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• Encourages customer feedback

• Integration from very beginning solves a lot of integration issues.
Disadvantages of RAD model:
• Depends on strong team and individual performances for identifying business
requirements.
• Only system that can be modularized can be built using RAD
• Requires highly skilled developers/designers.
• High dependency on modeling skills
• Inapplicable to cheaper projects as cost of modeling and automated code generation is very
high.
2.5 Agile Methods
The Agile methodology derives from a namesake manifesto, which advanced ideas that were
developed to counter the more convoluted methods that pervaded the software development world
despite being notoriously inefficient and counterproductive. Promoting similar methods to Lean,
the key principles of Agile are as follows:

• Satisfying customers is of foremost importance

• Develop projects with inspired contributors
• Interactions are best when done in person
• Software that works is a measure of progress
• Reflect and adapt on an ongoing basis
Additionally, the four core values of Agile are as follows:
• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan
Regardless of which Agile methodology a team adopts, the benefits cannot be fully realized
without the commitment of everyone involved.
2.5.1 Extreme Programming
One of the foremost Agile methodologies is called Extreme Programming (XP), which
involves a high degree of participation between two parties in the software exchange: customers
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and developers. The former inspires further development by emphasizing the most useful features
of a given software product through testimonials. The developers, in turn, base each successive set
of software upgrades on this feedback while continuing to test new innovations every few weeks.
XP has its share of pros and cons. On the upside, this Agile methodology involves a high
level of collaboration and a minimum of up-front documentation. It’s an efficient and persistent
delivery model. However, the methodology also requires a great level of discipline, as well as
plenty of involvement from people beyond the world of information technology. Furthermore, in
order for the best results, advanced XP proficiency is vital on the part of every team member.
Extreme programming (XP) is a software development methodology which is intended to
improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. As a type
of agile software development, it advocates frequent "releases" in short development cycles, which
is intended to improve productivity and introduce checkpoints at which new customer
requirements can be adopted.
Other elements of extreme programming include: programming in pairs or doing extensive code
review, unit testing of all code, avoiding programming of features until they are actually needed,
a flat management structure, code simplicity and clarity, expecting changes in the customer's
requirements as time passes and the problem is better understood, and frequent communication
with the customer and among programmers. The methodology takes its name from the idea that
the beneficial elements of traditional software engineering practices are taken to "extreme" levels.
As an example, code reviews are considered a beneficial practice; taken to the extreme, code can
be reviewed continuously, i.e. the practice of pair programming.
Activities
XP describes four basic activities that are performed within the software development process:
coding, testing, listening, and designing. Each of those activities is described below.
Coding
The advocates of XP argue that the only truly important product of the system development process
is code – software instructions that a computer can interpret. Without code, there is no working
product.
Coding can also be used to figure out the most suitable solution. Coding can also help to
communicate thoughts about programming problems. A programmer dealing with a complex
programming problem, or finding it hard to explain the solution to fellow programmers, might
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code it in a simplified manner and use the code to demonstrate what he or she means. Code, say
the proponents of this position, is always clear and concise and cannot be interpreted in more than
one way. Other programmers can give feedback on this code by also coding their thoughts.
Testing
Extreme programming's approach is that if a little testing can eliminate a few flaws, a lot of testing
can eliminate many more flaws.
• Unit tests determine whether a given feature works as intended. Programmers write as many
automated tests as they can think of that might "break" the code; if all tests run successfully,
then the coding is complete. Every piece of code that is written is tested before moving on to
the next feature.
• Acceptance tests verify that the requirements as understood by the programmers satisfy the
customer's actual requirements.
System-wide integration testing was encouraged, initially, as a daily end-of-day activity, for early
detection of incompatible interfaces, to reconnect before the separate sections diverged widely
from coherent functionality. However, system-wide integration testing has been reduced, to
weekly, or less often, depending on the stability of the overall interfaces in the system.
Listening
Programmers must listen to what the customers need the system to do, what "business logic" is
needed. They must understand these needs well enough to give the customer feedback about the
technical aspects of how the problem might be solved, or cannot be solved. Communication
between the customer and programmer is further addressed in the planning game.
Designing
From the point of view of simplicity, of course one could say that system development doesn't
need more than coding, testing and listening. If those activities are performed well, the result
should always be a system that works. In practice, this will not work. One can come a long way
without designing but at a given time one will get stuck. The system becomes too complex and the
dependencies within the system cease to be clear. One can avoid this by creating a design structure
that organizes the logic in the system. Good design will avoid lots of dependencies within a system;
this means that changing one part of the system will not affect other parts of the system.
Advantages
Robustness
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Resilience
Cost savings
Lesser risks

Disadvantages
It assumes constant involvement of customers
Centered approach rather than design-centered approach
Lack of proper documentation

2.6 Managing Interactive Processes

Booch suggests that there are two levels of development:

• The macro process
• The micro process
Macro process
• Establish core requirements (conceptualization).
• Develop a model of the desired behavior (analysis).
• Create an architecture (design).
• Evolve the implementation (evolution).
• Manage post delivery evolution (maintenance).
Micro process
• Identify the classes and objects at a given level of abstraction.
• Identify the semantics of these classes and objects.
• Identify the relationships among these classes and objects.
• Specify the interface and then the implementation of these classes and objects
In principle, the micro process represents the daily activity of the individual developer, or
of a small team of developers.
The macro process serves as the controlling framework of the micro process. It represents
the activities of the entire development team on the scale of weeks to months at a time.
The basic philosophy of the macro process is that of incremental development: the system as a