An Approach for Class Model Development

This paper aims to introduce an approach that can be used by both students and practitioners to develop a class model by analysing users’ documents. The approach is based on the concept of functional dependence and enables the use of the normalization technique in the field of object-oriented modelling. We believe that the normalization technique is applicable, useful and even essential in this field. The approach consists of six steps that lead the analyst through identifying identity attributes, determining functional dependences, defining associations between identity attributes, integrating the analyses, developing an initial class model, and completing the class model by using inheritance. Two documents of a hospitalization process are used as an example to implement the steps of this approach.