The Rational Unified Process, or RUP, [1] is a software engineering process framework developed and marketed by Rational Software. It comprises many software development best practices, harvested by many contributors, over many years of experience, in a wide variety of situations. It provides a disciplined approach to assigning and managing tasks and responsibilities in a software development organization. By applying this process, software development teams can produce high-quality software that meets the needs of its end users, and do so within a predictable schedule and budget.
The RUP guides software practitioners in effectively applying modern software best practices, such as developing iteratively, taking an architecture-centric approach, mitigating risk at every stage in the process, and continuously verifying the quality of the software. Although thousands of projects today are using the RUP effectively, many teams are intimidated by the thought of implementing a new process that they perceive as large and complex. The RUP does not have to be large, and it is not complex. The goal of this book is to show you how simple the RUP actually is. It explains the underlying software development principles behind the RUP and guides you in the application of the process in your development organization. It will also show you the way to carve a RUP Process Configuration of the right size for your organization or project. |