Section 5.4. Case Study: Bookstore

   

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5.4 Case Study: Bookstore

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?

Hamlet: Words, words, words.

”William Shakespeare, Hamlet , 2.2.192

Let's take a moment to look at a case study ”a brief description of a problem domain that we can refer to consistently throughout the chapter and the rest of the book. This will help us understand object-oriented analysis so that we can design stable, sensible , extensible systems. It also presents the system that we will use to create many examples.

The fictional Words, Words, Words bookstore (WWWBooks) is expanding. It has hired you to create a processing system that will replace its current paper-based system. The store's buyer orders books from publishers. The books come in, and need to be added to inventory and shelved. All books are classified by their section (nonfiction, poetry, home improvement, etc.). They are also classified in terms of pricing: books can either be full price, on sale, or on the close-out table. The discount for sale items can vary.

The store also sells non-book items such as shirts, bookmarks, writing material, magazines, and coffee mugs.

WWWBooks has an owner, a few managers, booksellers, and a buyer.

Once an item has been selected for purchase, the bookseller enters the order in the system. The customer can choose to have the order wrapped and shipped to someone else. Once entered, the ordered items must be removed from inventory. If inventory drops below a threshold level, a message is sent to the buyer, who may choose to reorder. The managers want to be able to track the best booksellers, and they may choose to award the best salesperson of the month.

In the second phase of the project, WWWBooks also wants to add the ability to sell books online.

We will refer to different facets of this case study throughout the book and use it for code examples when it makes sense.

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