Object-oriented analysis: Is it just theory? Is it just theory?

Academic researchers and practitioners frequently describe a situation in which the object-oriented (OO) approach strongly supports the design and coding phases of software development but only weakly supports the analysis phase. Such observations conflict with impressions imparted by textbooks and training programs. This article examines whether object oriented analysis (OOA) theory has been deployed in practice (with or without support of computer-aided software engineering tools) or whether it exists only in theory. This study explores 54 projects, diverse in scope and topic, all of which were implemented using object-oriented tools. The study shows that practitioners haven't widely adopted the theoretically popular OOA and suggests a cost-benefit perspective, arguing that OOA fails to attract practitioners because of a low ratio of costs to benefits relative to other methodologies. In particular, practitioners perceive the cost of system modeling using OOA methodologies and UML diagrams as high relative to its benefits. The authors present of recommendations to reduce costs and increase benefits in OOA. © 2010 IEEE.