The project for the rest of the semester will be a set of related exercises whose purpose will be to expose you to the various stages of the software life cycle. You will be interviewing a client to determine a set of requirements, coming up with a domain model, and then a design. When these stages are complete, you will then implement your design.
Your company, a small software company looking for its first big client, has received a letter of intent from an eccentric Australian billionaire, who has a keen interest in auto racing. He has convinced himself that the world needs another professional racing series, and that he's the one to start it. Among many other things, he would like to automate all aspects of the series so that, ultimately, fans can get up to the minute news, even during a race, via the web. The letter he sent to your company is appended. That's all you know. Eager for the business, you claim your group has written many similar systems, and can deliver a product by May.
Your first project will be to draw up an initial domain model based on the information in the contact letter, and arrange a meeting with the potential customer the week after Fall Break. You should have your initial domain model ready for the meeting.
The final working system will be the final group project. You may begin implementing it at any time. Note that in this case, early attempts at implementation may not always prove productive.
The assignment must be handed in on time, one submission from each group, so that I may grade it in time for you to begin the second project the following week. There will be no extensions.
You may recall the legendary battles of Al Holbert and Hurley Heywood, of Derek Bell and Hans Stuck. The sheer dominance in the 80s of great cars like the 962 and in the 70's of the 917 and 935. The classic playoffs between factory sponsored teams like Ford, Porsche, and Ferrarri. The excitement generated by independently owned teams like Joest or Kraemer, whose grassroots participation kept the factory teams on their toes. While those days are gone, what made them great, and today's motor sports dull, was a sanctioning body that left the driving to the drivers, the repairs to the pit crews, and the strategies to the team managers. Imagine a sanctioning body that does not interfere with the pure pleasure of a race series. Sound like a dream?
I am in a position to make that dream a reality. After experiencing the glamour of Formula 1 and the frustration of the meddling FIA megalomaniacs, and suffering through endless other boring and mis-managed racing series', I have decided to revive the great IMSA name under my own personal auspices. With a race every week, a more sensible points structure for a season driver, team, and manufacturer championship, races at the great tracks of the world like Le Mans, Daytona, Watkins Glen, Hockenheim, Neurburgring, and of course Albert Park, and a system for making the series and personalities involved accessible to the fans, I envision the most excitement ever to hit auto racing since the invention of the motor car. I have the financial mettle and business savvy to succeed. But that is not your concern.
The existence of your company was brought to my attention by your professor, Chris Welty, a fellow race fan and champion Porsche driver, who believes you to be capable of handling the technical aspects of my dream. From my business experience I know that certain technologies such as ORBs, CORBA, COTS, SPOTS, RDBMs, CGI, OOPS, Java, OODBS, and others have revolutionized your industry, and I would like to have a comprehensive software system that incorporates the latest innovations like these. I understand from Chris that such a bold vision must be accomplished in stages, but that your company is well positioned at the leading edge of the software industry. Good on yer! I am eager to get under way and meet with your company to discuss the details.