Generating the business logic of software systems in the educational process

Abstract

In the Software Design course at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, students often make syntax and semantic errors during the preparation of seminar papers, particularly in the requirements gathering and analysis phases. These errors make further development of their software systems more difficult, while teachers spend more time correcting them than discussing specific problem domains. To improve the documentation development process, the SILAB generator was developed. The SILAB generator is a tool used to automate the process of defining the business logic of a software system. This paper describes the use of the SILAB generator in teaching, as well as the advantages and limitations of the proposed approach. The generator is based on metamodels, i.e., predefined conceptual model templates, which guide students in defining domain concepts, relationships between them, and use cases. Based on the provided inputs, the generator produces a document that includes the first two phases of the SILAB method, namely requirements gathering and analysis. The application of this tool reduced common syntax and semantic errors made by students and resulted in a more uniform structure of seminar papers.