4PID Task 1.

Identify and Compare Systems Development Methodologies

Analysis of Three System Development Methodologies This is a report that provides a comparative analysis between three System Development Methodologies. The methodologies are Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Rapid Application Development (RAD), and Feature Driven Development (FDD).

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) SDLC is a sequential developmental process that uses a set of steps or phases. The phases can include the following: Project planning, feasibility study: establishes a high-level view of a project and determines the goals. Systems analysis, requirements definition: analyses user needs and defines functions. Systems design: the system is designed according to requirements. Implementation: the code is written. Integration and testing: the modules are tested before integration into the system which is then tested. Acceptance, installation and deployment: the system is put into production. Maintenance: the maintenance of the system as any updates and changes occur. (Wikipedia 2010)

Rapid Application Development (RAD) RAD is a methodology that uses structured techniques and prototyping in stages that are iterated until the design is complete. The phases include: Requirements planning: the user requirements are defined. User design: the design is prepared. Construction: the prototype is developed and tested until client is satisfied. Implementation: the system is implemented and launched.

Feature Driven Development (FDD) FDD is a model-driven short-iteration process that consists of a set of five phases or activities, and is based on the approach of developing an overall model and the listing, planning, design and building of features. The first three sequential activities establish a model, and the final two activities are iterated for each of the features.

Activities Develop Overall Model First the project is started with a walkthrough of the scope and context of the system. Then, domain walkthroughs are used on each area of the model, and these domain area models are combined into an overall model. Build Feature List The initial modelling is used to identify a list of features to be build. Plan by Feature Once the list of features is built, a development plan is produced. The order of the building of features is based on any dependency of a feature on another. Design by Feature The design process of each feature is broken down into three steps, walkthrough, design and inspection. Build by Feature After a successful design inspection, each feature is produced as a function, inspected and promoted to the main build.

Similarities and Differences RAD is similar in one way to SDLC as it is based on the traditional SDLC phases, but different because the traditional step by step methods are compressed into an iterative process. The FDD methodology is also an iterative process, but FDD is different from both SDLC and RAD because it is based on object modelling where a model is built from a list of all the features or functions of the system.

Advantages and Disadvantages SDLC Advantages Monitor large projects Control Well defined user input Documentation Ease of maintenance Disadvantages Increased development time and cost Rigidity Hard to estimate costs User input may be limited

RAD Advantages Faster development Able to identify and repair problems early Disadvantages Large projects require sufficient resources Functionality and performance may be compromised in exchange for faster development Requires equal commitment from both client and developer

Stronger communication Improved client and development trust McCormack (2010)

FDD Advantages Good reporting and planning Customer focused Minimizes feature creep Effective on large Disadvantages Doesnt deal with interface design and build Doesnt cover testing and deployment Produces little documentation

Popularity RAD has become more popular than the traditional SDLC methodologies as an alternative to the long and involved steps of SDLC. Recently, FDD has also become more popular as a more lightweight methodology.

Methodology most appropriate for website development Choosing the methodology that is most suited to website development depends mainly on the size of a project. If the project is quite large then using a SDLC methodology would be the safest option. For projects not overly large, the best option is to use RAD. The RAD approach is especially suited to web projects because of their visual nature, and its focus on user centred design.

System development methodology to be used for project I will be using the RAD methodology in the development of my project. References Systems Development Life Cycle 2010, Wikipedia, viewed 25 September 2010, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_Development_Life_Cycle/>.

McCormack. Ken, White Paper - RAD and Web application methodologies, viewed 25 September 2010, <http://www.p21.com.au/web_development_methodologies.aspx />.