RAD or TRAD or both? The future of software development

Abstract

Consideration is given to differing viewpoints about rapid applications development (RAD) and traditional software development methods (TRAD). Traditional methods focus on functionality, on completeness, on correctness. RAD methods focus on speed, on adaptability, on evolution. These descriptive words hold the key to identifying the kinds of circumstance under which it is appropriate to use each method. Traditional methods are appropriate when it only makes sense to complete the analysis of requirements before proceeding to the design stage and when it only makes sense to complete the whole design before moving on to coding and testing. RAD methods are appropriate when it is difficult to articulate the business requirements up front or when these requirements are subject to frequent change. It is clear that powerful results can be obtained from combining RAD and traditional methods in the same development community. This makes the adversarial nature of most RAD vs. TRAD debates so destructive and counter productive. As a consequence and in conclusion, the only statement that really holds true about RAD and traditional methods is the following. The software house that learns to mix and match both RAD and traditional approaches appropriately can beat the world.