Software Design and Development HSC past paper question?

[Jerylieiah]

There is a question from the Software Design and Development 2015 HSC:

25. Software applications are now created to run on a range of portable devices, such as
smart phones and tablets, as well as a range of desktop computers.
Outline how this affects software development.

I was wondering if someone could answer the question and explain how to set it out in the test.

This would be very appreciated, thanks

[Opengangs]

Sorry, this is so late, but I hope my information is still of good use.

When we're dealing with these higher marked questions, we need to understand the core components of the question.
Let's start with the directive term: outline.
This indicates that we need to: "indicate the main features of".
For the directive terms, please see: here.

This means that we need to state the core features of portable devices and how this affects the software development.
So, for portable devices, we know that the size dimensions of the screen are altered. For instance, the screen of the desktop computer is obviously much larger than that of smart phones and tablets.

Other effects may include:

• the consideration for different operating systems -- compatibility
• different runtimes across different operating systems -- speed differences

Combining all of these effects, here's a sample answer that I would write:

As technology advances, software applications are now created to be used across a range of portable devices, such as smart phones and desktop computers. As such, developers will need to consider the different aspects of software development to cater for these differences.
One such consideration includes the consideration for the screen sizes across each portable device. For instance, smart phones and desktop computers have far differing screen sizes, and as a result, developers are required to cater for these needs.
Another consideration is the compatibility of software applications to be run on the different portable devices. Since portable devices have different compatibility needs, developers will require to specially cater for these compatible issues.
Developers also need to consider the run time aspects of these portable devices. Much like their compatibility needs, different software systems will load and run applications at different speeds, which can be based upon different internet usage speeds.
By considering these aspects of software development, developers can understand and specifically cater to these different portable devices.

Of course, this is a bit of an overkill of an answer for a three-marker, but notice how I didn't just list what effects this will have on software development. For an outline, or an higher ending directive term, you need to go into a little bit more depth to justify why these effects need to be considered.

Good luck!

[Georgia30657]

Hi,
I would like to add onto Opengangs answer by suggesting the user practicality of the software as well.
i.e. having a GPS app on a mobile phone compared to a laptop.
Also it might be a good idea to include an example as well.