Industrial Engineer Information Processing flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Cohesion

The degree to which the elements inside a single module belong together. Functional cohesion, where all parts contribute to one task, is the strongest; coincidental cohesion is the weakest.

Coupling

The degree of interdependence between modules. Design aims for low coupling: data coupling through simple parameters is weakest, while content coupling that reaches into another module's internals is strongest.

Fan-in and fan-out

Fan-in is the number of modules that call a given module, indicating reuse. Fan-out is the number of modules it calls, indicating control complexity. High fan-in with moderate fan-out is preferred.

Aggregation vs composition

Both are whole-part UML relationships. Aggregation is shared and weak, so the part can exist without the whole. Composition is exclusive and strong, so the part is destroyed with the whole.

Dependency inversion principle

High-level modules and low-level modules should both depend on abstractions, and abstractions should not depend on details. This lets implementations change without modifying callers.

MVC architecture

A pattern splitting an application into model (data and business rules), view (presentation), and controller (input handling). It separates user interface concerns from domain logic so each can change independently.

Information hiding

Parnas's principle that each module should conceal design decisions likely to change behind a stable interface, so that changes inside one module do not propagate to its callers.

Observer pattern

A behavioral pattern in which a subject keeps a list of dependents and notifies them automatically when its state changes, decoupling the publisher of events from its subscribers.

Cyclomatic complexity

A measure of control-flow complexity: V(G) = edges − nodes + 2, which also equals the number of decision predicates plus one and the number of independent paths needed for testing.

Boundary value analysis

A black-box technique that tests values at and just outside the edges of each input range, such as minimum−1, minimum, minimum+1, maximum−1, maximum, and maximum+1, where defects cluster.

Equivalence partitioning

A black-box technique that divides inputs into classes expected to behave identically and selects one representative test case per valid and invalid class, reducing redundant cases.

Stub vs driver

A stub replaces a called lower-level module during top-down integration. A driver replaces a calling upper-level module during bottom-up integration. Both simulate missing components for testing.

Regression testing

Re-running previously passed test cases after a change to confirm that existing functionality still works. It is the main safety net for iterative development and refactoring.

V-model

A lifecycle model pairing each development phase with a test level: requirements with acceptance testing, system design with system testing, detailed design with integration testing, and coding with unit testing.

Perfective maintenance

Maintenance that improves a working system's performance, maintainability, or functionality rather than fixing defects. It contrasts with corrective, adaptive, and preventive maintenance.

Third normal form

A relation is in 3NF when it is in 2NF and has no transitive dependency, meaning no non-key attribute depends on another non-key attribute. It removes redundancy caused by such chains.

Functional dependency

A constraint stating that whenever two rows share the same value of attribute set X, they must also share the same value of Y, written X → Y. It drives normalization and key identification.

ACID properties

Transaction guarantees: atomicity (all or nothing), consistency (constraints preserved), isolation (concurrent transactions do not interfere), and durability (committed changes survive failure).

Phantom read

An anomaly where a transaction re-executes a query and finds new rows inserted by another committed transaction that match its predicate. Only SERIALIZABLE isolation prevents it fully.

Two-phase locking

A protocol with a growing phase that acquires locks and a shrinking phase that releases them, with no acquisition after the first release, guaranteeing serializable schedules.

Leftmost prefix rule

A composite B-tree index on columns (A, B, C) can serve queries filtering on A, on A and B, or on A, B, and C, but not on B alone, because it is ordered by A first.

Relational selection and projection

Selection (sigma) returns the rows of a relation satisfying a predicate. Projection (pi) returns a subset of columns, removing duplicates. They are the basic unary relational algebra operations.

Incremental vs differential backup

An incremental backup copies all changes since the last backup of any type and clears the archive bit. A differential backup copies all changes since the last full backup and leaves the bit set.

RAID 5

Block-level striping with distributed parity across at least three disks. It survives one disk failure, and usable capacity equals (number of disks − 1) times the smallest disk size.

Availability formula

Availability = MTBF / (MTBF + MTTR), where MTBF is mean time between failures and MTTR is mean time to repair. Availability rises when failures are rarer or repairs faster.

RTO and RPO

Recovery time objective is the maximum acceptable downtime after a disruption. Recovery point objective is the maximum acceptable data loss, expressed as an amount of time.

Parallel changeover

A cutover strategy that runs the old and new systems simultaneously until the new one is proven. It is the safest and most expensive option because operations are duplicated.

Incident vs problem management

Incident management restores service quickly, using a workaround if needed. Problem management investigates underlying causes and removes them to prevent recurrence.

Digital signature

A hash of a message encrypted with the sender's private key. The receiver verifies it with the sender's public key, providing integrity, authenticity, and non-repudiation but not confidentiality.

Symmetric vs asymmetric encryption

Symmetric encryption uses one shared secret key and is fast, suitable for bulk data. Asymmetric encryption uses a public-private key pair and is slow, used for key exchange and signatures.

RBAC

Role-based access control assigns permissions to roles rather than to individuals, and users are granted roles. It simplifies administration and supports least privilege and separation of duties.

SQL injection defense

SQL injection occurs when untrusted input is concatenated into a query. Parameterized statements or prepared statements with bound parameters prevent input from altering query structure.