NX: minimal disruption to the users

[Rob Pearson]

My assignment states:

Your user interface should be designed with the expectation of future functionality enhancements, and it should establish a framework that will support this with minimal disruption to the users when this occurs

What do people think "minimal disruption to the users" could mean? Does this imply they shouldn't need to install a new version (jar file) to get new functionality? Sounds like a good case for using RMI to fetch the GUI from the server, but doesn't that imply dynamic class downloading and require a security manager? My assignment also states:

You must not require the installation of a security manager.
You must provide all classes pre-installed so that no dynamic class downloading occurs.

How have other people handled this?
Cheers
Rob

[Mark Spritzler]

Well it is all about decoupling, and programming to an interface. etc.
Basically, you can design the system such that you can change the server out and not change a single thing on the client. It needs to be "extensible" without major changes needed to be reprogrammed. This is what they mean by with the least of disruption.
If the user has to wait months for a change because the design of the system was bad, that is disruptive, because the user can't get the changes quickly.
Mark

[Andrew Monkhouse]

Hi Rob,
I agree with Mark: your system itself has to be extensible without major rewrites.
This can also affect things such as your user interface. Will an enhancement change the entire look and feel of your application causing disruption to users as they learn the new interface?
To give an example: Right now you need very little information from the client in order to do your booking (whatever assignment you have). So many people here seem to use dialog boxes to get that information. But what happens if requirements change, and you need to get two or three pieces of information to complete the booking. Can you still display it in a dialog box?
Regards, Andrew

[Rob Pearson]

Mark, Andrew,
Thanks for the comments.
Cheers
Rob