OO Analysis and Design Course

About this course

Object Orientation affects more than just code. Many common development problems — such as unexpected behaviour, difficult changes, and long debugging cycles — often start during analysis and design.

This course focuses on applying object-oriented thinking during analysis and design. Using UML as a communication tool, you will learn how to model systems that reduce ambiguity, control complexity, and support change.

The course is for programmers working in object-oriented environments, such as Java, C#, and C++. It is ideal for systems where fixing defects and making changes take significant time and effort.

The first three days run in parallel with the Object-Oriented Analysis course for non-programmers.

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Intended audience

• You are a developer working in Java, C#, C++, or another object-oriented environment and want to strengthen your design decisions.
• You build or maintain systems where changes and defect fixes consume significant time and effort.
• You are involved in analysis or system design and need to model object-oriented systems clearly and consistently.
• You are a technical lead or architect responsible for creating maintainable, scalable system designs.

Prerequisites

Course details

Price: R15,800 excluding VAT per delegate.

Included:

• Electronic course material.
• Attendance certificate (PDF).

Duration: 5 days.

Delivery: Virtual classroom
See how virtual training works.

See the course schedule for upcoming dates.

Booking information

Email your booking to info@incusdata.com. A purchase order, or completed enrolment form is sufficient.

We will confirm the booking and issue an invoice.

Course contents

Introduction

• Why design problems show up later as bugs and rework.
• Object orientation as a thinking model, not a syntax feature.
• Where OO helps, and where it creates unnecessary complexity.

Object-Oriented Concepts and Terminology

• Classes, objects, and responsibilities.
• Encapsulation and abstraction for reducing coupling.
• Inheritance vs composition.
• Polymorphism and interfaces.
• Associations and relationships between classes.

UML as a Communication Tool

• What UML is for: shared understanding and fewer assumptions.
• Choosing the right diagram for the question you are answering.
• Core diagrams used on the course: use case, activity, class, sequence, state, component, deployment.
• Common extension mechanisms (stereotypes, notes, constraints).
• Practical use of modelling tools.

Object-Oriented Process and Method Choices

• Iterative development and feedback loops.
• How analysis and design fit into Agile projects.
• Lightweight OOAD workflows (RUP overview, ICONIX overview, Agile Modelling).
• What to do when process guidance is missing.

Object-Oriented Analysis

• Use cases for clarifying behaviour and scope.
• Use case text vs diagrams: when each helps.
• Activity diagrams for flows, paths, and edge cases.
• Domain modelling and terminology alignment.
• Class identification and domain classes.
• CRC cards and collaborative modelling.
• Selecting UML diagrams that reduce ambiguity during analysis.

Object-Oriented Design

• Responsibility-driven design and separation of concerns.
• Class design and detailed class diagrams.
• Robustness analysis and introduction to MVC.
• Sequence and communication diagrams for behaviour and collaboration.
• State machine diagrams where behaviour depends on state.
• Packaging and component boundaries.
• Design choices that reduce change cost.

Design Principles and Patterns

• What makes a design easier to change and debug.
• SOLID principles (practical interpretation).
• Package design principles.
• Pattern concepts and when patterns increase complexity.
• Examples of commonly used patterns.

Estimation and Planning Inputs

• Why estimates fail when scope and behaviour are unclear.
• Using use cases as an input to sizing and planning.
• Function points and SLOC: what they measure and where they mislead.
• COCOMO overview (high-level).

Download the course outline