TIMEBOXING
What is standard maximum time period considered for a timebox?
90 days
This is the standard maximum duration for a single timebox in RAD.
True or False: James Martin developed the concept of RAD at IBM in the 1980s.
True
He developed the concept at IBM in the 1980s before publishing his book in 1990.
Name the four essential ingredients of RAD according to James Martin.
Tools, People, Management, and Methodology
True or False: RAD is ideal for real-time or safety-critical systems.
False
RAD is NOT suitable for systems where requirements must be fully understood before any programs are written or where failure could be catastrophic.
What concept does RAD use to work with users and develop/revise low-level requirements? P word.
Prototyping - allows users to see, test, and provide feedback on the system as it evolves.
True or False: In RAD, being late is not an option
True
Deadlines in RAD are immovable. The timebox deadline cannot be extended.
In what year did James Martin publish his seminal text on Rapid Application Development?
1990
This publication introduced RAD concepts to the wider software development community.
True or False: RAD is highly dependent upon people with specialist RAD skills including users, system developers, and project management staff
True Explanation: RAD requires a cross-functional team with specific skills and roles to function effectively.
Name two types of systems where RAD should NOT be used
Real-time systems, safety-critical systems, very large organizational-wide systems, computationally complex systems
How does RAD gather high-level requirements at the beginning of a project?
Using workshops or focus groups
In traditional development, functionality is fixed while time and resources are not. In RAD timeboxing, what items are fixed?
Resources and Time are fixed while functionality/scope is a variable
According to James Martin, what three qualities go hand-in-hand if an appropriate development methodology is used?
High quality, lower cost, and rapid development
RAD challenges the assumption that you must sacrifice quality or increase cost to develop quickly.
Why is management crucial to RAD project success, despite prototyping seeming to be about an 'evolving' environment?
RAD demands cross-functional teams that need coordination, and managers must ensure rapid pace doesn't compromise quality. Without management oversight, RAD teams could lose focus, miss deadlines, or sacrifice quality for speed.
What four characteristics make an application especially suitable for RAD development
1. Interactive, 2. Functionality is clearly visible, 3. User group is clearly defined, 4. Not computationally complex
True or False: Empowering the client is a fundamental principle of RAD, and the user is an integral part of the development team throughout the entire development life cycle.
True
User participation throughout the entire lifecycle is a key philosophy that differentiates RAD from traditional approaches.
Explain the difference between a product-based view and an activity-based view of timeboxing.
Product-based is driven by completion of a particular delivery/product; Activity-based is driven by completing specific activities Explanation: Product-based focuses on "what you'll deliver" (e.g., input screens), while activity-based focuses on "what tasks you'll finish" (e.g., modeling requirements).
True or False: James Martin proposed RAD as a complete methodology with defined phases and deliverables in his 1990 book
False
He proposed RAD as a concept, not a methodology - actual methodologies came later from other sources.
Regarding RAD tools, what degree of automation should the development process have and why?
In the RAD methodology, the development process should be highly automated, as it is essential for achieving the speed and quality balance that traditional methods lack
Why should RAD development teams be reasonably small, and what specific benefits does this provide?
To reduce management concerns, maintain clear communication, and increase commitment and ownership.
Explain why RAD became increasingly important to industry as a response to the modern business climate
Organizations operate in extremely competitive environments where business processes change rapidly. Long development cycles and systems that don't meet user needs are both unacceptable. RAD addresses both time-to-market pressures and the need to deliver systems that actually solve user problems.
What do developers and users agree on regarding functionality in RAD timeboxing, and which requirements get developed first?
They agree some functionality will be delivered by the immovable deadline. Requirements with the largest potential benefit are developed in the first timebox. This agreement ensures something workable is always delivered on time, and prioritization ensures the most valuable features are built first.
What was the traditional view about speed vs. quality, and what does RAD require to contradict this view?
Traditional view: developing quickly sacrifices quality. RAD requires an appropriate development methodology to achieve both. RAD fundamentally challenges the speed-quality tradeoff by using specific techniques (prototyping, timeboxing, user participation, automated tools) within a proper methodology.
What are the four phases of RAD methodology?
1. Requirements planning,
2. User design,
3. Construction,
4. Deploy
Under what conditions can large projects use RAD,?
Large projects must be capable of being split into several smaller projects & Each smaller project must be deliverable independently
2 TRUTH 1 LIE - identify them.
A) Prototyping is built upon user-centered activities and enables feedback from users at all stages of development
B) Development activities such as JAD, reviews, and walkthroughs all include the user in the complete development cycle
C) User participation became important in RAD primarily to reduce development costs and speed up timelines
C is FALSE
User participation became important as a response to the history of IS development failures where systems didn't do what users wanted. While RAD does improve speed, the primary driver for user participation was ensuring systems actually meet user needs, not cost reduction.