be there but without proper addressing of QA it is worth nothing Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 11 / 78 Quality Attributes Inï ¬â€šuence on QAs Typically, a single component can not address a QA completely Any QA is inï ¬â€šuenced by multiple components and their interactions E.g. a UI component has a high degree of usability: however, usability of the system is compromised if a data management component has poor performance in accessing the data → users need to wait long → poor usability Components and their interactions → software architecture QAs are directly inï ¬â€šuenced by software architecture Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 12 / 78 Runtime QA PURS PURS (performance, usability, reliability, security) Performance: time performance, memory, disk, or network utilization Usability: human factors, easy to learn, easy to use, Reliability: availability, safety, Security: authentication, data protection, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 13 / 78 Runtime QA Performance Time performance is most obvious Measured in the number of operations per second Also, latency: the time from receiving an input and producing an output Other measures: memory, disk, network utilization or throughput Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 14 / 78 Runtime QA Performance Diï ¬â‚¬erent measures are typically traded oï ¬â‚¬ against each other E.g. increasing throughput may increase latency Time performance might be increased with more memory True performance of the system is not only deï ¬ ned by performance of single components But also by their interactions and the overall processes in the system Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 15 / 78 Runtime QA Performance factors Choice of algorithms Database design Communication Resource management Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 16 / 78 Runtime QA Choice of algorithms Performance of algorithms is measured by their complexity (big O) E.g. linear complexity: O(n) Running time increases in direct proportion to the size of the data E.g. polynomial complexity: O(n2 ) It does not scale: double size of the data running time increased by factor of 4 Goal: O(nlog (n)) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 17 / 78 Runtime QA Database design Performance of database queries can dominate the overall performance The design of the tables has enormous impact on the overall performance Techniques to improve it: lazy evaluation, replication, caching Some additional cost to manage replication and/or caching In-memory databases (real-time systems) Developing a new database (search engines) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 18 / 78 Runtime QA Communication Network overhead Package data according to a protocol, sending data over network Each layer means additional overhead Think how to use network: packaging binary data as XML!? Use more compact formats, e.g. JSON vs XML Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 19 / 78 Runtime QA Resources management Overloaded components need to be avoided A chain is only as strong as its weakest link! E.g. a single-threaded shared resource is in use: all other threads are blocked Very diï ¬Æ'cult to track down Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 20 / 78 Runtime QA Usability Usability is a very rich ï ¬ eld If usability is important you will need a usability expert Combination of many factors: responsiveness, graphical design, user expectations, conï ¬ dence Measuring with time taken to complete task, error rate, time to response, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 21 / 78 Runtime QA Responsiveness and data availability An example of relations between QAs Usability requires that the system responds to user actions within a certain period of time If it is a complex system this need translates into performance along the path of the user action Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 22 / 78 Runtime QA Responsiveness and data availability Figure: Usability vs. Performance Source: Software Architecture Primer by Reekie, McAdam Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 23 / 78 Runtime QA Discussion on relations between QAs This diagram shows that we need to pay attention to tuning communication between B and Y Performance of the communication channel is a consequence of a usability requirement Do we need to support security of the communication channel? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 24 / 78 Runtime QA Discussion on relations between QAs This diagram shows that we need to pay attention to tuning communication between B and Y Performance of the communication channel is a consequence of a usability requirement Do we need to support security of the communication channel? We support QAs always only as a response to user needs Never because it is needed anyway! Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 24 / 78 Runtime QA Discussion on relations between QAs If we support security even if it is not needed Very often QAs exercise opposing forces on the system Security requires a lot of checking: performance will suï ¬â‚¬er → usability will suï ¬â‚¬er A minimalistic approach: develop only what is required! Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 25 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability In traditional engineering disciplines reliability measures the failure rate of the system Failure rate speciï ¬ ed by mean time to failure MTTF A related measure: mean time between failures MTBF MTTR is mean time to repair A is availability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 26 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability MTBF = MTTF + MTTR A= A= MTTF MTBF MTTF MTTF +MTTR E.g. expected availability of Web systems: Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 27 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability MTBF = MTTF + MTTR A= A= MTTF MTBF MTTF MTTF +MTTR E.g. expected availability of Web systems: 1 (always up-and-running) =⇒ MTTF → ∞ Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 27 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability Increasing reliability involves testing However, impossible to prove that a system is correct, i.e. without bugs Acceptability of errors depends on the  nature of a system Personal desktop use: bugs are typically tolerated Enterprise level: medium reliability level High-reliable systems: bugs can be fatal Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 28 / 78 Runtime QA Security Increasingly important aspect of systems is security Because systems are exposed to threats Especially networked systems As with other QAs security is a set of related responses to user needs Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 29 / 78 Runtime QA Authentication Requirement for identiï ¬ cation of users with a system Users present credentials so that the system can identify them Typically username and password Other forms: certiï ¬ cates, smart cards, biometric features Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 30 / 78 Runtime QA Authorization After authentication authorization which functions and what data is available for users This information is captured in an authorization model Access control lists (ACL) deï ¬ ne who can access and how a resource might be accessed E.g. read access, write access, delete access, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 31 / 78 Runtime QA Authorization Drawbacks of ACLs It is resource based, e.g. a page in a CMS Often, authorization needs to address functions or tasks Also, managing of ACLs is diï ¬Æ'cult, e.g. subresources of resources Also, performance problems with checking Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 32 / 78 Runtime QA Authorization Another model: role-based access control (RBAC) Roles are used to manage many-to-many relations between users and permissions Roles are used to represent the job functions, e.g. author, teacher, student in an E-learning system Permissions are modeled as parts of roles, e.g. create page, create tests, Users are than assigned to a role and acquire automatically permissions of that role Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 33 / 78 Non-runtime QA MeTRiCS MeTRiCS (maintainability, evolvability, testability, reusability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability, scalability) Maintainability: how easy can you ï ¬ x bugs and add new features Evolvability: how easy your system copes with changes Testability: how easy can you test the system for correctness Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 34 / 78 Non-runtime QA MeTRiCS Reusability: how easy is to use software elements in other contexts, e.g. a software library Integrability: how easy you can make the separately developed components of the system work correctly together Conï ¬ gurability: how easy can a system be conï ¬ gured for diï ¬â‚¬erent installations and target groups Scalability: how easy the system copes with a higher performance demand Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 35 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability This QA considers the whole lifecycle of a system What happens during system operation? Property that allows a system to be modiï ¬ ed after deployment wirh ease E.g. extensible, modiï ¬ ed behavior, ï ¬ xing errors Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 36 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability At the design and implementation level Code comments Object-oriented principles and design rules Consistent programming styles Documentation Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 37 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability Maintainability is very important because any software system will change over time Experience shows that such changes tend to degrade the system over time Software systems are subject to entropy The cumulative eï ¬â‚¬ect of changes degrades the quality of the system Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 38 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability The systems tend to become messy systems Regardless of how a nice plan you had at beginning Design for change recollect OO design rules Abstract messy parts of the system so that they can be exchanged Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 39 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability Don’t be afraid to refactor and rewrite and redesign Each software vendor does this with major versions Create throw-away prototypes Think out-of-box and innovate Don’t always follow a hype very often nothing new in hypes E.g. Web services Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 40 / 78 Non-runtime QA Testability Means to improve testability Test cases: if something fails there is a bug Separation of the testing framework and the system, i.e. testing with scripts from outside Logging Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 41 / 78 Non-runtime QA Conï ¬ gurability Ability of a system to vary its operational parameters without re-compiling or re-installing E.g. selecting appropriate database drivers, conï ¬ guring network parameters, Typically, realized by a set of conï ¬ guration ï ¬ les E.g. Apache Web server conï ¬ guration ï ¬ le sets host name, virtual hosts, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 42 / 78 Non-runtime QA Conï ¬ gurability Conï ¬ gurability interacts with other QAs such as testability, maintainability, reliability High degree of conï ¬ gurability tends to have a negative impact on those QAs Testing of diï ¬â‚¬erent system conï ¬ guration becomes more diï ¬Æ'cult → reliability compromised Conï ¬ gurable components will be strongly parametrized → decreased maintainability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 43 / 78 Non-runtime QA Scalability Ability of a system to increase its capacity without re-compiling or re-installing E.g. serving additional Web pages means only copying these Web pages into a Web server ï ¬ le system Sometimes increasing capacity means increasing hardware, e.g. Web server clusters Managing user session on the client side, means only providing additional code-on-demand from the server Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 44 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description Web-based Network Analysis Tool: W-NAT A simple and usable system for network analysis is needed. Networks are entities that contain not only individuals but also their connections with other individuals (see e.g. 3 for an example). The system accepts a network representations as a list of pairs of connected nodes stored in a dataset ï ¬ le. Nodes are represented as integers. An edge between two nodes is stored as a line containing two nodes delimited by a tabulator. Users might upload datasets to the systems and store them for further analysis. Each user might upload multiple datasets and can execute various analysis on those datasets. The system keeps the track of the analysis history for each user. Users may calculate degree distributions, network diameter, clustering coeï ¬Æ'cient, connectivity measures, singular values, and diï ¬â‚¬erent centrality measures. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 45 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description Web-based Network Analysis Tool: W-NAT Users can execute various calculations on multiple datasets in parallel. The system must not be blocked if a calculation is currently under way. Rather it should be possible to start a new calculation, or view previous calculations, etc. In case of longer calculations the system needs to notify the user by e-mail when the calculation is over. The results of the calculations should be available in textual and in graphical form. All results can be also downloaded to a local computer. The system will be used by a group of students that learn the basics of network analysis. It is expect that at any times the system will be used by multiple users executing multiple calculations. Since the system is primarily an educational tool it needs to be didactically sound, i.e. simplicity and usability are very important. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 46 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description 6 How to search in a small world Pajek Figure 2: HP Labs’ email communication (light grey lines) mapped onto the organizational hierarchy of HP Labs constructed out the e-mail communication. Figure: Social network(black lines). Note that communication tends to â€Å"cling† to of formal organizational chart. From: How to search a social network, Adamic, 2005. with one another. The h-distance, used to navigate the network, is computed as follows: individuals have h-distance one to their manager and to everyone they share a manager with. Distances are then recursively assigned, so that each individual has h-distance 2 to their ï ¬ rst neighbor’s neighbors, and h-distance 3 to their second Denis Helic (KMI, TU neighbor’s neighbors, etc. SA Analysis and Design Graz) Oct 19, 2011 47 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description Web-based Network Analysis Tool: W-NAT The system is a Web-based system and the users should be able to operate the system by using a standard Web browser. The users need not install any additional plugins to operate the system. User perceived performance of the system should be acceptable. In addition, standard Web usability concepts need to be followed. In particular, browser back button must be working at all times and it should be possible to bookmark pages at all times. Finally, standard Web design principles should be satisï ¬ ed, meaning that pages are valid (X)HTML pages in at least HTML Transitional. The system needs to support cross browser compatibility. Further, each page and each important application state needs to have a unique and human-readable URL. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 48 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR1: The system is a network analysis tool. The system can calculate the following measures. UR1.1: UR1.2: UR1.3: UR1.4: UR1.5: Out-degree distribution In-degree distribution Cumulative out-degree distribution Cumulative in-degree distribution Hop plot Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 49 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR1: The system is a network analysis tool. The system can calculate the following measures. UR1.6: Clustering coeï ¬Æ'cient UR1.7: Distribution of weakly connected components UR1.8: Distribution of strongly connected components UR1.9: Left singular vector UR1.10: Right singular vector Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 50 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR1: The system is a network analysis tool. The system can calculate the following measures. UR1.12: UR1.12: UR1.13: UR1.14: UR1.15: Network singular values Degree centrality Closeness centrality Betweenness centrality Eigenvector centrality Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 51 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR2: Networks are stored in dataset ï ¬ les. UR3: The dataset ï ¬ le has the following format. NodeID1 \t NodeID2\n UR4: Users can upload multiple datasets to the system. UR5: To perform an analysis users select a dataset and then choose a measure to calculate. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 52 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR6: For each user and for each dataset the system manages a history of calculations. UR7: Users may initiate multiple calculations simultaneously. UR8: When a calculation is started the system is not blocked. UR9: The system notiï ¬ es users about a ï ¬ nished calculation by e-mail. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 53 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR6: For each user and for each dataset the system manages a history of calculations. UR7: Users may initiate multiple calculations simultaneously. UR8: When a calculation is started the system is not blocked. UR9: The system notiï ¬ es users about a ï ¬ nished calculation by e-mail. When is this notiï ¬ cation needed? If the user is logged out? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 53 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? UR12: Users can register with the system. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? UR12: Users can register with the system. How register? E-mail? Captcha? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? UR12: Users can register with the system. How register? E-mail? Captcha? UR13: Users can login and log out. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability How many seconds at max users can wait? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability How many seconds at max users can wait? UR5: Web-based system should be available at all times. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability How many seconds at max users can wait? UR5: Web-based system should be available at all times. Reliability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Testability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Testability UR9: Multiple users. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Testability UR9: Multiple users. Scalability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Contextual requirements UR1: Web browser. UR2: Valid (X)HTML, at least (X)HTML Transitional. UR3: No browser plugins are allowed. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 57 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Analysis We analyze the requirements and try to identify so-called key concepts Understanding of the domain Static part of the domain We also try to identify key process and activities Dynamic part of the domain Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 58 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Design Design is the process of creating models (recollect the deï ¬ nition of SA) Two basic types of architectural models Structure and behavior Architectural structure is a static model of a system (i.e. how the system is divided into components) Architectural behavior is a dynamic model of a system (i.e. how the components interact with each other to perform some useful work) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 59 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure The division of a system into components and connectors To represent the model: box-and-lines diagrams (to see at a glance important concepts) It is important to remember that diagrams are only representations of the model Diagrams must always be accompanied by additional material such as text, data models, mathematical models, etc. The combination of diagrams and additional material is an architectural model Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 60 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure What is a component? What is a connector? Components might be subsystems, separate processes, source code packages, Connectors might be network protocols, method invocations, associations, The combination of diagrams and additional material is an architectural model Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 61 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure Figure: Example of an architectural structure Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 62 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure In the diagram we have one user-interface and one database component But what is the criteria for deciding what is a component? Separate program modules? Separate threads or processes? Conceptual or functional division? And what about connectors? Network protocols? Callbacks? Request/response cycles? Method invocations? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 63 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure What is the level of granularity of a diagram? E.g. for a Web-based system, components are servers and browsers and connector is HTTP But, components of a server are HTTP parser, ï ¬ le I/O, cache, plug-ins, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 64 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure Comparison with OO: a component is an object and a connector is a message sent between two objects Because models in OO are very well deï ¬ ned Therefore, we need additional information that accompanies diagrams To describe criteria for decomposition and provide explanations on granularity Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 65 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Complementing structure is architectural behavior Interaction of system elements to perform some useful work Functionality vs. behavior Functionality is what the system can do and behavior is the activity sequence Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 66 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Example: Accessing a tweets document Request is sent to the Web presentation layer That layer forwards the request to the application logic, e.g. TweetDeck TweetDeck contacts TweetViews to obtain a particular template, then retrieves the data from TweetDB wraps it into an HTML response and sends the response to TweetUI Functionality allows me to display a tweets document, behavior is the sequence of activities that makes it happen Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 67 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Each component has a set of responsibilities Behavior is the way how these responsibilities are exercised to respond to some event An event may be an action of the user or an event from an external system A particular behavior is an event plus a response in the form of a sequence of component responsibilities Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 68 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior To represent behavioral models we use use-case map notation by Buhr A use-case map consists of a trace drawn through a structural diagram of the system The path of the trace through a structural diagram shows the sequence of activities Each crossing of a component by the trace indicates exercising of a responsibility Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 69 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Figure: Types of traces in use-case maps Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 70 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior (a) Single trace all responsibilities exercised sequentially (b) Two traces are consecutive: Equivalent to single trace but shows that continuation is triggered by another event (c) And-Fork: The traces after the line are potentially concurrent (run in parallel) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 71 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Figure: Types of traces in use-case maps Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 72 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior (a) N-Way And-Fork: the trace after the fork may be replicated an arbitrary number of times (b) Or-Fork: The trace is split and activity proceeds along one or another path (c) Seq-Fork: The traces after the line are followed in the order indicated by the arrow Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 73 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Figure: Example of architectural behavior Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 74 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views We can examine a system from diï ¬â‚¬erent points of view Diï ¬â‚¬erent kinds of views Conceptual: components are set of responsibilities and connectors are ï ¬â€šow of information Execution: components are execution units (processes) and connectors are messages between processes Implementation: components are libraries, source code, ï ¬ les, etc and connectors are protocols, api calls, etc. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 75 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views There are other models as well We will mention them but we will investigate only previous three models Data model describes the data Physical model describes servers, ï ¬ rewalls, workstations, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 76 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views Each view provides diï ¬â‚¬erent information about the structure of the system Each view addresses a speciï ¬ c set of concerns All views taken together is the primary means of documenting software architecture Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 77 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views The conceptual architecture considers the structure of the system in terms of its domain-level functionality The execution architecture considers the system in terms of its runtime structure The implementation architecture considers the system in terms of its build-time structure Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 78 / 78