Showing papers on "Rapid application development published in 1999"

Rapid application development (RAD): an empirical review

Abstract: Rapid application development (RAD) is an approach to information systems (IS) development which is much discussed in the practitioner literature. However, there is comparatively little research data on this topic. This paper forms a report of the results of a multi-disciplinary research project which has been studying this development approach for the last three years. The paper discusses seven case studies of RAD projects and compares each to issues relating to a number of RAD principles as represented in methodologies such as the recent open standard known as dynamic systems development method. We conclude with a discussion of a number of important questions relating to further research on RAD.

DSDM: Dynamic Systems Development Method

Abstract: Summary form only given, as follows. The Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) is about people, not tools. It is about truly understanding the needs of a business, delivering software solutions that work and delivering them as quickly as possible. The DSDM provides a framework of controls and best practice for rapid application development. It was created by a consortium of organizations and since its publication in January 1995, it has proved to be extremely effective in delivering maintainable systems which match the needs of the business better than those produced using traditional life cycles. This tutorial will be an introduction to DSDM, given by the Chairman of the Technical Committee which developed the method.

Making RAD work for your project

Abstract: For several good business reasons, rapid application development has become increasingly popular. In general, RAD gives you earlier product payback and more payback time before the pace of technology makes your product obsolete. For software product sales, RAD also helps you debut a product earlier in a market window, which lets the product capture more market share, revenues, and profits. To gain maximum benefit from RAD, however, you must choose the RAD form that best suits your project. The article presents the various forms of RAD available and give advice on which to choose.

Filters as a language support for design patterns in object-oriented scripting languages

Abstract: Scripting languages are designed for glueing software components together. Such languages provide features like dynamic extensibility and dynamic typing with automatic conversion that make them well suited for rapid application development. Although these features entail runtime penalties, modern CPUs are fast enough to execute even large applications in scripting languages efficiently. Large applications typically entail complex program structures. Object-orientation offers the means to solve some of the problems caused by this complexity, but focuses only on entities up to the size of a single class. The object-oriented design community proposes design patterns as a solution for complex interactions that are poorly supported by current object-oriented programming languages. In order to use patterns in an application, their implementation has to be scattered over several classes. This fact makes patterns hard to locate in the actual code and complicates their maintenance in an application. This paper presents a general approach to combine the ideas of scripting and object-orientation in a way that preserves the benefits of both of them. It describes the object-oriented scripting language XOTcl (Extended OTcl), which is equipped with several language functionalities that help in the implementation of design patterns. We introduce the filter approach which provides a novel, intuitive, and powerful language support for the instantiation of large program structures like design patterns.

Methodologies for developing and managing emerging technology based information systems : information systems methodologies 1998, Sixth International Conference on Information Systems Methodologies : proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of the British Computer Society Information Systems Methodologies Specialist Group, held on 25-27th August 1998

Abstract: Using SSM and Software Prototyping: an Emergent Methodology for an Ethical Information System.- A Critical Analysis of the Practical Relationship Between Soft Systems Methodology, Husserlian Phenomenology and Systems Development.- A First Step in Developing a Web Application Design Methodology: Understanding the Environment.- A Meta Modelling Approach for Unifying Soft Systems and Information Systems Modelling.- A Methodology and Maturity Critique of an Intranet Development.- A New Methodology for New Systems Technology: How Lotus' Accelerated Value Method is Addressing Groupware Systems Development.- A Preliminary Account of a Case Study Approach to Understanding Factors that Shape the Requirements Process in an NHS Hospital.- A Preliminary Investigation of Rapid Application Development in Practice.- A Team-Based Process Model for UML.- Active Interfaces to Facilitate Network Based Cooperative Work.- Adapting the OPEN Methodology for Web Development.- An Expectation-Perception Gap Analysis of Information Systems Failure.- Applying Semiotic Methods to Requirements Recovery.- Can Intranet Development be a Valuable Means of Organisational Learning?.- Combining Methodologies: Issues Arising, and Lessons Learned, from Developing a Knowledge Management System.- Deny All Knowledge? Examining the Epistemological Assumptions of Anti-Foundationalist Information Systems Design Methodologies.- Emerging Technologies and Situated Requirements.- Information Systems and Organisational Change: the use of 'Project Engineering' in a Hospital Emergency Service.- Information Technology Support for the Learning Organisation.- Is it all in Vain? The Effect of Systems Development Education on Practice: The Multiview - Example.- Is There Any Implicit Knowledge Management Within Software Processes?.- Not Another Methodology. What Ant Tells Us About Systems Development.- Participation in Information Systems Research.- Promise and Practice: I-CASE and Rapid Application Development in Telecom Eireann.- Requirements Engineering for Rapid Development.- Seeking Alignment of Organisation Development in Information Systems Research.- Supporting the End User Computing Process.- The Problem of Defining Objects: A Critical Evaluation of Coad and Yourdon's Object Oriented Analysis Using the Nimsad Framework.- The Role of Object-Oriented Modelling Methods in Requirements Engineering.- Theory in Information Systems.- Towards a Technique for Formulating Information Flows within a Human Purposeful Activity.- Using the Multiview2 Framework for Internet-Based Information System Development.- Author Index.

A Preliminary Investigation of Rapid Application Development in Practice

Abstract: Rapid Application Development (RAD) has been proposed by some as the latest ‘silver bullet‘ to address the software crisis, while others have likened it to ‘old wine in new bottles’, suggesting that it doesn’t really provide anything new in terms of tools or techniques. Researchers have noted that while much has been written on the subject, there is a paucity of empirical research on the concept in practice. This paper discusses the rationale behind the emergence of RAD and the fundamental principles underpinning it. The findings of a preliminary study which investigated the RAD phenomenon in practice are presented. Briefly, the study findings focus on the profile of RAD usage, suitability criteria for using RAD on development projects, and how RAD is used to deliver its mission of faster development, within budget and without sacrificing system quality.

Rapid Application Development with Visual Basic 6

Abstract: Reading is a hobby to open the knowledge windows. Besides, it can provide the inspiration and spirit to face this life. By this way, concomitant with the technology development, many companies serve the e-book or book in soft file. The system of this book of course will be much easier. No worry to forget bringing the rapid application development with visual basic 6 book. You can open the device and get the book by on-line.

CM Strategies for RAD

Abstract: SCM provides many well-known benefits for traditional software development. It enables software teams to develop quality software in a timely and predictable manner. However, some teams who are doing Rapid Application Development, also known as RAD, sometimes feel that standard SCM processes have too much overhead for their quickly moving team members. In fact, some teams choose to forego SCM altogether when in rapid development mode, because they think it slows them down. Is RAD really incompatible with SCM? This paper explores the relationship between SCM and RAD, provides some strategies to keep SCM from hindering RAD, and describes some ways in which SCM can help teams develop applications more rapidly.

Rapid Application Development for Web-Based Collaboration.

Abstract: Developing applications for Computer Supported Collaborative W ork (CSCW) is a complicated process, in particular if aimed at synchronous, distributed cooperation. Here we show how rapid application development is nevertheless possible through a well-engineered combination of an object-relational database, a scripting facility based on an extension of T cl/Tk, and standard Web technology. The approach also supports spontaneous, short term collaboration because elaborate distribution schemes of application specific code are not required. Rather , a standard plug-in, which is available for all major browsers, is sufficient. Our ar gument is supported by examples from a collaborative management tool development. 1 Synchronous Collaboration the Road Ahead It is generally agreed that of all computer -supported collaboration forms, the synchronous (same time), distributed (dif ferent place) mode is the most promising, yet most difficult one [Baecker et al., 1995]. Application areas for synchronous cooperation are e.g. shared authoring, trading, scheduling, crisis management, and distance maintenance. As a typical example, consider project management. In today‘s networked economy , large scale projects involve partners which are geographically distributed. T o plan and monitor a project‘s progress, task dependencies must be identified, timing requirements be set down, resources limitations made public, etc. For a continuous review of the project‘s state, all partners require a consistent shared view of all data and any changes to these data must be done in a transactional fashion to maintain integrity of the overall planning. This is the classical task of a database management system (DBMS). Storing shared data in a consistent way and permitting transactional access to them, however , is only a small part of cooperative work. Planning, designing, controlling with review and refinement are to a lar ge extend social processes. They involve negotiations, alternate plans, external reviews, feasibility studies, debates over priorities and strategies, what-if scenarios, conflict mediation, last minute changes, etc. These long and costly interactions must be supported by suitable tools for collaborative management which forms a subdomain of Computer Supported Collaborative W ork (CSCW). Current technology tends to focus on either asynchronous groupware, i.e. email exchange and placement of data into intranets, or conferencing tools with video transmissions and a shared whiteboard on which a person can draw . Ex mples which are mentioned in [Baecker et al., 1995] are: • desktop conferencing systems with applications for collaborative work across workstations, like e.g. Xerox P ARC’s Colab project [Stefik et al. 1987] • desktop conferencing systems with shared windows, e.g. Rendezvous [Patterson et al., 1990] • electronic meeting and decision rooms, like GMD’ s OLPHIN [Mark et al., 1996] • media spaces, like T eamWorkStation [Ishii et al., 1994]. All of these CSCW tools adhere to a relaxed WYSIWIS model (What Y ou See is What I See) to establish a common ground for discourse, but they dif f r in what can be shown, whether objects can be manipulated by each participant, how communication between users occurs and how much each participant is aware of each others location, activities, focus of attention, etc. It is generally agreed that the initial brain storming phase profits most from video conferences and shared whiteboards. They are important for establishing a social contact and for quick sketches, but they remain strangely detached from the objects of discourse. In contrast, we aim at a database managed, visualized, shared object space. This approach makes use of the fact that collaborative work, once it has progressed past the initial kick off, is based upon an abundance of highly structured objects: documents, maps, design drawings, dependency graphs, time and resource scheduling tables, budget plans, etc. V iews of this space (views in the database as well as in the interface sense) need to be distributed and cooperative tools must provide synchronized access to the shared data. The remainder of this paper is or ganized as follows. Section 2 outlines our approach and emphasizes the dif ference between picture passing and operation passing. In Section 3 we present an example from project management. Section 4 introduces T clDB, the navigational language which ties DBMS, visualization and distribution over the Web together . In Sections 5 and 6 we discuss the architecture of the client-server solution. Section 7 reviews our solution and points out further research areas. Users are invited to connect to http://www.db.informatik.uni-kassel.de/ ~escher/tcldbTclet/Welcome.de.html to get a first look even though some of the concurrency awareness features are not operational yet. 2 Shared Object Spaces View sharing for the WYSIWIS paradigm could be achieved by some picture passing mechanism similar to the X-window display protocol. T o allow for meaningful navigation within the complex objects and some editing functionality , however , operation passing would be preferable. Much like in display generation through command passing (e.g. in PostScript), this approach saves bandwidth and can easily be adapted to user preferences. Operations would be an encoding of a suitable, generic interaction paradigm for navigation and object editing. Based on our experience with a shared database editor , called ESCHER [Thamm and Wegner , 1998; Wegner et al. 1996a, W egner et al., 1996b; Wilke et al., 1997], we suggest using a cursor paradigm which seems familiar to anybody who has ever been in contact with a text processor . Cursors, which we call fingers to distinguish them from the mouse cursor , highlight objects of interest within the shared object space. Navigation allows entering complex objects ( in operation), escaping to the enclosing object ( out ), going to the next or previous object within a collection (next , back ), etc. Operations on objects include insert, delete, cut & paste, query , etc. All operations require one or more fingers which belong to participating (human) users or autonomous agents. Putting a collaborative tool into operation should not require elaborate installation procedures. Bearing in mind that we aim at geographically distributed partners with heterogeneous associations, — from in-house employees to an external visitor — the Web would form the ideal base for wide-spread use. Unfortunately, the Web mode of information supply is stateless, i.e. it follows the connect-get-close paradigm of information interchange and provides mostly pre-compiled pages where contents are possibly fetched from a DBMS [Malaika, 1998]. Thus the Web is not geared towards collaboration. Luckily , through the use of applet technologies [Thorn, 1997], i.e. small mobile code loaded from a server and executed at the client side in a so-called plug-in, we can establish a connection with a server database through which updates can flow in a bi-directional way . In our case we based our development on John Ousterhout‘s T cl/ k [Ousterhout, 1994], were applets are called Tclets1, but other solutions based on commonly available plug-ins are equally possible. In summary, we propose the following application development framework. • Place shared data into a DBMS; we suggest using an object relational model with complex objects since it tends to give a more intuitive view of relations. • Provide server side scripts written in an extension of T cl, called TclDB, which collect and update data in the DBMS. The scripts generate various application specific displays. • The generated code, which is pure T cl/ k, is shipped in small chunks to clients as needed. There the code is executed in a safe interpreter . • Events occurring at the client, e.g. mouse clicks, key strokes, etc. cause call-back commands to be shipped back to the server via socket connections. They may include TclDB commands which the server understands and is allowed to execute. • Clients may start operations by clicking directly into the shared tables or into any derived visualizations, say a diagram. Events relate to the active finger of a user . The finger itself is positioned on an atomic or complex object. If the event occurs in a derived visualization, the finger there has a counterpart within the (nested) source table and the action is reflected in this table. • Concurrency is given through multiple fingers. The area where a finger operates is called animbus. The area which a user currently pays attention to is called the focus. • Unlike in a traditional DBMS, users are not isolated from concurrency but are made aware of it. Concurrency awareness requires that actions of other users which stretch into a user‘s focus are signalled. The terms focus and nimbus and their possible interrelations were introduced by Rodden and others [Rodden, 1996]. Two areas where we have implemented prototype applications are collaborative project management and interfacing to Mathematica for T eleteaching. We report on the first application area below . 1. pronounce „Ticklets“ 3 Interactive Gantt and PERT Diagrams To demonstrate the construction principle, we pick time management within project planning as an example. Note that we assume familiarity with these well-known project management techniques and we like to stress that none of the basic algorithms, say for critical path computation, and none of the basic diagramming techniques are new and need to be elaborated here. Rather we aim at showing how these well-known techniques can be rapidly integrated into a collaborative, database driven tool. As is standard practice, projects are broken up into sets of tasks (jobs, subprojects, project steps, work packages). Each task is assigned an identifier , a d scription and a duration in some suitable unit of time, mostly working weeks. Other relevant data, like resources and responsibilities, estim

A Component-Based Architecture for Integrating Fieldbus Systems into Distributed Control Applications

Abstract: This paper presents a novel software architecture for the easy and complete integration of fieldbus systems into complex distributed control systems. A combination of well-established technologies with a new componentbased approach results in a powerful system architecture suitable to meet today’s user requirements. Our architectural concepts allow the rapid, compilerless development of efficient applications for fieldbus-based process control and visualization. Moreover, the assembled application may easily be adapted to changing process or operating requirements during runtime without interrupting active control tasks.

Promise and Practice: I-CASE and Rapid Application Development in Telecom Eireann

Abstract: In dealing with the challenges posed by the ongoing problem of developing and integrating an evermore complex and diverse range of information systems in a timely manner, practitioners continue to grapple with important issues such as increasing developer productivity and bringing quality improvements to the process and product of systems development. Many organisations have adopted CASE tools with such outcomes in mind. Previous research into the phenomenon of CASE adoption and use has been survey-based in the main, and has resulted in some confusion over the benefits to be derived from the use of CASE tools within the systems development process. This paper adopts an interpretive, case-based research strategy to examine the adoption and use of I-CASE in one organisation in order to facilitate an enhanced understanding of its impact on the process and product of systems development. That said, the findings of this study lend support to the view that CASE does indeed have the potential to exert a positive impact on the development process and its product.

CM Strategies for RAD Version 1.0

Abstract: SCM provides many well-known benefits for traditional software development. It enables software teams to develop quality software in a timely and predictable manner. However, some teams who are doing Rapid Application Development, also known as RAD, sometimes feel that standard SCM processes have too much overhead for their quickly moving team members. In fact, some teams choose to forego SCM altogether when in rapid development mode, because they think it slows them down. Is RAD really incompatible with SCM? This paper explores the relationship between SCM and RAD, provides some strategies to keep SCM from hindering RAD, and describes some ways in which SCM can help teams develop applications more rapidly.