Structure and Contents of This Book

This book is divided into four parts : introduction, walkthrough, adoption, and role-specific guidelines.

Part I introduces the RUP. Chapter 1 explains what the RUP is and the motivation behind its development and its application. Chapter 2, "The Spirit of the RUP," describes the underlying principles behind the RUP ”these are based on the experiences gleaned from a number of successful projects and distilled into a few simple guidelines. Understanding these principles will help you better apply the RUP to your own projects. Chapter 3 provides a method for comparing processes, and we use it to compare the RUP to other agile processes, to more conventional processes, and to process assessment frameworks such as SEI CMM and SPICE. These comparisons will help you understand which project type should use what type of RUP configuration. Chapter 4 provides an example that applies the RUP to a very small project: one person for one week. By peeling away the ceremony needed for larger projects, you can focus on the essential elements of the RUP.

Part II presents the RUP by walking through each of the four phases in a RUP project: Inception, Elaboration, Construction, and Transition. Chapter 5 addresses some common misconceptions of the four phases by explaining how the iterative approach applies to them. Chapters 6 “9 describe each of the four phases in detail. We focus on what is to be achieved ”that is, the objectives of each phase ”and guide you in reaching those objectives. This will help you to stay focused on the most essential activities in an actual project. Additionally, we present the RUP activities in a time-based perspective ”that is, in the order they are applied in a real project ”to give you a reference to understand when to do the activities as you work through a project.

Adopting the RUP requires some preparation and some preliminary knowledge on the part of the adopting organization. Part III provides basic knowledge in key areas to support a streamlined implementation. Chapter 10 walks you through the RUP product, detailing how it can be extended and configured to meet project- and organization-specific needs. Chapter 11 briefly outlines some strategies that may be useful for implementing the process including incremental rollout, pilot projects, and training curricula. Our experience shows that moving from a waterfall approach to iterative development can be a difficult transition for Project Managers, and Chapter 12 provides guidelines for planning a RUP project. Over the years , we have seen patterns of success and patterns of failure in RUP adoptions. Chapter 13 discusses the patterns of failure and how to avoid them, guarding you from repeating the mistakes of others.

The RUP product provides comprehensive guidelines for a wide array of software development activities. Part IV , Chapters 14 “18, presents guides for each of the five key roles in any software project: Project Manager, Analyst, Architect, Developer, and Tester. For each role, we present the RUP from that role's perspective, and we describe the mission, the desired qualifications, and the key activities, as well as recommended reading and training. Note that there is no separate chapter for the Process Engineer: Most of this role is described in Chapters 10 and 11.