A functional specification outlines the basic functions of a software application and is developed through requirements analysis. It serves as a model for programmers to develop source code and test cases. The process involves various team members, including business people, data analysts, programmers, and technical personnel. The functional specification does not specify the programming language to be used. Depending on the complexity of the software, multiple levels of functional specification documents may be used.
A functional specification describes the basic functions of a software application. It is generally developed as part of requirements analysis in software development. It serves as a model for programmers to develop source code and test cases for the application.
In general, there are many different actors involved in analyzing the requirements for the development of each software application. These players include the business people who are supposed to use the software, data analysts, programmers and other technical personnel. Businesspeople explain to other team members exactly what they expect the software to do, from a business perspective.
The business requirements are merged with the data that needs to be captured and is used to develop how the team wants each of the screens to work. All of this requirements analysis must be completed to document the functional specification. Once the functional specification has been roughly documented, the team works to refine it. The team reviews these documents and fills in any gaps in the requirements analysis. Once the requirements analysis is complete, the team approves the functional specification. The approved specification document is used as a model for software development.
Source code and test cases are developed using the functional specification. Team members use the functional specification to develop the test cases needed to confirm that the software works as specified. The number of test cases used to debug software varies based on the complexity of the software being developed. While the programmers develop the software, another part of the team develops the test cases. The testing process for software approval begins when programmers notify the team that it is ready to be tested.
The functional specification does not specify things like the software language to be used by programmers. The specifications found within a functional specification are limited to the actual functions of the program. The specification document explains what happens when a user of a program clicks a specific button on the screen, but not how the programmer will perform the specific function.
Depending on the complexity of the software to be developed, some teams use multiple levels of functional specification documents. The management team could participate in the specification of high-level functions while a group of senior analysts could define in more detail the specific functions and a joint team of business analysts and programmers could define each screen. Each of the output documents of these levels can be considered a functional specification.
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