Patterns for Effective Use Cases

An in-depth look at the problems most commonly faced in writing use cases -- and more importantly, proven solutions to those problems.

Simple, elegant, and proven solutions to the specific problems of writing use cases on real projects.
Thirty-six specific guidelines that readers can use to measure the quality of their use cases.
The first book to specifically address use cases with the proven and popular development concept of patterns. Use cases have become a very popular requirements-gathering technique, yet many developers struggle when faced with writing them. They grasp the basic concepts, but find that writing effective use cases turns out to be more difficult than they expected. One factor contributing to this difficulty is that the community lacks objective criteria for judging the quality of use cases. This new book articulates the qualities of effective use cases by applying the proven patterns concept of development to this requirements-gathering technique. The authors present a catalog of thirty-six patterns that help the reader become proficient at judging the quality of their (and others) patterns. These patterns represent solutions to recurring problems that application developers have faced in writing use cases. Each pattern is presented with examples that help the reader understand the benefit of the pattern, and just as importantly, the consequences of ignoring its proper use.
Steve Adolph is a principal with WSA Consulting Inc. He consults in the area of object technology including use case consulting, patterns, UML, and software development process. Paul Bramble is an independent consultant, formerly with AG Systems. He is a frequent contributor to OOPSLA and PloP conferences. Alistair Cockburn is a well-known author and a consulting fellow at Humans and technology, where he is responsible for helping clients succeed with object-oriented projects. Andy Pols is a principle in Pols Cosulting, a UK-based entity specializing in Use Caseand