6ed-Solutions-Chap14.doc

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Chapter 14 – Current Trends in System Development Solutions to End-of-Chapter Problems Review Questions 1. What are the four UP phases, and what is the objective of each? 1. Inception – Develop an approximate vision of the system, make the business case, define the scope, and produce rough estimates for cost and schedule. 2. Elaboration – Refine the vision, identify and describe all requirements, finalize the scope, design and implement the core architecture and functions, resolve high risks, and produce realistic estimates for cost and schedule. 3. Construction – Iteratively implement the remaining lower-risk, predictable, and easier elements and prepare for deployment. 4. Transition – Complete the beta test and deployment so users have a working system and are ready to benefit as expected. 2. What are the six UP development disciplines? (1) Business modeling, (2) requirements, (3) design, (4) implementation,(5)test, and (6) deployment. 3. What are the three UP support disciplines? (1) Configuration and change management, (2) project management, and (3) environment. 4. List the basic principles of Agile Modeling. (Chapter 8 page 245.)           

Develop software as your primary goal. Enable the next effort as your secondary goal. Minimize your modeling activity—few and simple. Embrace change, and change incrementally. Model with a purpose. Build multiple models. Build high-quality models and get feedback rapidly. Focus on content rather than representation. Learn from each other with open communication. Know your models and how to use them. Adapt to specific project needs.

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5. Why is the word extreme included as part of Extreme Programming? The intent of XP is to extend the best practices of software development “to the extreme.” 6. List the core values of XP.    

Communication Simplicity Feedback Courage

7. List the XP practices.            

Planning Testing Pair programming Simple designs Refactoring the code Owning the code collectively Continuous integration On-site customer System metaphor Small releases Forty-hour week Coding standards

8. What is the product backlog used for in a Scrum project? The product backlog is a list of all the things the system should include and address, including user functions, features, and technology. The product backlog is continually being prioritized and is controlled by the product owner. 9. Explain how a Scrum sprint works. A Scrum sprint is a firm 30-day time box with a specific goal or deliverable. At the beginning, the team gathers for a one-day planning session, during which they decide on the major goal for the sprint, drawing from the prioritized product backlog. The scope of that sprint is then frozen. Team members meet every day to report progress. At the end of the sprint, the agreed-upon deliverable is produced. 10. Explain the difference between device-top applications, free-standing Internet applications, and browser-based applications. Device-top applications are those that run on a client computer without any need to be connected to a network. They do not utilize client/server technology.

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Free-standing Internet applications are those that require a network and run in a client/server environment be they are custom designed and do not use a browser to display screens. Browser-based applications require a network connection and run in a client/server environment but also use the services of a browser to display pages. 11. What is the “last mile” problem? The Internet consists of major servers and network connections which consist of large size computers and fiber or copper cabling around the globe. This is called the Internet “backbone.” However to get connectivity from the backbone to an individual house or office, requires individual connections to each house (or a in-air transmission and receive capability). This last piece of the connectivity is called the “last mile.” It is often difficult, because it requires digging and laying cable from street to street and house to house. 12. Explain what SAAS is and why it is an economically attractive alternative. SAAS means Software as as Service. It is economically attractive because customers can purchase (via a service agreement) specific software applications like a service. A customer does not need to purchase the software itself, nor the computing capability to host it, but only purchases the service and therefore only pays for what is actually used. It is financially efficient because the service provide can distribute hosting and operation costs across many clients. 13. What are the six licensing criteria that are usually associated with open-source software? 11 11 11 11 11 11

Source code—The source code must be open for distribution. Freely redistributable—Recipients of the source code may also distribute it. Derived works—The source code can be modified and distributed in its modified form. Distribution of license—The open license should apply to all derived or modified software. No discrimination—The license can’t restrict who can receive or use the software. No related restrictions—The license can’t restrict other software that may be distributed in conjunction with the open-source software.

14. List eight or 10 popular open-source applications. You may include some not mentioned in the text. Answers will vary. The ones from the text include.       

Open Office Open Project MySQL NetBeans PostgreSQL Eclipse GIMP

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          

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KTooN GNU Privacy Guard ClamWin Open project Aptana Studio SeaMonkey Unix Apache WordPress phpBB Joomla

15. Explain the evolution of Web pages. Web pages have gone through three major evolutionary changes. These changes are not distinct and separate changes, but simply reflect the major evolution.  The first types of pages were static pages which had text, some images, and links to other pages.  The second major advance occurred when pages added more animation and dynamic pages that varied depending on the user and the data available.  The third major advance is to make the browser pages function more like a true application with dynamic changing of the page itself through dynamic programming and rapid contact with the server. The user himself can work on the page as though it were an application. 16. Explain how an API works. An API (Application Program Interface) consists of the set of program functions or method signatures that are presented as external functions that can be used by outside programs. In other words, a system may have a defined API so that things like plug-ins may be connected to it by executing those specific API methods. An API provides a way that external programs can use the services of a specific system. 17. What is the difference between widgets and plug-ins and themes? Plug-in is a generic name to refer to all types of small applications that use and extend the services of a system (by using its API). A widget is a specific type of plug-in that focuses on the user interface. A theme is an add-on that changes the look and feel of a system. A theme is not usually considered a plug-in because it does not have executable statements. It usually consists only of formatting options that are invoked by the main application to change the look and feel of the user interface. 18. What is meant by Web 2.0?

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Web 2.0 is a loosely defined term that is not standardized in the industry but which refers to the ability to allow the user to generate content or make changes to a the user interface. It refers to those capabilities that allow the user to interact more readily with Web pages. 19. What is a mashup and why is it an important contribution to Web 2.0? A mashup is the concept of combining the capabilities of two or more Web systems and serve it in a single integrated Web site. Multiple Web systems that have predefined APIs can be combined by invoking the services of each, via the API of each Web site, and combining them together into a single Web page or Web site. It is important for Web 2.0 because it allows new and innovative ways to allow users to interact and obtain services via the Web. 20. What is an RIA and why is it an important contribution to Web 2.0? Rich Internet Applications consist of Web pages that support elaborate and extensive user interaction. RIA usually contain extensive multimedia as well as allowing the user to enter data and make changes dynamically on the Web page. Obviously, this is a major contribution to Web 2.0 and supporting sophisticated user interaction. 21. What is the difference between JavaScript and JavaFX? JavaScript is a programming language that is executed within a Web browser. All of the major Web browsers support JavaScript programming to allow executable code on the client computer within a browser. JavaFX is a Java (which is entirely different than JavaScript) based environment running under the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Java based systems use Java applets and Java servlets to produce active systems without requiring browser based execution. 22. What is HTML5? HTML 5 is a new standard for HTML (still under development and approval), that defines specific RIA components within the standard. As HTML 5 is integrated into the browsers, then the browsers themselves will have built in capability to support RIA sites.

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Problems and Exercises 1. The Unified Process (UP) was first developed by a company called Rational, which is now owned by IBM. On the IBM Web site, find any information about UP tools available through IBM/Rational. Briefly describe the suite of tools available. Also, look on the IBM Web site and other Web sites (such as the Agile Modeling Web site) for opinions on the relationships and commonality between the UP and Agile Modeling. Report your findings. Answers will vary. 2. Consider X P's team-based programming approach in general and its principle of allowing any programmer to modify any code at any time in particular. No other development approach or programming management technique follows this particular principle. Why not? In other words, what are the possible negative implications of this principle? How does XP minimize these negative implications? Answers will vary. Some of the potential problems of allowing anybody to make changes to the code are:  Not communicating to the primary author when changes are made,  Primary author (and tester) not being aware of changes and making conflicting tests or changes,  Primary author becoming defensive about code quality  Primary author wanting to “own” the code XP helps with these problems by (1) establishing ground rules that code can be modified by multiple programmers, and (2) setting up an effective communication system to let others know when code is changed. Also by integrating continuously with small releases, the impacts of code changes are kept current for all to use. 3. Visit the Web sites of the Agile Alliance (www.agilealliance.org) and Agile Modeling (www.agilemodeling.com). Find some articles on project management in an Agile environment. Summarize key points that you think make project management more difficult in this environment than in a traditional, predictive project. Do the same for key points that make project management easier for an Agile project. Answers will vary. 4. Visit the Web site of the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org) and review recent developments related to the HTML5 standard. What are some of the basic components of the standard? What are the major additions to HTML4? Answers will vary. HTML5 brings in new elements to structure the web pages as compared to HTML4 which uses

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common structures such as: – header, columns etc.  These new elements are: header, nav, section, article, aside, and footer.  HTML5 brings a whole new dimension to web world. It can embed video on web-pages without using any special software like Flash.  Not only videos, HTML5 is said to be capable of playing video games on the browser itself (8bit games have been tried on it).  Besides this, HTML5 is considered to be flexible to handle inaccurate syntax. HTML5 specifies the rules related to the parsing and lexing as compared to HTML4. This means that even if there is an incorrect syntax, similar result is produced by various complaint browsers.  Furthermore, HTML5 denotes to scripting of API (application programming interfaces) including new APIs like:◦ Drag and drop ◦ Database storage off line ◦ Editing of the document ◦ Canvas 2D APIs, etc. 5. Find a company in your community that uses Scrum or XP (or variations thereof) as its development methodology. Learn how the company has applied the methodology and how it applies the principles and practices. Also, research what development tools it uses and how well the methodology is supported. Answers will vary. 6. Find someone in your community who is working on a software development project that is using Agile principles. How was the team trained to use Agile Development? How was this approach adopted in the organization? What is the general feeling about its success? What aspects does this developer like? Which aspects does he or she find frustrating or difficult to use? Answers will vary.

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Solutions to End-of-Chapter Cases Case Study: Midwestern Power Services MPS is currently in the early stages of planning the system upgrades. It hasn’t yet committed to specific technologies or development approaches. It also hasn’t yet decided whether to upgrade individual systems or replace them entirely. The target date for completing all system modifications is three years from now, but the company is actively seeking ways to shorten that schedule. Note that answers will vary and there are really no wrong answers. Poor answers are only those that are not logically supported. 1. What would you recommend as an approach to upgrading the three listed applications—a single total project or three individual projects? Explain your decision. Answers will vary. Some considerations might be:  Single project approach: ◦ Large and complex project ◦ Large projects are higher risk – with more potential for failure ◦ Will possibly overextend the available resources ◦ May require outside resources ◦ Could possibly reduce the overall time to completion due to massive parallel activities  Multiple projects approach ◦ Will probably take longer ◦ Will permit “learning curve” on how best to solve problems ◦ Will require close communication to ensure consistency across systems ◦ Smaller, less complex projects will be less risk ◦ Can be done with smaller staff 2. Describe the pros and cons of the UP approach versus XP and Scrum development approaches to upgrading the existing systems or developing new ones. Do the pros and cons change if the systems are replaced instead of upgraded? Do the pros and cons vary by system? If so, should different development approaches be used for each system? Answers will vary. UP tends to be a more formal approach with more “ceremony” and more specific planning required. Both XP and Scrum tend to do well with an “organic” approach to growing systems – either as a “walking skeleton” approach or modifying an existing system. The preferred approach also depends heavily on the organization cultural, whether the developers are used to working in a purely adaptive environment, or whether they have a more predictive mentality. UP is also less adaptive and a little more predictive in its planning and execution.

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3. Assume that MPS has had very little experience with developing projects by using adaptive techniques. Do you think it would be viable for them to attempt an adaptive approach for these three systems? What would be your recommendation for each? Which method would you recommend and why? Answers will vary. If MPS has little experience with adaptive techniques, it should probably try to do two things: 1. Try a smaller project or a preliminary project with some adaptive techniques to teach the developers how to work in that kind of environment. 2. Probably start with UP because it is more formal and would be less of a shock to the developers. However it would be a good idea to take some the more innovative developers and use some adaptive techniques. They could then train additional developer teams in adaptive techniques. 4. Assuming MPS decided to use one of the three methodologies discussed in the chapter, make a list of potential problems and the steps they should take to avoid those problems. List any activities they should consider to ensure success. Answers will vary. Some considerations:  Management does not know how to manage adaptive projects  Executive management does not understand that progress and status is reported differently  Management may try to interfere and modify the projects in the middle.  Developers do not understand how to work with adaptive projects  Developers do not have the 'mind set' of Agile and XP (Scrum) philosophies  Project manager does not know how to manage using Adaptive philosophies To enhance success with adaptive techniques  Review the philosophy frequently to ensure that the project conforms to it  Conduct training – at both management and developer level  Seek outside help – training or consultants who have experience  Frequent reviews of approach and ways to implement Agile and XP philosophies 5. Assuming that MPS decided to develop and deploy each system individually, what would you recommend for a development approach? Would you recommend any SAAS solutions? Would you recommend using MS Visual Studio and IIS or a Unix environment by using some opensource applications? Explain your decision. Answers will vary. Generally the development environment will depend on the organization culture. Either MS Visual Studio or Unix will work well. Generally, MS requires more resources to develop and to run the software, however it also has a tightly integrated set of tools and support. Probably SAAS is not an option because these applications will be very specific to this industry

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and to MPS's requirements.

Running Cases: Community Board of Realtors The Community Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service is a small system with limited requirements. In Chapter 9, you identified a complete list of use cases and divided the system into two subsystems. Using the results from your earlier work, please do the following: 1. Based on Figure 14-6—the XP methodology— divide your use cases into releases and iterations within each release. Develop a project iteration plan that includes the necessary activities at each level (system, release, iteration) for integration testing and acceptance testing. Compare your answer to this question to the project iteration plan you developed for Chapter 9. Note: This is a small system, so dividing it into releases may not make sense. However, for learning purposes, we will divide the system into two releases. Since a release is meant to have all critical functionality, the first release will be larger than the second release. The table below identifies which use cases are included in the second release. Often the difference between releases in a software application is that the same use cases are supported, but later releases provide more elaborate or more user friendly versions of upgraded use cases. Release Iteration Description

Use Cases

1

1.1

#1

Implement first Agent and Office use cases

Add real estate office Update real estate office Add real estate agent Update real estate agent

#2

Implement first Listing use cases

Add new listing Record listing change Delete listing View listings

#3

Basic Reporting use cases

Produce list of RE offices and agents

#4

Conduct integration and system tests

No new use cases

#5

Deploy system for acceptance test. Deploy production system.

No new use cases

#1

Implement remaining Agent and Office Delete real estate office use cases. Enhance deployed Agent and Delete real estate agent Office use cases. View statistics on RE office View statistics on RE Agents

#2

Implement remaining Listing use cases. Enhance deployed listing use cases.

#3

Conduct integration and system test

#4

Deploy system for acceptance test. Deploy production release.

Product ML book View histories of sold properties View statistics of open properties

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2. Discuss the requirements of this system for mobility devices. What use cases would be best utilized on a mobile device? What use cases would be best with a desktop user interface? This system is used by both the Board of Realtors, who work mostly in their offices and Real Estate Agents, who are seldom in their offices. Hence the use cases that apply mostly to the Board of Realtors staff will work well on larger computers with keyboards and screens. Some use cases, particularly those for view the Listings, will work well for laptops and notepads, and even for smart phone devices. The following table shows a possible division. Use case Probable use Add/Update/Delete Real Estate Office

Desktop

Add/Update/Delete Real Estate Agent

Desktop

Add/Change Listings

Both – Frequently done on desktop, but Agents may also do on notepads and laptops

Delete Listing

Desktop

View Listings

Mobile devices by Agents

Produce ML Book

Desktop in office

Produce list of RE Offices and Agents

Desktop in office

View Stats on RE Offices/Agents

Desktop in office

View Histories of properties

Both – Agents may need to see histories

View Stats on Open properties

Both – Agents may need to see stats

3. Would this application be suited as an SAAS application? What would be critical factors for a company to consider if it wanted to offer an SAAS version of this application? Given that every state has a Board of Realtors, it is not unlikely that a vendor company may produce and provide an SAAS version. One advantage of an SAAS version is that there would probably be more consistency across states in the functionality of the software and user functions. Also the cost would be more reasonable, and in all likelihood, the system would be able to provide more enhanced and state of the art functions, such as more support for mobile devices. As with all SAAS services, each Board of Realtors would need to assure that the service provided is a reliable, robust, and full-featured. Data isolation is a key issue, but SAAS providers always must guarantee the integrity of the data. Probably the biggest issue would be whether the SAAS provider could provide support for mobile devices.

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4. Can you identify any use cases that would best be implemented as a mashup Web application? Discuss which ones might fit this requirement and why? All the use cases and pages that view listings would be enhanced if location and map data were provided. This would facilitate both Agents and Consumers to use the site to find property locations. Other possible mashups might include:  Weather forecast for the local area  News feed for out of town customers  Traffic reports for dense traffic metropolitan areas  Photos of neighborhood and surrounding areas  Lists and locations of schools, churches, and other community services  Locations of shopping malls  Zoning divisions of the area and nearby areas

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Running Cases: The Spring Breaks 'R' Us Travel Service Recall from Chapter 2 that SBRU’s initial system included four major subsystems: resort relations, student booking, accounting and finance, and social networking. In Chapter 9, you developed a comprehensive list of use cases for each of the four subsystems. You also developed a project plan by using the adaptive SDLC and other principles that you learned in this textbook. For this chapter, you will develop a project plan by using XP. The approach for ordering the use cases will be based on user interface issues. 1. For each subsystem, build a table with the following columns: a. Use case name—as defined in Chapter 9 b. Primary use device—whether this use case will be used primarily on a mobile device or a desktop device or equally prevalent on each c. Development platform—whether this use case best fits as a desktop app, a free-standing Internet app, or a browser-based app d. RIA—whether this use case should be an RIA (for browser-based applications)

Subsystem

Use Case

Primary Device

Platform

RIA

Desktop

Browser

No

Edit account information

Desktop

Browser

No

Create/enter resort information

Desktop

Browser

No

Post availability and prices of rooms Desktop

Browser

No

View/edit room availability

Desktop

Browser

No

Retrieve completed reservations

Desktop

Browser

No

Submit damage report

Desktop

Browser

No

Join SBRU/enter personal and financial information

Both

Browser

No

View resort information and availability of rooms/facilities

Both

Browser

No – some video

Make a reservation

Both

Browser

No

Make a payment for reservation

Both

Browser

No

Cancel a reservation

Both

Browser

No

Resort Relations Sign up with SBRU

Student Booking

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Accounting and Finance Process student payments

Both

Secure Browser

No

Make refunds/correct payment errors Desktop

Secure Browser

No

Process payouts to resorts

Desktop

Secure - any

No

Edit/update/correct payouts

Desktop

Secure - any

No

Create an individual account (join)

Both - mobile

Browser

No

Set preferences on account

Both - mobile

Browser

No

Create a group account

Both - mobile

Browser

No

Assign admin rights to account

Both - mobile

Browser

No

Search for a person or group

Both - mobile

Browser

No

Link up with a person or group

Both - mobile

Browser

No

Send a private message to a friend

Mobile

Browser

No

Chat with friend(s)

Mobile

Browser

Interactive

Post a comment to a friend/group/photo

Mobile

Browser

No

Upload photo or video

Mobile

Browser

No

Tag photo

Mobile

Browser

Interactive

Write/update vacation experience

Both - mobile

Browser

No

Social Networking

2. Based on your table from question 1, organize the use cases by using two criteria: a. The logical ordering based on functional similarity (i.e., as you did in Chapter 9) b. Group them together as much as possible based on primary use device, development platform, and RIA characteristics. In other words, you are trying to help the team so everyone is building similar types of use cases together. See answer to #3. It includes the grouping. 3. Assuming two separate XP programmer teams, build a project iteration plan as you did in Chapter 9. Note: In organizing by primary device, platform, and RIA characteristics, the logical ordering requirement has to be relaxed. Also the two teams are no longer specifically Student oriented functions and Resort oriented functions. This exercise might be performed by a project manager to see if this grouping or if the Chapter 9 grouping will be easier for the development

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teams. In the following iteration plan, the desktop use cases were scheduled first. Then the mobile use cases were scheduled second. Both teams work similarly – on desktop first, then on mobile. Team 2 also picks up some student mobile functions in its iterations 3 and 4.

XP Team 1 (Student focused)

XP Team 2 (Resort focused)

Iter Use Cases

Device

Iter Use Cases

Device

1

Join SBRU/enter personal and financial information

Both

1 Sign up with SBRU

Desktop

View resort information and availability of rooms/facilities

Both

Edit account information

Desktop

Make a reservation

Both

Create/enter resort information

Desktop

Make a payment for reservation

Both

Post availability and prices

Desktop

Cancel a reservation

Both

View/edit room availability

Desktop

Process student payments

Both

Retrieve completed reservations

Desktop

Make refunds/correct payment errors

Desktop

Submit damage report

Desktop

Process payouts to resorts

Desktop

Search for a person or group

Both mobile

Edit/update/correct payouts

Desktop

Link up with a person or group

Both mobile

Create an individual account (join)

Both mobile

Send a private message to a friend Mobile

Set preferences on account

Both mobile

Chat with friend(s)

Mobile

Create a group account

Both mobile

Post a comment to a friend/group/photo

Mobile

Assign admin rights to account

Both mobile

Upload photo or video

Mobile

Tag photo

Mobile

2

3

4

Write/update vacation experience Both mobile

2

3

4

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Running Cases: On the Spot Courier Services As you read this chapter, you probably noted that the development methodology used in this textbook has many things in common with the Unified Process, Scrum, and Extreme Programming. In fact, our objective in this textbook is to teach you the principles common to all these methodologies without forcing you to accept only one. Given these four methodologies Satzinger- Jackson-Bird (SJB), UP, Scrum, XP—and what you now know about Agile and iterative development, do the following for the development of the On the Spot system: 1. Choose a single methodology. Why did you choose that one? Answers will vary by student. 2. Mix and match practices from each methodology. Discuss which ideas you like from each methodology. Answers will vary by student. Given the trends in new technology, software availability, and the Web as an application platform, answer these questions: 1. What kind of equipment would be best and most stable for the truck drivers to use? Answers will vary by student and over time as technology improves. In most companies such as On the Spot, special purpose tablets are used – some use a stylus to record data, particularly signatures. For entering package data, it is usually helpful to have some type of keyboard. New technology includes screen touch pads, virtual keyboards (projected), or even speech-to-text data entry. This assignment is most fun if students “think out of the box” and come up with interesting solutions. 2. What would you recommend as the development approach and platform: a custom application using Visual Studio and .NET, a custom application using Java or similar language, a Web application using ASP.NET, a Web application using PHP and JavaScript, or some other combination. Discuss your recommendation. Answers will vary by student. Either platform is acceptable, and depending on the background and experience of the student one or the other will be chosen. The .NET platform is a stable and well integrated platform used by many companies. The open source platform also is widely used and provides many different options for development.

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Running Cases: Sandia Medical Devices Based on the discussion of hardware, Internet, and software technology trends in this chapter, it should be clear to you that the Real-Time Glucose Monitoring (RTGM) system is an interesting combination of older and newer technology. Except for the interface to software and data on mobile phones, the server-side portions of the system are a relatively traditional businessoriented application that can be implemented by using old-fashioned technology. What makes the RTGM system “new” are its client side functions, including the automated collection of glucose levels, the regular transmission of that data to servers, the integration of communication between patients and health-care providers, and the integration of those functions within software installed on a portable device that can be carried in a user’s pocket. With that in mind, answer the following questions. You may need to do some additional research to fully address them. 1. The chapter classified apps on portable devices as device-top, free-standing Internet, and browser based. Which type is most appropriate for the client-side portions of the RTGM system? Be sure to consider such issues as client-server communication requirements and frequency, user interface quality, and portability across devices and operation systems. Answers will vary by student. In most of the chapters, however, it was assumed that the client side software would be special purpose apps that run on the smart phones and on the monitoring device. Some reasons for developing a free-standing Internet application are the following:  Dependable – does not have to depend on browser robustness. This is probably the most important.  Compatibility – can be specifically programmed for devices. No problems with cross browser support  Efficient – can be programmed to run very efficiently – streamlined using few resources  Fast – can be built to run faster with less latent and delay times 2. Which (if any) social networking capabilities might make a useful addition to the RTGM system? Be sure to consider the HIPAA requirements described for this case at the end of Chapter 6. The current system allows messages to be sent between the medical staff and the patient. This could be enhanced to allow for online chats to occur. (Of course, phone calls are also, an option, but often times a quick question can be done via online chat. ) Online chats would be under the same HIPAA requirements as the messages. They must be protected on the server and the mobile devices. Social networking between patients is probably not a good idea at this point. There are diabetic support groups online where people can share experiences and messages with others that have similar ailments. However, it is probably too invasive to allow that to be done with this system.

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3. When recorded glucose levels generate high priority alerts, physicians or other health-care providers initiate direct contact with the patient. An ordinary phone call over the cellular phone network is one way to support direct contact. Because any client-side device used with the RTGM system must be fully Internet-capable, an Internet telephony application, such as Skype, is another possible way of supporting synchronous voice or video communication with the patient. Should Skype or a similar Internet telephony application be used with the RTGM system? Why or why not? If such an application is used, should it support video? Why or why not? Answers will vary by student. Some considerations might be:  Skype is not a secure environment. Chat histories are stored at different locations and can possibly be accessed or hacked. It probably does not meet HIPAA requirements. (Servers must be in secure data centers.)  Skype is also not 100% dependable. (Although it is quite good.) None of these types of systems are built with the redundancy and dependability required by medical systems.  Video would probably be helpful for the medical staff to observe the patient. However, bandwidth limitations make it unreasonable at this point in time. Data mining is an increasingly important technique for medical research. The ability to scan medical records of large numbers of patients over extended time periods enables researchers to better evaluate the effectiveness of drugs and therapies, more accurately connect disease risk levels to specific patient characteristics, and identify patterns of transmission or occurrence, progression, and treatment response for rare diseases and conditions. What types of medical research might be enabled or better supported by the data collected by the RTGM system? Would your answer change if the database were extended to include additional information that might be gathered from the patient’s mobile phone (e.g., location information when each glucose level was captured, size and content of the patient’s contact list, call history, and the volume of text messages and Internet browsing activity)? Answers will vary by student.