Difference between "high-level" class diagram and "normal" diagram

Question

I am a student and we have a Object-Oriented Project that we have to do to pass Object-Oriented course. My problem is to design the project. Teacher wants two different class diagram.Teacher said "One is high level, other one is normal class diagram." I know that high-level class diagram have detailed information such as attributes and methods. Additionally, I think high-level diagram covers normal diagram. What is normal class diagram? What is the difference between high-level and normal class diagram? I think that if we draw a high-level diagram normal diagram is redundant. Why Did teacher want normal diagram? I am confused.

Answer 1

There are typically 5 "levels" of design that one should think of, so that is where the "high-level" comes from. They are usually like this:

1. Software System - This is where you think of the software in terms of entire packages, or in terms of its subsystems.

2. Subsystems - This is the part where you ID all of the major subsystems, such as database, user interface, reporting engine, etc. This is the part where you define how each subsystem uses one another, and how they work together.

The first two are probably what your teacher meant by "High Level Design".

3. Classes - This further partitions the subsystems by classes. For instance, if you had a database system, you might have a class that manages the persistent connections, the metadata, etc. The way each class works with classes in other subsystems are also defined. This is probably what your teacher means by "class design".

Below that, you further divide each class into routines and internal routines, but I assume your teacher does not want you to get that detailed. However, for completion's sake, I will define them:

4. Routines - Design at this level includes dividing each class into routines. It is the "how" to the "what" answered in level 3.

5. Internal Routine - Design of the individual routines.