Jump to content
Urch Forums

Software engineering


AlbaLed

Recommended Posts

1. What's wrong, if anything with the waterfall model ? What are some other, may be better models? State how they work, their dis/advantages and what kind of projects are they meant for.

 

2. Approximately what percentage of the resources ($ or man hours) are spent doing maintenance? (kind of rule of thumb thing)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. What's wrong, if anything with the waterfall model ? What are some other, may be better models? State how they work, their dis/advantages and what kind of projects are they meant for.

 

Here's the link where I took it from:

 

http://www.larc.nasa.gov/barkstrom/public/The_Standard_Waterfall_Model_For_Systems_Development.htm

 

Add "http://asd-" before www above. For some reason, TM post is scrambling the html ref...

 

 

 

Advantages:

    [*]Uses an easy divide-and-conquer approach

    [*]Several modules can be developed independently

    [*]Effective for large and complex projects

    [*]Allow departmentalization and managerial control

    [*]A schedule can be set with deadlines for each stage of development and a product can proceed through the development process like a car in a carwash, and theoretically, be delivered on time

    [*]Anything else? Anyone?

 

Disadvantages:

    [*]Problems are not discovered until system testing.

    [*]Requirements must be fixed before the system is designed - requirements evolution makes the development method unstable.

    [*]Design and code work often turn up requirements inconsistencies, missing system components, and unexpected development needs.

    [*]System performance cannot be tested until the system is almost coded; undercapacity may be difficult to correct.

    [*]It can also be very expensive

 

Other models:

    [*]Spiral Design (Go through waterfalls, starting with a very rough notion of the system and becoming more detailed over time)

    [*]Modified Waterfalls (Waterfalls with Overlapping Phases; Waterfall with Subprojects)

    [*]Evolutionary Prototyping (Start with initial concept, design and implement an initial prototype, iterate as needed through prototype refinement until acceptable, complete and release the acceptable prototype)

    [*]Staged Delivery (Go through Concept, Requirements Analysis, and Architectural Design - then implement the pieces, showing them to the customer as the components are completed - and go back to the previous steps if needed)

    [*]Evolutionary Delivery (a cross between Evolutionary Prototyping and

    Staged Delivery)

2. Approximately what percentage of the resources ($ or man hours) are spent doing maintenance? (kind of rule of thumb thing)

 

Dunno!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest problem with the waterfall model is that you can't "go back" very easily.

 

I've been a professional programmer for about 5 years, and in my experience, 80% of the money is spent on maintenance. It's a honking lot more than any customer ever imagines when they kick off a system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...