CHAPTER 13 Iterative Models
When to use iterative development? You should use iterative development only on projects that you want to succeed.
—MARTIN FOWLER
Control is for beginners.
—DEBORAH MILLS-SCOFIELD
Iteration is truly the mother of invention.
—MARY BRODIE
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER:
- Differences between predictive, iterative, incremental, and agile approaches
- Benefits of prototyping and kinds of prototypes
- Spiral, Unified Process (plus variations), and Cleanroom development models
Predictive software development has some big advantages. It’s predictable, encourages a lot of up-front design (hence the nickname big design up front or BDUF), and gives a certain inevitability to a project.
Unfortunately, that inevitably can lead to either success or failure. If the design is correct and everything stays on track, the project is like a luxury train coasting majestically into Grand Central Station. However, if something goes wrong, the project is more like a train engulfed in flames and speeding toward a dynamited bridge.
In recent years, software organizations have spent a lot of effort developing techniques that help keep projects headed in the right direction. Lumping all those models and techniques together would make for a bloated chapter, so I decided to split them up a bit.
This chapter discusses one of the techniques that is easiest to apply to any other development model: iteration. In an iterative model, you build the final application ...
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