Chapter 4 -- Development Process

Chapter 4

About This Chapter

Successful management of a development project requires two important qualities. The first is rigor, which ensures that a process is followed. The second is flexibility, which allows the process to adapt to a changing environment. In this chapter, we first look at two traditional models for application development: the Waterfall Model and the Spiral Model. We then discuss another model that is widely used today: the Unified Software Development Process (UP or Unified Process).

The majority of this chapter is devoted to the MSF Process Model for Application Development, which we call the MSF Development Process Model. Rather than a step-by-step methodology, MSF is a structural framework that an organization can adapt to suit its particular needs. The MSF Development Process Model is the part of this framework that describes the life cycle of a successful software development project. This model allows a project team to respond to customer requests and to change product direction midcourse. It also allows a team to deliver key portions of the product faster than would otherwise be possible. The MSF Development Process Model is a flexible component of MSF that has been successfully proven in the software industry to improve project control, minimize risk, improve product quality, and increase development speed.

The principles and guidelines we provide in this chapter are based on our own experience with the creation of application architectures and the implementation of enterprise applications, as well as information from the following sources:

  • Microsoft Solutions Framework
  • Walker Royce's Software Project Management: A Unified Framework
  • Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson's The Unified Modeling Language User Guide
  • Ivar Jacobson, Grady Booch, and James Rumbaugh's The Unified Software Development Process

Upon completion, you will be able to:

  • Understand the characteristics of the Waterfall and Spiral Models and list their disadvantages.
  • List the workflows of the Unified Process.
  • Identify the primary models of the Unified Process.
  • List the four phases of the MSF Development Process Model.
  • Understand the benefits of versioned releases and the impact of an iterative approach on development projects.
  • Relate team roles and responsibilities to the MSF Development Process Model.
  • Understand the relationships between project variables and constraints, and the concept of managing tradeoffs.
  • Analyze projects to determine goal-driven milestones.
  • Analyze development projects to determine process iteration goals.


Microsoft Corporation - Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solutions Architecture. MCSD Training Kit
Microsoft Corporation - Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solutions Architecture. MCSD Training Kit
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 1999
Pages: 182

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