UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO SCHOOL OF COMPUTING

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (EXTERNAL)

Academic Year 2018 – 2nd Year Examination – Semester 4

IT4305: Rapid Software Development

Part 2: Structured Question Paper
30th September 2018
(ONE HOUR)

To be completed by the candidate

BIT Examination Index No:

Important Instructions:
 The duration of the paper is 1 (one) hour.
 The medium of instruction and questions is English.
 This paper has 3 questions in 11 pages.
 Answer all questions. The first question carries 40 marks. Second and third
questions carry 30 marks each.
 Write your answers in English using the space provided in this question paper.
 Do not tear off any part of this answer book.
 Under no circumstances may this book, used or unused, be removed from the
examination hall by a candidate.
 Note that questions appear on both sides of the paper.
If a page is not printed, please inform the supervisor immediately.

Questions Answered
Indicate by a cross (), (e.g. 
1 ) the numbers of the questions answered.
To be completed by the candidate by
1 2 3
marking a cross ().
To be completed by the examiners:

All right reserved.

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1. The following question is related to Xorg, which is a construction company, who are
planning to transform their largely manual information processing activities in to an
IT based work environment, using custom developed software solutions. The
background of this project is as follows.
‘ABC (Pvt) Ltd’ manages multiple construction projects at the same time, where
most of the activities (Purchasing, Budgeting and scheduling etc.) occurs in a paper
based setting. The set of activities involved in each of their projects differs from
one project to another. Further, they work with a number of business partners in
their construction activities. Although the top management of ‘ABC (Pvt) Ltd’
intends to implement a software solution, there is resistance at the ground level due
to an aging work force who have worked in a paper based setting for a long time
period. Further, the workforce is finding it difficult to clearly define their
requirements for the software due to the inexperience in IT solutions and the
complexity of the activities. Further, the management expects the software to be
implemented in a fixed and limited time period, as they are hoping to use the
solution for their next set of projects, which are to be initiated soon.

a.
i. List four (4) challenges faced by the development team when providing
a solution for the ABC (PVT) Ltd.
(4*2=8 marks)
ANSWER IN THIS BOX

1. Unclear requirements from the client and/or Difficulty for the workforce to
clearly define the requirements for the software
2. Complexity of the project (Multiple projects and the same time, each with
a different/varying set of activities)
3. Resistance at the ground level from an aging work force for an IT solution
(Resistance for changing their existing paper based practices)
4. Limited timeline to develop a working solution

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ii. For your answers in a.(i) above, explain why choosing an agile method
for this project would suite, as compared to the traditional waterfall
method.
(4*3=12 marks)
ANSWER IN THIS BOX

1. High potential for requirements to change in the current project.

Incremental development with regular releases which is a feature in agile
methods, would therefore be suitable. Agile, welcome changing requirements,
even late in development.
(Other accepted answers: High responsiveness for change in agile methods,
Flexibility, Ability to scale as features of agile suited for this project)
2. Iterative and incremental development (any related advantage),
Collaboration with the user throughout the project cycle, would aid in dealing
with the complexity of the project.

3. The need to engage with the workers in all stages of the project is a
requirement of agile methods. Better awareness of the benefits, capturing the
actual user requirement, visibility of project details etc. would aid to minimize
resistance of the workforce.
(High level of collaboration with the user in agile methods)

4. Working software over comprehensive documentation favoured in agile

methods, resulting in faster releases.
(or other relevant answers)

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b. Extreme Programing (XP) is one the Agile Methodologies. Write down five
(5) other Agile methods (methodologies and frameworks) which can be used
in the above project.
(5*1=5 marks)
ANSWER IN THIS BOX

1. Scrum

2. Feature-driven development (FDD)

3. Rapid application development (RAD)

4. Agile unified process (AUP)

5. Adaptive software development (ASD) or any other correct framework

c. ‘Personal success’ is one of the “three types of successes” which can be gained
from an agile project. Briefly explain how the other two (2) successes would
be beneficial in this specific project.
(2*3=6 marks)
ANSWER IN THIS BOX

1. Agile methods achieve organizational successes by focusing on delivering

value and decreasing costs. This directly translates to increased return on
investment. Agile methods also set expectations early in the project, so if your
project won’t be an organizational success, you’ll find out early enough to
cancel it before your organization has spent much money.
Agile Projects release their most valuable features first and release new versions
frequently
When business needs change or when new information is discovered, agile
teams change direction to match.
An experienced agile team will actually seek out unexpected opportunities to
improve its plans.
Any other relevant answer.

2. If Extreme Programming is selected the below technical successes can be

achieved
–XP programmers work together, which helps them keep track of the nitpicky
details
–At least two people review every piece of code.
–Programmers continuously integrate their code
–The whole team focuses on finishing each feature completely before starting
the next
–Create simple, ever-evolving designs that are easy to modify when plans
change

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d. Assume that it is proposed to use Agile methodologies in developing a solution
for ABC (PVT) Ltd. List down three (3) limitations of using such methods in
this project.
(3*3=9 marks)
ANSWER IN THIS BOX

1. Products with many external dependencies: In Agile/Scrum, dividing product

development into short sprints requires careful planning; external dependencies,
such as deliveries of software from other teams, can lead to delays and the failure
of individual sprints
2. Teams whose members have very specialized skills: In Agile/Scrum,
developers should be able to work on any task or pick up work that another
developer has started. This can be managed by good leadership. While team
members with very specific skills can and do contribute well, they should be
encouraged to learn more about and collaborate with other disciplines.
Or
Teams whose members are geographically dispersed or part-time: In Scrum,
developers should have close and ongoing interaction, ideally working together
in the same space most of the time. While recent improvements in technology
have reduced the impact of these barriers (e.g., being able to collaborate on a
digital whiteboard), the Agile manifesto asserts that the best communication is
face to face

3. Products that are mature or legacy or with regulated quality control: In Scrum,
product increments should be fully developed and tested in a single sprint;
products that need large amounts of regression testing or safety testing (e.g.,
medical devices or vehicle control) for each release are less suited to short sprints
than to longer waterfall releases.

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2. The following questions are related to the Scrum framework.

a. Briefly write down three (3) differences between the roles played by the Scrum
master and a traditional Project Manager.
(3*2=6 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

The scrum master is not a traditional team lead or project manager but acts as a buffer
between the team and any distracting influences. The scrum master ensures that the
Scrum framework is followed. The scrum master helps to ensure the team follows
the agreed processes in the Scrum framework, often facilitates key sessions, and
encourages the team to improve. The role has also been referred to as a team
facilitator or servant-leader to reinforce these dual perspectives, as opposed to the
more authoritative project manager or team lead.
Authority for a scrum master is not the same type of authority that a functional
manager or project manager would have. For example, the ScrumMaster doesn’t hire
and fire and cannot dictate to the team what tasks it should do or how to do them.
The ScrumMaster also is not responsible for making sure the work gets done (Which
usually a traditional project manager overlooks). Instead, the ScrumMaster helps the
team define and adhere to its own process for making sure the work gets done.
Any 3 answers which reflect the above content.

b. Briefly explain the following two (2) artifacts of a Scrum project;

(2*4=8 Marks)
ANSWER IN THIS BOX

i. Product Backlog:

-The product owner is responsible for determining and managing the sequence of
the work in scrum.
-This prioritized (or ordered) list is known as the product backlog
-The development teams break down each targeted feature in the product backlog
into a set of tasks.
-This, forms a second backlog called the sprint backlog
The format of product backlog items varies, common formats include user stories,
use cases, or any other requirements format the team finds useful.

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ii. Sprint Backlog:

The sprint backlog is the list of work the development team must address during
the next sprint
The list is derived by the scrum team progressively selecting product backlog
items in priority order from the top of the product backlog until they feel they have
enough work to fill the sprint.
Once a sprint backlog is committed, no additional work can be added to the sprint
backlog except by the team

c. In Scrum, “Don’t Plan, Let’s start the sprint and figure out what to do next!!!”
Write down two (2) points (justifications) on what the above phrase means by
comparing it with the practices of a traditional (e.g. waterfall based) approach.
(3*2=6 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

-Traditional Projects vs SCRUM Projects
-Traditional projects: Creates a detailed plan up front before development work
begin.
-Get it right at the beginning so that rest can follow in an orderly fashion
SCRUM: The Scrum approach to planning is true to its empirical roots of
inspection and adaptation. When developing using Scrum, we don’t believe we
can get it right up front, so we don’t try to produce all of the planning artifacts up
front. (We do, however, produce some of the planning artifacts early on in order to
achieve a good balance between up-front and just-in-time planning.) Therefore we
save the planning that is best performed in a just-in-time fashion for a time when
we have much better information (e.g. may be after a couple of sprints are done)

d. Briefly explain the Envisioning (product planning) phase of a scrum framework,

using the breakdown below;

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

i. The main goal and output of the phase (4 Marks)

-Used to create the initial product backlog- a product vision is needed to generate an
initial product backlog
-The goal is to work upon an idea, describing the essence of the potential product
and creating a rough plan for how to approach its creation.
-Can decide whether to fund the next level of more detailed development

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ii. Three (3) participants for this phase (3 Marks)

The product owner

Internal stakeholders
Specialists in various areas
Ideally, the Scrum Master and the development team should participate

iii. Three (3) guidelines for economically sensible envisioning (3 Marks)

-Target a realistic confidence threshold

-Focus on a short horizon
-Act quickly
-Pay for validated learning
-Use incremental/provisional funding
-Learn fast and pivot

3. a. ‘Cross functional teams’ are used in Extreme Programing (XP). Briefly describe
two (02) reasons for the need to have people with skills of software design and
architecture in such cross functional teams.
(2*2=4 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

Everybody do coding in XP, Hence,

To maintain a solid foundation and an architecture design in the overall project

To help team members see ways of simplifying complex designs

Similar explanations to above mentioned answers. 2 marks for one complete

answer.

b. List down two (02) main responsibilities of on-site customers in Extreme

Programing (XP).
(2*2=4 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

On site customers are responsible for defining the software the team builds

Release planning.

Evangelize the project’s vision

Identify features and stories

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Determine how to group features into small frequent releases

Create an achievable plan by coordinating with programmers

Manage risks

Similar explanations to above mentioned answers. 2 marks for one complete

answer.

c.
i. Briefly describe ‘The Last Responsible Moment’ in Extreme Programing
(XP)?
(2 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

The last responsible moment is the last moment at which you can responsibly
make a decision, If commitments are delayed beyond the last responsible
moment, then decisions are made by default.

Similar explanations to above mentioned answer. 2 marks for the complete

answer.

ii. List down two (02) advantages that can be achieved by delaying the
decision making process until the last responsible moment
(2*2=4 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

Increase the accuracy of decisions

Decrease workload

Decrease the impact of changes

Similar explanations to above mentioned answers. 2 marks for one complete

answer.

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d. Management support is one of the pre-conditions (prerequisites) to adopt Extreme
Programing (XP) in an organization. Briefly describe three (03) more such pre-
conditions (prerequisites).
(3*2 = 6 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

Team Agreement:
If team members don’t want to use XP, it’s not likely to work. XP assumes good
faith on the part of team members there’s no way to force the process on
somebody who’s resisting it.
A Colocated Team:
XP relies on fast, high-bandwidth communication for many of its practices. In
order to achieve that communication, your team members needs to sit together in
the same room
On-Site Customers:
They, led by the product manager, determine which features the team will
develop. In other words, their decisions determine the value of the software.
Of all the on-site customers, the product manager is likely the most important.

The Right Team Size:

recommend 4 to 6 programmers and no more than 12 people on the team
even number of programmers
Teams with fewer than four programmers are less likely to have the intellectual
diversity they need.

Similar explanations to above mentioned answers. 2 marks for one complete

answer.

e. Mismatched skills is one of the challenges faced in ‘Pair Programing’. Briefly

describe two (02) more such challenges faced in pair programing.
(2*2 = 4 Marks)
ANSWER IN THIS BOX
Comfort: Pairing is no fun if you’re uncomfortable. Should consider; Positions,
Equipment, Physical spaces, personal spaces, personal hygiene

Communication style: New drivers sometimes have difficulty involving their

partners; they can take over the keyboard and shut down communication. Too
little communication and too much communication.

Tools and key bindings: Sometimes co-workers’ tool preferences are annoying.
Standardize on a particular toolset. Different coding standards.

Similar explanations to above mentioned answers. 2 marks for one complete

answer.

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f. The following figure shows the life cycle of ‘Test Driven Development (TDD)’.
Select any three (03) life cycle stages of TDD from the following diagram and
describe their key activities.
(3*2 = 6 Marks)

ANSWER IN THIS BOX

Think: Imagine what behaviour you want your code to have, then think of a small
increment that will require fewer than five lines of code. Next, think of a test—
also a few lines of code—that will fail unless that behaviour is present.

Red Bar: Now write the test. Write only enough code for the current increment of
behaviour (typically fewer than five lines of code). Code in terms of the class’
behaviour and its public interface, not how you think you will implement the
internals of the class. Respect encapsulation.

Green Bar: Write just enough production code to get the test to pass. You should
usually need less than five lines of code. Just do what you need to do to make the
test pass. Run your tests again, and watch all the tests pass. This will result in a
green progress bar.

Refactor: With all your tests passing again, you can now refactor without worrying
about breaking anything. Review the code and look for possible improvements.
Ask your navigator if he’s made any notes. For each problem you see, refactor the
code to fix it. Work in a series of very small refactoring. Refactor as many times
as you like. Make your design as good as you can, but limit it to the code’s existing
behaviour. Don’t anticipate future needs, and certainly don’t add new behaviour

Similar explanations to above mentioned answers. 2 marks for one complete

answer.

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