negative (if it helps, view it as constructive criticism). The user feedback probably will include requests for additional capabilities (such as "How long would it take for you to put together a report that looks like this?") as well as bug reports (such as "When I press F5, the screen goes blank."). If you don't receive any feedback, that is a bad sign—it may mean that very few people are actually using the software.

The feedback should be categorized by both criticality and scope. The fixes for critical bugs can be incorporated in an emergency release, perhaps containing only the files that need to be replaced. However, a regular release or upgrade schedule should be used to incorporate less critical bug fixes and new features.

Summary

In this lesson, you learned about the major phases of developing an Oracle application:

• Gathering requirements
• Designing the application
• Building the application
• Testing the application
• Deploying the application
• Maintaining the application

What Comes Next?

On Day 3, you will delve into the concepts of relational database theory: entities, attributes, domains, and relationships. You also will be introduced to the concepts of data and referential integrity, as well as some of the normal forms.

Q&A

Q What issues should I be concerned with if the new application is replacing an existing system?

A There are a number of political and technical issues that you need to consider. Any existing application will have its proponents and detractors. You'll want to have lots of discussions with both groups to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the existing application.

In designing the new application, try not to be constrained by the functionality of the existing application; you certainly don't want to simply "rewrite" the application using a current software development tool (in reengineering jargon, this is commonly referred to as "paving the cow path"). As much as possible, try to

incorporate the developers/maintainers of the legacy application in the new development; they probably have a lot of ideas on how the system could be improved, and they are likely to be threatened by the development of a new application. Don't be critical of the legacy application; its designers and developers probably did the best they could with the resources that were available to them.

In planning for the transition from the legacy application to the new application, consider a phased approach in which the legacy system continues to operate while functional elements of the new system are deployed. Do not underestimate the effort that will be required to migrate the legacy data to the new Oracle database.

Workshop

The purpose of the Workshop is to allow you to test your knowledge of the material discussed in the lesson. See if you can correctly answer the questions in the quiz and complete the exercises before you continue with tomorrow's lesson.

Quiz

1. True or false? If you use an application-development tool that supports object-oriented development, there is a greater chance of implementing a successful application.
2. Name three types of requirements that are needed when designing a system.
3. True or false? You shouldn't begin developing software until you have a complete set of requirements.

Exercises

1. What types of risks might exist during the development of an Oracle application?
2. What factors could contribute to these risk categories?
3. What steps could be taken to mitigate these risk categories?