Issues in Rapid Application Development

2. Issues in Rapid Application
Development
Kasun Ranga Wijeweera
(krw19870829@gmail.com)

General Characteristics
• Usage of Specialized Support Tools
– Visual Development Tools
• E.g. RAD Studio XE6
– Application Programming Interfaces (API)
• E.g. STL in C++, Java API
– Version Control Tools
• E.g. CVS, RCS, PRCS
– Content Management Systems (CMS)
• E.g. OpenCms, Joomla, Drupal

• Usage of Specialized Support Tools…
– Pure Simulations
• E.g. ASCEND, FreeMat
– Multiple Programming Languages
• E.g. Emacs
– Teamwork
• E.g. MagicDraw
– Team Scheduling
• E.g. schedueit

• Time Boxing
– Development is done iteratively
– Each iteration is done in a time box of fixed
duration
– Secondary requirements may be ignored in order
to stay on schedule

• Iteratively Evolutionary Prototyping
– Joint Application Development Meeting (JADM)
• Generating a rough list of requirements
– Iterative throughout the process
• Developers build/refine prototype
• Designers review the prototype
• Customers tryout the prototype
– Focus group meeting
• At some stage exploratory prototypes may evolve into
operational prototypes

Strategy in RAD
• Get rid of classic mistakes
• Application of development fundamentals
• Proper management of risks to avoid roll backs
• Focus on schedule oriented practices

Dimensions of Speed
• People
• Process
• Product
• Technology

People
• People play the most important role on
software productivity and software quality
• The issues are motivation, teamwork, staff
selection and training
• Ways to maximize human potential
– Staff selection for team projects
• Top talent, Job matching, Career progression, Team
balance
– Team organization and motivation

Process
• Process consists of both technical and
management methodologies
• A well planned process can help:
– Rework avoidance
– Quality assurance
– Risk management
– Customer orientation
– Resource targeting

Product
• Development time depends on product size
and product characteristics
• Product size
– This is the major contributor to the development
time
• Product characteristics
– A product with ambiguous goals will take longer to
develop than a product with well defined goals

Technology
• Use of effective tools can enhance the
development time
• Choice of effective tools and management of
risks are the basic aspects of rapid
development

General Constraints of RAD
• The acceptance criterion of deliverables:
– “Fit for business”
• All constituencies which can impact
requirements must be informed to the
development team throughout the process
• Informal deliverables should be accepted by
customers and developers
– Paper prototypes, Notes of requirements,
Minimum documentation

When RAD works?
• The application is standalone
• Heavy use of APIs
• Constrained project scope
• Performance is not critical
• Reliability is not critical
• System can be divided into independent
modules
• The technology is well established

When RAD fails?
• The application must communicate with
existing program
• Minimum resource consumption is required
• The system cannot be modularized
• Technical risks are high due to the use of
BLEEDING EDGE technology
• Higher level of reliability is required

Advantages of RAD
• Early visibility due to prototyping
• Greater flexibility due to the developers
involvement in management
• Higher user involvement
• Reduction of manual coding
– Wizards, Code generators, Code reuse
• Fewer defects
– Due to the use of third party building blocks

Advantages of RAD…
• Reduction of cost
– “Time is money”, Code reuse
• Shorter development cycles
– Focus on schedule than economy and quality
• Standard look and feel
– APIs and reusable components provide
consistency

Disadvantages of RAD
• Tools can be expensive
• Hard to measure the progress
– No milestones as in classic way
• Non optimized code
• Many defects are possible
• Third party components may not provide
required functionality or add unnecessary
functionality

Customer Oriented Development
• Not every solution developed is good for
customers
• Customer Oriented Development has a big
impact on development speed
• Nature of customers vary from project to
project

Customer’s Importance to RAD
• User involvement is the number one reason for
a successful project
– Standish group, 1994
• Easy access to end users is one of the critical
factors in RAD projects
– Millington and Stapleton, 1995
• Good relation with customers
– Improve actual development speed
– Improve perceived development speed

Customer Oriented Practices
• Customer oriented practices provide the best
way for customer satisfaction
• Categories for RAD purposes
– Planning
– Requirement
– Design
– Construction

Criteria for Tool Acquisition
• Estimated gain
• Vendor stability
• Quality
• Maturity
• Training time
• Applicability
• Compatibility

Issues in Rapid Application Development

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