Implementing Software Development Project Management Best Practices Essay

Implementing Software Development Project Management Best Practices - Essay Example Somerville [1996 - Page 7] explains that successful software development, deployment, testing, deployment and maintenance are all built around four basic precepts : software specification, software development, software validation and software evolution. The obvious way of streamlining the software development process is to make these discrete stages flow into one another in a seamless end-to-end process. This requires, in practice, that the specific methods adopted for Rapid Application Development (RAD) (see (2) below) must be adopted, in order to avoid the hold-ups that always occur when discrete documents have to be updated to take account of changes in user requirements, for example. The greatest obstacle to software development, in practice, is the ‘big bang’ approach, where all the functionality is supposed to be introduced at once(!). The consensus of the available literature is that this may be charitably described as a recipe for disaster! The best, and therefore most streamlined approach is the incremental one, where software development is carried out in a series of relatively small steps. It is therefore vital that this principle is incorporated within the contract with the client (for a bespoke development) or the vendor’s marketing and sales departments (for a market-led project) 1. The Waterfall approach. This is where the requirements specification, design specification, test specification, implementation plan and maintenance plan are all produced in sequence as individual work products, and each is approved by the key stakeholders before the next is produced. 2. Evolutionary Development. Here, the specification, development and testing stages are interleaved, beginning with the very rapid development of a prototype system from a very basic specification. This is what us usually meant by Rapid Application Development (RAD). This prototype is then progressively defined with the aid of input from the intended users to produce

Ebooks use in the Academic Field Research Paper

Ebooks use in the Academic Field - Research Paper Example Portability is also an advantage, which is clear, since it counters the bulkiness of paper books. E-books have various limitations though. For instance, some students considered e-books to be destructive and limiting since they cannot be highlighted while reading. Power failures are also a factor that greatly limits the use of e-books in the academic field. For a long time now, the public has been trying to adapt to the current technology. Technology brought with itself a multitude of factors including both benefits and limitations. Individuals could now purchase items online since there were online markets. In addition, e-learning also emerged, which involved studying from home. Individuals could now take courses without having to attend classes in school. Therefore, technology has indeed entered the world in full force without leaving any aspect of life behind (Li et al. 2011). Different generations have been affected by technology since it touches every part of life. This brings in the issue of e-books. Previously, paper was all over the world. No one knew that there could be any other form of reading apart from the physical paper. Therefore, students would carry textbooks to schools and exercise books for writing. Although the technology had already manifested itself into the world, it had not yet taken over libraries. Libraries ar ound the world were still fully stocked with printed books, books stores were still selling and publishers were still doing their jobs. However, in the year 1971, out of a project named Gutenberg, the first digital library of books was created. In the year 1993, Apple Company also started its journey towards the innovation of digital reading (Li et al. 2011). In 1999, the Franklin EB-500 Rocket eBook was invented. However, the book could only hold 4000pages and its battery life could only last for a maximum of 33 hours. Therefore, the book was not