MCA-104 Object Oriented Software Engineering Notes cover all 4 units of this Semester 2 MCA paper in 79 pages, with 34 UML and process figures, 8 Java code examples, 3 agile case studies and 76 exam-style practice questions. They follow the MCA syllabus effective from academic year 2025-26, and the full notes come as a printed book.
Written by Prateek Talwar, Founder, Unnati Educations · Reviewed by Ritik Rawat, B.Tech, Senior Full Stack Developer · Checked against the GGSIPU MCA scheme and syllabus PDF (01 Aug 2025) · Updated 13 October 2026 · Editorial policy
Scheme: MCA scheme, A.S. 2025-26 onwards | Applies to: batch admitted 2025-26 onwards | Verified against: MCA scheme and syllabus PDF, 01 Aug 2025
MCA-104 Object Oriented Software Engineering at a glance: GGSIPU MCA Sem 2 credits, units and exam pattern
| Item | Official value |
|---|---|
| Course and semester | MCA (2 years), Second Semester |
| Type and credits | Compulsory theory paper (not in an elective group); L 3, T/P nil; 3 credits |
| Marks | Out of 100 (scheme note 9); end-term paper 60; internal share not printed separately |
| End-term pattern | Q1 compulsory, short answers from all units, 12 marks; then one of two questions per unit, 12 marks each (12 + 48 = 60 marks) |
| Units and hours | 4 units: 10 + 10 + 12 + 8 = 40 hours |
| Paired lab | MCA-164 OOSE Lab: L 0, T/P 2, 1 credit; marks not printed |
MCA-104 snapshot from the official MCA scheme (A.S. 2025-26 onwards)
- Item
- Course and semester
- Official value
- MCA (2 years), Second Semester
- Item
- Type and credits
- Official value
- Compulsory theory paper (not in an elective group); L 3, T/P nil; 3 credits
- Item
- Marks
- Official value
- Out of 100 (scheme note 9); end-term paper 60; internal share not printed separately
- Item
- End-term pattern
- Official value
- Q1 compulsory, short answers from all units, 12 marks; then one of two questions per unit, 12 marks each (12 + 48 = 60 marks)
- Item
- Units and hours
- Official value
- 4 units: 10 + 10 + 12 + 8 = 40 hours
- Item
- Paired lab
- Official value
- MCA-164 OOSE Lab: L 0, T/P 2, 1 credit; marks not printed
Pre-requisites: software engineering and OOP concepts. MCA-104 is one of three compulsory theory papers on the GGSIPU MCA Semester 2 papers list, with MCA-102 and MCA-106.
MCA-104 Object Oriented Software Engineering Notes unit-wise: 34 figures, 8 Java code examples and 3 case studies across 4 units
The MCA-104 OOSE IPU notes run to 79 pages. Notes for other MCA papers sit under GGSIPU MCA notes.
The official PDF prints no unit titles, so headings use the notes' titles.
MCA-104 Unit 1: Object Oriented Concepts, UML and Architecture
Pages 4 to 21, 7 figures. Association multiplicity, five inheritance types, {xor} constraints, six levels of reuse, RUP's hump chart, a 12-row lifecycle comparison, 4+1 views and Jacobson's five models.
| Phase | Main goal | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Inception | Scope, business case, rough cost | Lifecycle Objectives |
| Elaboration | Stable architecture, major risks removed | Lifecycle Architecture |
| Construction | Product built feature by feature | Initial Operational Capability |
| Transition | Beta test, training, deployment | Product Release |
Quick look: RUP phases and end milestones (from page 12)
- Phase
- Inception
- Main goal
- Scope, business case, rough cost
- Milestone
- Lifecycle Objectives
- Phase
- Elaboration
- Main goal
- Stable architecture, major risks removed
- Milestone
- Lifecycle Architecture
- Phase
- Construction
- Main goal
- Product built feature by feature
- Milestone
- Initial Operational Capability
- Phase
- Transition
- Main goal
- Beta test, training, deployment
- Milestone
- Product Release
MCA-104 Unit 2: Project Management, Analysis and UML Models
Pages 22 to 38, 8 figures. Triple constraint, Inception activities and artifacts, six feasibility types, FURPS+, event types, a fully developed "Issue Book" use case and five UML diagrams.
Quick look: the ROI and payback numerical (from page 26)
- Cost ₹5,00,000; net benefit ₹2,00,000 a year for 5 years.
- ROI = (10 − 5) ÷ 5 × 100 = 100%.
- Payback = 5,00,000 ÷ 2,00,000 = 2.5 years.
MCA-104 Unit 3: Construction, Design Patterns and UML Models
Pages 39 to 59, 11 figures, 7 Java listings: the longest unit. A sequence diagram mapped to IssueController, a three-layer design with LoanDAO, code for five patterns and six design-stage UML diagrams.
Quick look: a thread-safe lazy Singleton (from page 49)
public class DBConnection {
private static DBConnection instance;
private DBConnection() { }
public static synchronized DBConnection getInstance() {
if (instance == null) instance = new DBConnection();
return instance; } }Result: two getInstance() calls return one object, so c1 == c2 is true.
MCA-104 Unit 4: OO Testing and Agile Process
Pages 60 to 79, 8 figures and a JUnit 5 class for Loan.calcFine(). 16 testing terms, black-box vs white-box, TDD, the Agile Manifesto, XP's 12 practices, Scrum, Lean's seven wastes, Kanban and three case studies.
| Event | Time-box |
|---|---|
| Sprint | 1 to 4 weeks, fixed |
| Sprint Planning | Up to 8 h (1-month sprint) |
| Daily Scrum | 15 minutes |
| Sprint Review | Up to 4 h |
Quick look: four of the five Scrum events (from page 73)
- Event
- Sprint
- Time-box
- 1 to 4 weeks, fixed
- Event
- Sprint Planning
- Time-box
- Up to 8 h (1-month sprint)
- Event
- Daily Scrum
- Time-box
- 15 minutes
- Event
- Sprint Review
- Time-box
- Up to 4 h
MCA-104 exam corner: 48 short-answer and 28 long-answer practice questions by unit
| Unit | Short | Long | Java code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | 12 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | 12 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 | 12 | 7 | 1 |
MCA-104 practice questions and Java code by unit
- Unit
- 1
- Short
- 12
- Long
- 7
- Java code
- 0
- Unit
- 2
- Short
- 12
- Long
- 7
- Java code
- 0
- Unit
- 3
- Short
- 12
- Long
- 7
- Java code
- 7
- Unit
- 4
- Short
- 12
- Long
- 7
- Java code
- 1
The MCA-104 notes list 48 short-answer and 28 long-answer exam-style questions across 4 units, plus 8 Java code examples.
- Unit 1: Why is the use case view the "+1" view? Pointer: it adds no new structure; it ties and validates the other four (page 17).
- Unit 2: Functional vs non-functional requirements. Pointer: "what" vs "how well", with a measurable example (page 28).
- Unit 3: What is a DAO? Pointer: one class holding CRUD for one domain class; a database switch changes only DAOs (page 45).
- Unit 4: Error vs fault vs failure. Pointer: mistake, then defect, then visible wrong behaviour (page 62).
More practice sits in the MCA-104 important questions.
Who writes and checks the MCA-104 OOSE notes?
- Prateek Talwar, author: Founder, Unnati Educations; Associate Company Secretary (ACS), ICSI, membership no. 58704, since 15 May 2019; B.Com, University of Delhi (School of Open Learning), 2012. Author bio
- Ritik Rawat, subject reviewer: Senior Full Stack Developer, Unnati Educations; B.Tech.
The 2026-27 edition of these GGSIPU MCA Semester 2 OOSE notes is mapped to the MCA scheme approved on 1 August 2025, including its Multiton pattern and agile case studies. See the editorial policy.
The same team prepares GGSIPU important questions for every course, including diagram-heavy papers like this one.
How to write MCA-104 answers: diagram-led twelve-mark answers and crisp Q1 differences
The 2025-26 instructions set Q1 as 12 marks of short answers from all units, then one 12-mark question per unit. The practice lists in the notes still tag questions 2.5 and 12.5 marks, the older split, so plan by the official 12-mark pattern.
- For Q1 parts, answer as a three-row difference. Most short questions start with "differentiate": SSD vs sequence diagram, class vs object diagram, Singleton vs Multiton, verification vs validation. Write one definition line per side, then a small basis-wise table; for Singleton vs Multiton the rows are number of instances, storage and access method. The pattern summary on page 53 gives reusable one-line intents.
- For unit questions, lead with the diagram. Correct notation earns the first marks. Follow the notes' steps: system boundary, actors, verb-plus-noun use cases, then «include» or «extend» only where needed. In a state diagram, label every transition as
event [guard] / action, for examplereturn() [late] / calcFine(), and check that every state can be reached and left. - For a 12-mark testing answer in Unit 4, turn one use case into test cases: the main flow becomes the normal test and each exception flow, such as "membership expired" or "3-book limit reached", becomes its own test.
Worked example: "Explain the Observer pattern with a class diagram" (Unit 3)
- Intent: a one-to-many dependency, so dependents update when the subject changes.
- Participants: Subject with
attach(),detach(),notifyObservers(); Observer withupdate(). - Class diagram:
BookTitleas subject,SMSAlertas observer (Figure 3.5). - Six to eight lines of Java, then benefits (loose coupling) and uses (GUI listeners, MVC).
Two slips the notes warn about: treating Inception as full requirements analysis, and calling the use case view a fifth view. End lifecycle or agile comparisons with a "best for" row. Practise this format on GGSIPU MCA important questions.
MCA-104 and the MCA-164 OOSE lab (one RUP project in a CASE tool), plus other GGSIPU MCA Sem 2 papers
Paired lab: MCA-164 OOSE lab notes. MCA-164 (1 credit) asks for one real-life RUP project in Rational Rose, Visio or StarUML, through to deployment; no numbered practical list is printed.
- Unit 1, RUP and 4+1 views: the project plan.
- Unit 2, use case to domain class diagrams: the analysis model.
- Unit 3, design to deployment diagrams: the design model.
- Unit 4, use-case driven tests: testing the project.
Other Semester 2 papers: MCA-102 Data and File Structures and MCA-106 Python Programming (compulsory); Core Elective I, one of MCA-108 Advanced DBMS, MCA-110 Data Warehousing and Data Mining, MCA-112 Mobile Applications Design and Development, MCA-114 Full Stack Development, MCA-116 Web Technologies, MCA-118 Theory of Computations, MCA-120 Software Testing, MCA-122 Microprocessors, MCA-124 Embedded System, MCA-126 Information Security.
Open Elective I, one of MCA-128 Digital Marketing, MCA-130 Management Information System, MCA-132 Management Principles and Organizational Behavior, MCA-134 Finance and Accounting; labs MCA-162, MCA-166, MCA-168; MCA-170 Minor Project II; MCA-172 Environment Science (NUES); MCA-174 Professional Proficiency II.
Aggregation and composition in UML class models: excerpt from page 9 of the MCA-104 notes
Excerpt from page 9
1.3 Grouping concepts: aggregation and composition
Grouping concepts show a whole-part relationship, where one object (the whole) is made up of other objects (the parts). UML offers two forms of it, aggregation and composition, and both are special kinds of association.
Aggregation ("has-a", a weak whole-part)
In aggregation the part can exist on its own. If the whole is destroyed, the parts still live, and a part may be shared by more than one whole. It is drawn with a hollow diamond at the whole end. A department has teachers: if the department closes, the teachers still exist and can join another department. A team has players; a library has books.
Composition ("part-of", a strong whole-part)
Composition is a strong form of aggregation. The part cannot exist without the whole; the whole owns it completely, so parts are created and destroyed with it, and a part belongs to only one whole at a time. It is drawn with a filled diamond. A house is made of rooms: demolish the house and the rooms are gone too. An order and its order lines, or a book and its chapters, work the same way.
| Basis | Aggregation | Composition |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship | has-a (weak) | part-of, owns (strong) |
| Life of part | Independent of the whole | Depends on the whole |
| Sharing | Part can be shared by many wholes | Part belongs to one whole only |
| UML symbol | Hollow diamond ◇ | Filled diamond ◆ |
| Multiplicity at whole | Can be 0..* | Always 1 (or 0..1) |
| Example | Department and Teacher | House and Room |
Aggregation vs composition: six points of difference (excerpt, page 9)
- Basis
- Relationship
- Aggregation
- has-a (weak)
- Composition
- part-of, owns (strong)
- Basis
- Life of part
- Aggregation
- Independent of the whole
- Composition
- Depends on the whole
- Basis
- Sharing
- Aggregation
- Part can be shared by many wholes
- Composition
- Part belongs to one whole only
- Basis
- UML symbol
- Aggregation
- Hollow diamond ◇
- Composition
- Filled diamond ◆
- Basis
- Multiplicity at whole
- Aggregation
- Can be 0..*
- Composition
- Always 1 (or 0..1)
- Basis
- Example
- Aggregation
- Department and Teacher
- Composition
- House and Room
Exam trick from page 9
Ask: "If I delete the whole, does the part die?" Yes means composition; no means aggregation. In increasing strength of binding, the order is association, then aggregation, then composition, from weakest to strongest.
Do the MCA-104 notes cover the full GGSIPU syllabus?
Yes. Every official MCA-104 topic has its own section in the notes; the Unit 4 case studies are illustrative, as the syllabus names none.
| Official unit | Official topics | Where in the notes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit I (10 h) | Object Oriented Concepts: objects and classes, links and association, generalization, specialization, inheritance, grouping concepts, aggregation, composition, abstract classes, polymorphism, metadata, constraints, reuse. Rational Unified Process; traditional vs object oriented lifecycle. UML origin, 4+1 view architecture. Architecture: model building, requirements, analysis, design, implementation and test models. | 1.1 to 1.9, pages 5 to 20 | Covered |
| Unit II (10 h) | Project management, unified process and inception phase, project monitoring and control. Analysis: requirements model, analysis model (use cases, domain classes), use case modelling, detailed requirements. UML: use case model, activity, system sequence, object and domain class model diagrams. | 2.1 to 2.11, pages 23 to 37 | Covered |
| Unit III (12 h) | Construction: design model, block design, use case realization, design within UP iterations. Mapping design to code, data access layer, UI and system interfaces. Design patterns: Singleton, Multiton, Iterator, Adapter, Observer. UML: communication, design class, state transition, package, component, deployment diagrams. | 3.1 to 3.11, pages 40 to 58 | Covered |
| Unit IV (8 h) | Testing terminology, types of test, automatic tests, testing strategies. Agile Manifesto, Agile Principles, Extreme Programming, Scrum, Lean processes. Case studies. | 4.1 to 4.11, pages 61 to 78 | Covered (illustrative case studies) |
MCA-104 official syllabus topics mapped to the notes
- Official unit
- Unit I (10 h)
- Official topics
- Object Oriented Concepts: objects and classes, links and association, generalization, specialization, inheritance, grouping concepts, aggregation, composition, abstract classes, polymorphism, metadata, constraints, reuse. Rational Unified Process; traditional vs object oriented lifecycle. UML origin, 4+1 view architecture. Architecture: model building, requirements, analysis, design, implementation and test models.
- Where in the notes
- 1.1 to 1.9, pages 5 to 20
- Status
- Covered
- Official unit
- Unit II (10 h)
- Official topics
- Project management, unified process and inception phase, project monitoring and control. Analysis: requirements model, analysis model (use cases, domain classes), use case modelling, detailed requirements. UML: use case model, activity, system sequence, object and domain class model diagrams.
- Where in the notes
- 2.1 to 2.11, pages 23 to 37
- Status
- Covered
- Official unit
- Unit III (12 h)
- Official topics
- Construction: design model, block design, use case realization, design within UP iterations. Mapping design to code, data access layer, UI and system interfaces. Design patterns: Singleton, Multiton, Iterator, Adapter, Observer. UML: communication, design class, state transition, package, component, deployment diagrams.
- Where in the notes
- 3.1 to 3.11, pages 40 to 58
- Status
- Covered
- Official unit
- Unit IV (8 h)
- Official topics
- Testing terminology, types of test, automatic tests, testing strategies. Agile Manifesto, Agile Principles, Extreme Programming, Scrum, Lean processes. Case studies.
- Where in the notes
- 4.1 to 4.11, pages 61 to 78
- Status
- Covered (illustrative case studies)
Official source: MCA Scheme of Examination and Detailed Syllabus, A.S. 2025-26 onwards. Exam rules: Ordinance 11.
Every course in GGSIPU notes is mapped to its official PDF the same way.
MCA-104 OOSE notes FAQs
How do I get the full MCA-104 notes?
Message 9899436384 on WhatsApp using the "Get Full Notes" button on this page. The full MCA-104 notes are sold only as a printed book; they are not available as a PDF. Delivery takes 5 to 7 days at most, depending on your location, and the team confirms the 79-page edition on WhatsApp before you order.
Is MCA-104 a Semester 1 or Semester 2 paper?
MCA-104 is a Semester 2 paper. The MCA scheme effective from academic year 2025-26 lists it under the Second Semester Examination with 3 lecture hours a week and 3 credits, next to MCA-102 and MCA-106. Its paired practical is MCA-164 Object Oriented Software Engineering Lab, worth 1 credit, where students build one project in a CASE tool.
What is the passing mark for MCA-104?
MCA-104 is marked out of 100, and the end-term paper carries 60 of those marks: 12 for Q1 plus 12 for each of the four units. The MCA scheme of examination states passing marks as 40%, which is 40 out of 100. Minimum end-term marks and re-appear rules come from Ordinance 11 of the university, published on ipu.ac.in.
Which MCA-104 unit is the longest in the notes?
Unit 3 is the longest MCA-104 unit, at 21 pages with 11 figures and 7 Java listings, and the syllabus also gives it the most teaching time, 12 hours. It covers construction, the data access layer, five design patterns and six UML diagrams. Unit 4 follows with 20 pages, while Units 1 and 2 have 18 and 17 pages.
Do the MCA-104 notes include code for the design patterns?
Yes. The MCA-104 notes give Java code for all five patterns the syllabus names, Singleton, Multiton, Iterator, Adapter and Observer, on pages 49 to 53. Each pattern also has its intent, participants and benefits, and Adapter and Observer have class diagrams. A one-line summary table for all five closes the section, which helps with quick Q1 parts.
Do the MCA-104 notes match the 2025-26 MCA syllabus?
Yes. The MCA-104 notes were checked topic by topic against the MCA scheme effective from academic year 2025-26, and all four units are covered. One difference to know: the practice lists inside the notes still tag questions 2.5 and 12.5 marks, while the current paper-setter instructions give 12 marks to Q1 and 12 to each unit question.
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Unnati Educations is an independent education provider based in Vikaspuri, Delhi. We are not affiliated with, authorised by, or endorsed by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU). 'GGSIPU' and 'IPU' are used only to describe the syllabus our notes follow. For official information, visit ipu.ac.in.
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