There are many operational settings for the Grader Tool within different disciplines of academia. The uses are as follows:

• in classes by teachers/professors/T.A.'s
• as an example application within software classes
• used as a client for office administrators to review grades
• in academic clubs (Chess, Environmental, etc...)

Physical Settings:

• Instructors use client computers, personal or department, to manage grade books locally on those computers.
• Students use computers, personal or department, to fetch posted grades, and perform "what if's".
• There is a department server, where grades are posted and fetched.
• There is the Cal Poly SIS (student information services) computer.

There are no preliminary constraints to install and use Grader. Grader can be used both by individuals and organizations in multiple settings. But the one setting that it's particularly made for is the classroom, where both teachers and T.A.'s can simultaneously use it within the comfort of their home/office.

The single primary customer for Grader is professor Gene Fisher, the Software Engineering professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Grader's requirements are informed to us by professor Fisher through weekly meetings. Professor Fisher has suggested that the main setting for the application is inside a classroom.

The Grader application has been drafted to fit the curriculum used by Gene Fisher in CSC 308 and 309 classes. The creation of the Grader Tool is divided into two sections where section one concentrates on design and section two concentrates on implementation. Because this application has a broad spectrum of use, other professors will find Grader Tool's functionality useful, as well as it's implementation useful to be used as an example in their course.

Grader Network Topology