Design Specification CS Thinking Example 3
Follow the full solution, then compare it with the other examples linked below.
Example 3
mediumWrite a brief design specification for a school library book search system. Include at least: purpose, inputs, outputs, and three functional requirements.
Solution
- 1 Step 1: Purpose: allow students to search for and check availability of library books. Inputs: search term (title, author, or ISBN). Outputs: list of matching books with title, author, and availability status.
- 2 Step 2: Functional requirements: (1) Search by title, author, or ISBN. (2) Display whether each book is available or checked out. (3) Sort results by relevance or alphabetically.
Answer
Purpose: book search. Inputs: search term. Outputs: matching books with availability. Requirements: multi-field search, availability display, sorted results.
Even simple systems benefit from a written specification. It forces you to think through all the features and edge cases before starting to code.
About Design Specification
A document that describes what a software system should do, how it should behave, and what constraints it must satisfy, before coding begins. A good specification covers functional requirements (what the system does), non-functional requirements (performance, security, usability), and acceptance criteria (how to verify it works).
Learn more about Design Specification →More Design Specification Examples
Example 1 easy
What is a design specification and what should it include for a simple calculator app?
Example 2 mediumA client asks for a 'fast and user-friendly website'. Explain why this is insufficient as a design s
Example 4 hardExplain the difference between functional requirements and non-functional requirements. Give two exa