Professional development seminars: Design review methodology for a data base environment

There are many variables to be properly managed in the building of a database application (especially on-line) which, if misunderstood or ignored, could lead to eventual failure. Design review methodology addresses the need to test the system design as early as possible in the development cycle in order to avoid the potentially high expense of implementing an inadequate design. The methodology provides a way to examine the soundness of a design at various points of a system development prior to the actual building of a system. Design review can be considered a method of quality control of system design. The methodology is an outgrowth of the structured walkthru concept, extended for on-line data base applications. The goal is to provide a perspective of the design from the point of view of meeting the specific requirements of the system and a balance between performance, flexibility, availability, and user function.