CS 230 Project Software Design Template

Executive Summary

The gaming Room wants to develop a web-based game that will be used on multiple platforms. They currently have an android-based version of the game. The development of this application needs to be streamlined. The game will include an option to play with a single team or multiple teams. It also must prevent users from creating duplicate team names.

Requirements

    • A game will have the ability to have one or more teams involved.
    • Each team will have multiple players assigned to it.

    • Game and team names must be unique to allow users to check whether a name is in use when choosing a team name.

    • Only one instance of the game can exist in memory at any given time. This can be accomplished by creating unique identifiers for each instance of a game, team, or player.

Design Constraints

    • Consistent Gameplay for both a single team or more than one team, this will require the development team to implement the Game class in a way that supports multiple teams, such as using a list of teams rather than a single team attribute.

    • Players must be grouped within a team, again this will require the development team to add an attribute to team class will which players are on that team, additionally players may also need to contain an attribute with their team.

    • Players within the same team receive the same information, this will require a way for the game class to communicate with all the players on a team, this could be done using a teams class.

    • Check for game and team names to prevent duplicates. The implications of this is likely a list of team names will need to be maintained, in order to check for repeated names before instantiation. The Game object should instead adopt a singleton pattern, to prevent duplicate instantiations.

System Architecture View

<Please note: There is nothing required here for these projects, but this section serves as a reminder that describing the system and subsystem architecture present in the application, including physical components or tiers, may be required for other projects. A logical topology of the communication and storage aspects is also necessary to understand the overall architecture and should be provided.>

Domain Model

The Entity class is used as an outline for its child classes: Game, team and Player. It contains relevant information we will use, such as id, name, and a toString() method. Game, team and Player will inherit these attributes from Entity so we can give them an id and name. These classes may overload the toString() method to display the relevant class type. This will make our code easier to understand and more efficient when programming classes as less information will be repeated. Additionally, it still allows for flexibility in the child class definitions.



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In addition to the attributes listed above, the Game class also includes a list of teams, a constructor, as well as the ability to add teams. As we can see on the UML diagram, the game can have none to many teams.

Similarly, the Team class includes a list of players, a constructor, and a method to add players to the team. This is also shown on the diagram as a team can have none to many players.

Finally, the Player class contains a constructor.

The Game service object implements the singleton pattern, which restricts it from being instantiated multiple times. It contains a list of Games, the Id of the next game, the id of the next player, and id of the next team. It also allows the user to add a game, get game, view team or player id, and get the number of games. From the diagram, the Game Service class does not inherit from another class in the diagram. It may have none to many Games. Implementing the check internally is more efficient than implementing the check externally, which would require the program driver to contain a GameService attribute.

The program driver contains the main method, which is where program execution will start. The SingletonTester class will test if there only one instance of the GameService class.



























Evaluation

Using your experience to evaluate the characteristics, advantages, and weaknesses of each operating platform (Linux, Mac, and Windows) as well as mobile devices, consider the requirements outlined below and articulate your findings for each. As you complete the table, keep in mind your client’s requirements and look at the situation holistically, as it all has to work together.

In each cell, remove the bracketed prompt and write your own paragraph response covering the indicated information.


Development Mac Requirements

Linux

Windows

Mobile Devices



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Server Side

A Mac OS is a very

limiting server
choice as it is

primarily used to
develop Mac and
Ios apps. However,
it does offer a lot
more flexibility
when it comes to

setting permissions
and changing
resources, as those
changes can be
synchronized

across different

apple products.
Using a mac OS
would require an
increased server
cost, as the MacOS

Server run by apple

has been
discontinued,
which means that
only a third-party
or cross-platform
server is available

to use.

Linux is regarded

as a strong option
for hosting a

website. Some
advantages are
stronger security,
and support for
other
development

tools, something
that was a
problem with
macOS and
windows servers.

Hosting on Linux

generally also
costs less money
than hosting on
windows server.
However, there
are several linux

distributions,
which vary widely
in support,
flexibility and
customization.
Which would

require more
money to
complete the
necessary
research and hire
some specialized

in linux servers.

Windows servers
do not use the
same OS that

personal
computers do.
Katie Horne
explains that
Hosting the server
on windows will

cost more,
because of the
licensing fees.
There is also
specialized

software

requirements, as
many windows
servers use an
SQL database and
the .NET
framework.

A mobile app will
depend on an API to
access a server. Our

application requires
use of the server to
log in users,
communicate
between players,
among other things

so this would be
essential.
Additionally, many
mobile devices
require push

notifications to be

done via server
communications.
Because of how
much needs to be
done via the server-
side, as well as a

growing amount of
users. The cost will
be larger than the
server cost for

personal computers.



















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Client Side

One key

advantage, is the
ability to develop

for both the
MacOS and other
apple products at
the same time. So
if this application
was prepared to

launch on the
MacOS through
Xcode, it could also
be launched on
other Apple

devices. However,

that is also
limitation, since
not all hardware
uses the MacOS.
There are
dedicated Mac

developers, and
because of the
benefit of
developing for
both Mac and Ios
at the same time

the cost is still
reasonable. There
are fewer ways to
test the web app
without a mac
device, although

xcode does provide
a MacOs simulator.
The browser that is
unique to Mac and
Ios devices is
Safari. Some

versions of Safari
require CSS vendor
prefixes(A way for
browsers to locate
features specific to
them), so the

website is
consistent across
all versions.

As we are developing an application that runs almost completely within the browser, the Linux operating system provides sufficient support. Linux-only browsers are less popular than safari or internet explorer, so no additional design considerations are necessary. Linux also has good security, and most customization. One downside is that Linux developments may need specialization based on which distribution and version of linux you plan to use. However, Linux developers are very common, which means that it also would have


    a lower development cost and shorten development time.













5

Windows is very
commonly used,
so it would apply

to many clients.
Similarly,
windows offer a
large amount of
development
tools to simulate

the Operating
system. Hence,
more developers
are likely to have
experience with

the windows OS,

which lowers the
cost and time
requirements for
developing the
application. The
unique clients we

might encounter
on a windows
computer are
users using
internet explorer
or Microsoft Edge

as their internet
browser. Both of
these are
associated with
being older, so
making sure that

our web
application is
compatible with
previous versions

of these browsers,
while still being

safe and secure
for other users is
essential. This
might include,
supporting longer
response times or

decreasing the
amount of
information sent.

A good solution for
creating mobile
apps with a lower

budget is to design a
cross-plaform
application, or a
progressive web
app, as the Onix-
systems blog

explains.
(Sheremetov 2023)
This means that the
majority of
development is in

the form of web

development, but
the layout and UI is
changed to work
with a mobile
device. However, it
will still require

experts in more
than one OS,
because IOS and
Android applications
use different
development tools.

Which nearly
doubles the cost of
creating the
application(because
in many ways 2
applications are

being created). One
way this can be
leveraged in our
favor is by using the
MacOS to develop
for IOS devices. Or

similarly using the
Linux system to
develop for android
devices. However,
another
disadvantage is

hosting an
application on both
the App Store and
Google Play store
means paying the
required fees for

both of these
services.

Development Tools

We can still use Java when programming for Mac applications. However, Apple also provides some other free apps such as Xcode, which allows users to test their applications with a simulated macOS and design UI specifically for Apple operating systems. Swift is the language commonly used, as it not only works with the MacOS, but also for the ipad and iphone operating systems.(Team 2022) Additionally, in order to publish the app on the apple App Store there is an required fee that includes testing tools through the Apple developer Program (Team 2022)

Linux applications can be created in a variety of languages, which are then compiled and installed as packages for the linux shells to use. We plan to use CSS, Html, and the REST API through Java, so Eclipse or Visual studio code would be good options. Both are free software, and Linux does not include any licensing costs. For deployment, GitLab CI/CD is primarily designed for software development. Alternatively, many deployment applications used for windows can also be used for Linux, such as Azure or AWS.

Windows applications also are created in a variety of languages. So the same IDEs that are used with linux can be used here. Some Windows deployment applications and IDEs require licensing fees and may also require specialized tools such as the .net framework. Microsoft Azure is one option for hosting and building web applications, especially when a growth of users is expected. Alternatively Amazon web services can also be used for web development. Both of these services require a fee, but AWS allows for more freedom in cost.

For mobile development we have different tools for different device operating systems. For IOS devices we can use Xcode with objective-c and Swift as the programming languages, like we would in the development of mac applications.

For android applications, there is Android studio, which includes code samples and debugging tools to developers. There are also many existing SDKs to help applications meet android requirements. Similar to how IOS and mac apps can be made together, the google play store provides deployment to android devices as well as ChromeOS and Windows.
If we want to stay
consistent with the
other operating
systems

development
process, then visual
studio code can also
be used to
development
mobile application

when combined
with Xamarin.


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Recommendations

Analyze the characteristics of and techniques specific to various systems architectures and make a recommendation to The Gaming Room. Specifically, address the following:

    1. Operating Platform: <Recommend an appropriate operating platform that will allow The Gaming Room to expand Draw It or Lose It to other computing environments.>

    2. Operating Systems Architectures: <Describe the details of the chosen operating platform architectures.>

    3. Storage Management: <Identify an appropriate storage management system to be used with the recommended operating platform.>

    4. Memory Management: <Explain how the recommended operating platform uses memory management techniques for the Draw It or Lose It software.>

    5. Distributed Systems and Networks: <Knowing that the client would like Draw It or Lose It to communicate between various platforms, explain how this may be accomplished with distributed software and the network that connects the devices. Consider the dependencies between the components within the distributed systems and networks (connectivity, outages, and so on).>

    6. Security: <Security is a must-have for the client. Explain how to protect user information on and between various platforms. Consider the user protection and security capabilities of the recommended operating platform.>

Sources:
Butler, R. (2022, February 14). Which OS is Best Suited for Your Development. BairesDev.

Develop Android games. (2023). Retrieved June 12, 2023, from Android Developers website:
https://developer.android.com/games

Gawin, M. (2021, April 23). Best Android App Development Tools & Software. INVO Blog. Retrieved June 12, 2023, from INVO Blog website: https://invotech.co/blog/best-android-app-development-tools-software/

Horne, K. (2021, May 4). Which Operating System Should You Choose for Your Web Hosting Server? Digital.com; Digital.com. https://digital.com/best-web-hosting/operating-systems/

O’Leary, R.(2021, May 5). Is Vendor Prefixing Dead?. https://css-tricks.com/is-vendor-prefixing-dead/.

Sheremetov, D. (2023, April 11). How Much Does It Cost to Make a Mobile App? Onix-Systems.com; Onix. https://onix-systems.com/blog/how-much-does-mobile-app-development-cost


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Silberschatz, B.,Galvin P.,Gagne G. (2008) Operating System Concepts. 8th Edition.

Team, S. (2022, May 16). Develop Apple Apps: Learn Mac & iOS App Development, Xcode & Swift — SitePoint. Sitepoint.com; SitePoint. https://www.sitepoint.com/develop-apple-apps/




























































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