Software Design Principles Questions and Answers

Q: The metric for measuring coupling between two units, is given by :c (x, y) = i + [n/(n + 1)]where, the coupling between two units means :

The units are software units.The formula is the coupling metric proposed by Fenton and Melton for a pair of modules x and y. i is the worst (highest) type of coupling relationship found between the two, on an ordinal scale running from no coupling up to content coupling, and n is the number of interconnections between them. The units being measured are therefore software modules in general, whatever language or paradigm they come from.The metric is not restricted to classes, objects or methods; those are particular kinds of unit in object-oriented design, and the measure applies to any pair of software units.

Q: Which of the following is not a design principle for class based component in modeling component level design ?(i) A module should be open for extension but closed for modification.(ii) One General purpose interface is always better than many client-specific interfaces.(iii) Classes that change together belong together

The statement that is not a design principle is (ii) only.The Interface Segregation Principle, one of the class-based component design principles Pressman lists, says the opposite of (ii): many client-specific interfaces are better than one general-purpose interface, so that clients do not depend on operations they do not use.Statement (i) is the Open-Closed Principle, that a module should be open for extension but closed for modification. Statement (iii) is the Common Closure Principle, that classes that change together belong together in a package. Both are genuine principles, so options including them are wrong.

Q: Cohesion is........and coupling is...... .

Cohesion is intra-module and coupling is inter-module.Cohesion measures how closely the elements within a single module belong together, how focused the module is on one task. Coupling measures the degree of interdependence between modules. Good design aims for high cohesion and low coupling.Option B reverses the two, and options C and D put both concepts on the same side, which would make them the same measure.

Q: MDD stands for ................... .

MDD stands for model-driven development.Model-driven development (also called model-driven engineering) makes models, rather than code, the main outputs of development. Higher-level models of the system are transformed, often automatically, into lower-level models and finally into executable code; the OMG's Model Driven Architecture is one form of it.The other expansions are not standard terms; none of them is what the abbreviation means in software engineering.

Q: Which design abstraction focuses on what the system does, not how ?

The keyed answer is functional abstraction.Functional abstraction describes a component by what it does, its inputs and outputs, and hides how it does it. The caller needs only the function's contract, not its internal steps.Data abstraction hides how data is represented and exposes operations on it. Control abstraction hides the order in which statements execute (loops, subprogram calls). Procedural abstraction is closely related, since a named procedure hides its steps, and some texts use it interchangeably with functional abstraction, but the question's wording 'what the system does' matches functional abstraction most directly, which is the key's choice.

Q: What is the primary goal of a software engineer during the design phase ?

The primary goal in the design phase is to create a blueprint or architecture for the software system.In design, the requirements gathered earlier are turned into a plan of how the system will be built: its architecture, modules, interfaces, data structures and databases, documented in design specifications.Gathering requirements comes before design, writing source code is the implementation phase, and finding bugs is the testing phase.

Q: Which design pattern ensures a class has only one instance and provides a global point of access to it ?

The pattern is the Singleton Pattern.A singleton makes its constructor private, keeps its single instance in a static field, and exposes it through a static method such as getInstance(). This ensures one instance and gives a global point of access to it, which is useful for things like a configuration object or a logger.The Factory pattern creates objects without exposing the concrete class. Observer lets objects subscribe to another object's changes. Strategy swaps interchangeable algorithms at run time. None of them limits a class to one instance.

Q: What is the primary purpose of a Data Flow Diagram (DFD) ?

The purpose of a DFD is to represent data movement in a system.A data flow diagram shows how data enters a system from external entities, passes between processes, is held in data stores and leaves as output, at levels from a context diagram down to detailed levels. It shows what happens to the data, not when or in what order.Program logic and control flow are shown by flowcharts or pseudocode. Database schema is shown by ER diagrams. User interface design uses wireframes or mock-ups.

Q: In object-oriented analysis, what is cohesion ?

Cohesion is the degree to which elements within a module belong together.A highly cohesive module or class does one well-defined job, and all its methods and data serve that job. Good design aims for high cohesion together with low coupling, because cohesive modules are easier to understand, reuse and change.The degree of interaction between modules is coupling, the usual partner concept and the trap here. The number of classes and the depth of the inheritance hierarchy are size and structure metrics, not cohesion.

The metric for measuring coupling between two units, is given by :

c (x, y) = i + [n/(n + 1)]

where, the coupling between two units means :

A.class units
B.object units
C.software units
D.method units

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: C

The units are software units.

The formula is the coupling metric proposed by Fenton and Melton for a pair of modules x and y. i is the worst (highest) type of coupling relationship found between the two, on an ordinal scale running from no coupling up to content coupling, and n is the number of interconnections between them. The units being measured are therefore software modules in general, whatever language or paradigm they come from.

The metric is not restricted to classes, objects or methods; those are particular kinds of unit in object-oriented design, and the measure applies to any pair of software units.

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Which of the following is not a design principle for class based component in modeling component level design ?

(i) A module should be open for extension but closed for modification.
(ii) One General purpose interface is always better than many client-specific interfaces.
(iii) Classes that change together belong together

A.(iii) only
B.(ii) only
C.(i) only
D.(i) and (iii) only

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: B

The statement that is not a design principle is (ii) only.

The Interface Segregation Principle, one of the class-based component design principles Pressman lists, says the opposite of (ii): many client-specific interfaces are better than one general-purpose interface, so that clients do not depend on operations they do not use.

Statement (i) is the Open-Closed Principle, that a module should be open for extension but closed for modification. Statement (iii) is the Common Closure Principle, that classes that change together belong together in a package. Both are genuine principles, so options including them are wrong.

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Cohesion is........and coupling is...... .

A.Intra-module, Inter-module
B.Inter-module, Intra-module
C.Intra-module, Intra-module
D.Inter-module, Inter-module

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: A

Cohesion is intra-module and coupling is inter-module.

Cohesion measures how closely the elements within a single module belong together, how focused the module is on one task. Coupling measures the degree of interdependence between modules. Good design aims for high cohesion and low coupling.

Option B reverses the two, and options C and D put both concepts on the same side, which would make them the same measure.

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MDD stands for ................... .

A.Model based driver development
B.Model-driven development
C.Model-development design
D.Modular design development

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: B

MDD stands for model-driven development.

Model-driven development (also called model-driven engineering) makes models, rather than code, the main outputs of development. Higher-level models of the system are transformed, often automatically, into lower-level models and finally into executable code; the OMG's Model Driven Architecture is one form of it.

The other expansions are not standard terms; none of them is what the abbreviation means in software engineering.

Discuss in Forum

Which design abstraction focuses on what the system does, not how ?

A.Functional abstraction
B.Data abstraction
C.Control abstraction
D.Procedural abstraction

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2026,

Answer: A

The keyed answer is functional abstraction.

Functional abstraction describes a component by what it does, its inputs and outputs, and hides how it does it. The caller needs only the function's contract, not its internal steps.

Data abstraction hides how data is represented and exposes operations on it. Control abstraction hides the order in which statements execute (loops, subprogram calls). Procedural abstraction is closely related, since a named procedure hides its steps, and some texts use it interchangeably with functional abstraction, but the question's wording 'what the system does' matches functional abstraction most directly, which is the key's choice.

Discuss in Forum

What is the primary goal of a software engineer during the design phase ?

A.To identify software bugs
B.To write the source code
C.To create a blueprint or architecture for the software system
D.To gather and finalize requirements

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2025,

Answer: C

The primary goal in the design phase is to create a blueprint or architecture for the software system.

In design, the requirements gathered earlier are turned into a plan of how the system will be built: its architecture, modules, interfaces, data structures and databases, documented in design specifications.

Gathering requirements comes before design, writing source code is the implementation phase, and finding bugs is the testing phase.

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Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of structured programming ?

A.Use of goto statements
B.Top-down approach
C.Use of control structures
D.Modularity

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2026,

Answer: A

The feature that is not part of structured programming is the use of goto statements.

Structured programming, influenced by Dijkstra's 1968 letter 'Go To Statement Considered Harmful', builds programs only from sequence, selection (if, switch) and iteration (loops). It avoids unrestricted jumps, which make control flow hard to follow.

Top-down design, the use of these control structures and modularity (breaking the program into procedures or modules) are all core features of structured programming.

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Which design pattern ensures a class has only one instance and provides a global point of access to it ?

A.Factory Pattern
B.Singleton Pattern
C.Observer Pattern
D.Strategy Pattern

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2026,

Answer: B

The pattern is the Singleton Pattern.

A singleton makes its constructor private, keeps its single instance in a static field, and exposes it through a static method such as getInstance(). This ensures one instance and gives a global point of access to it, which is useful for things like a configuration object or a logger.

The Factory pattern creates objects without exposing the concrete class. Observer lets objects subscribe to another object's changes. Strategy swaps interchangeable algorithms at run time. None of them limits a class to one instance.

Discuss in Forum

What is the primary purpose of a Data Flow Diagram (DFD) ?

A.Show program logic
B.Represent data movement in a system
C.Display database schema
D.Illustrate user interface

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2026,

Answer: B

The purpose of a DFD is to represent data movement in a system.

A data flow diagram shows how data enters a system from external entities, passes between processes, is held in data stores and leaves as output, at levels from a context diagram down to detailed levels. It shows what happens to the data, not when or in what order.

Program logic and control flow are shown by flowcharts or pseudocode. Database schema is shown by ER diagrams. User interface design uses wireframes or mock-ups.

Discuss in Forum

10.

In object-oriented analysis, what is cohesion ?

A.Degree of interaction between modules
B.Degree to which elements within a module belong together
C.Number of classes in a system
D.Inheritance hierarchy depth

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2026,

Answer: B

Cohesion is the degree to which elements within a module belong together.

A highly cohesive module or class does one well-defined job, and all its methods and data serve that job. Good design aims for high cohesion together with low coupling, because cohesive modules are easier to understand, reuse and change.

The degree of interaction between modules is coupling, the usual partner concept and the trap here. The number of classes and the depth of the inheritance hierarchy are size and structure metrics, not cohesion.

Discuss in Forum

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