The Advantages and Disadvantages / Best Practices of RUP Software Development

RUP software development might nowadays be overshadowed by the advent of scrum methodology, but it still has a important place in certain types of software developments. From it's inception by the Rational Software Company (now bought by IBM) it is still utilised more widely than might initially be thought. To understand whether it best suits your needs we have compiled a list of advantages and disadvantages regarding RUP to enable you to make your own mind up. Further down you will find a list of the RUP Best Practices.

Advantages of RUP Software Development

1. This is a complete methodology in itself with an emphasis on accurate documentation
2. It is proactively able to resolve the project risks associated with the client's evolving requirements requiring careful change request management
3. Less time is required for integration as the process of integration goes on throughout the software development life cycle.
4. The development time required is less due to reuse of components.
5. There is online training and tutorial available for this process.

Disadvantages of RUP Software Development

1. The team members need to be expert in their field to develop a software under this methodology.
2. The development process is too complex and disorganized.
3. On cutting edge projects which utilise new technology, the reuse of components will not be possible. Hence the time saving one could have made will be impossible to fulfill.
4. Integration throughout the process of software development, in theory sounds a good thing. But on particularly big projects with multiple development streams it will only add to the confusion and cause more issues during the stages of testing

AS seen, RUP methodology has a highly flexible development path. It uses the some of the industries’ best practices. These are known as six best practices of RUP methodology.

The 6 RUP Best Practices

1.0 Develop Iteratively

The software requirements specification (SRS) keeps on evolving throughout the development process and loops are created to add them without affecting the cost of development.

2.0 Manage Requirements

The business requirements documentation and project management requirements need to be gathered properly from the user in order to reach the targeted goal.

3.0 Use Components

The components of large project which are already tested and are in use can be conveniently used in other projects. This reuse of components reduces the production time.

4.0 Model Visually

Use of Unified modeling language (UML) facilitates the analysis and design of various components. Diagrams and models are used to represent various components and their interactions.

5.0 Verify Quality

Testing and implementing effective project quality management should be a major part of each and every phase of the project from initiation to delivery (aka the project management life cycle).

6.0 Control Changes

Synchronization of various parts of the system becomes all the more challenging when the parts are being developed by various teams working from different geographic locations on different development platforms. Hence special care should be taken in this direction so that the changes can be controlled.

The Advantages and Disadvantages / Best Practices of RUP Software Development - Tip

RUP has really fallen out of favour although it is still very much understanding it since it is still used. The key thing is that as with all software projects which include a software development life cycle the key thing to remember is that the methodology alone will not guarantee success. THe project mananger needs to be hands on and make it happen particularly during stages of software testing and entirety of the software testing life cycle. Too many project manager's don't realise this and then wonder why their project never gets over the finishing line!

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