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Rapid Application
Development: Changing How
Developers Work
Published On October 31, 2018 • RAD

When you’re building a skyscraper, you can’t switch up the design halfway
through. You need to follow the original path from start to inish.

But when you are building software, that isn’t the case. You can change
the design, add functionality, remove things you don’t want, all without
harming the end product.

That’s a major reason why software needs good development models to

be e icient from design to launch. Rapid application development was
conceived for this purpose–to develop prototypes rapidly for testing
functions and features, without having to worry about how the end
product will be affected.

But how did rapid application development come to be? What are the
advantages of adopting a rapid application development model? How do
you work on a rapid application development software? And how did it
become the standard way to develop software?

What Is Rapid Application

Development?
Rapid Application Development is a development model prioritizes rapid
prototyping and quick feedback over long drawn out development and
testing cycles. With rapid application development, developers can make
multiple iterations and updates to a software rapidly without needing to
start a development schedule from scratch each time.

RAD is a development model that came into existence once developers

realized the traditional waterfall model of development wasn’t very
effective.

A major law in the waterfall model is that once the program is in the
testing phase, it becomes di icult to change the core functions and
features of the software. This essentially leaves you with software that may
or may not it your evolving requirement.

Rapid Application Development (RAD) was conceived in the 1980s, so it’s

de initely not something new. But unlike the waterfall model, it’s not
singular. It’s a continuous evolution of development philosophies
according to the requirement at that particular time.

Initially, Barry Boehm, James Martin, and a number of others saw that
software was not limited to traditional methods of engineering. It wasn’t a
singular resource that required a ixed structure. It was malleable to suit
the needs of the user.

Initially, rapid application development took the shape of the Spiral

model, where one or more development models were used to work on a
particular project.

Over time, rapid application development changed. It molded itself to it

the requirements of the time while retaining some core development
guidelines.

The waterfall model doesn’t cut it anymore! See why developers

are being forced to look at a RAD Model

Steps in Rapid Application

Development
Although RAD has changed over the years, these four basic steps provide
some continuity over the years.

. De ine the requirements

. Prototype
. Receive Feedback
. Finalize Software

1. Define the Requirements

At the very beginning, rapid application development sets itself apart
from
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for a broad requirement. The broad nature of the requirements helps you
Overview Pricing Features Customers Get Started
give speci ic requirements at different points of the development cycle.

2. Prototype
This is where the actual development takes place. Instead of following a
strict set of requirements, developers create prototypes with different
features and functions as fast as they can. These prototypes are then
shown to the clients who decide what they like and what they don’t.

More often than not, these prototypes are quickly made to work, just to
show off certain features, without proper polish. This is normal, and the
inal product is only created during the inalization stage where the client
and developer can both agree on the inal product.

3. Receive Feedback
In this stage, feedback on what’s good, what’s not, what works, and what
doesn’t is shared. Feedback isn’t limited to just pure functionality, but also
visuals and interfaces.

With this feedback in mind, prototyping continues. These two steps are
repeated until a inal product can be realized that its both the
developers’ and client’s requirements.

4. Finalize Software
Here, features, functions, aesthetics, and interface of the software are
inalized with the client. Stability, usability, and maintainability are of
paramount importance before delivering to the client.

Advantages and Disadvantages

of Rapid Application Development
With these steps, it can seem like application development’s a great idea
for all projects, but that’s a stretch. RAD software is great for small teams
and quick projects. But it’s not a solution to everything. Here are a few
advantages and disadvantages to using rapid application development.

Advantages of RAD Disadvantages of RAD

Requirements can be Needs strong team collaboration

changed at any time

Encourages and priorities Cannot work with large teams

customer feedback

Reviews are quick Needs highly skilled developers

Development time is Needs user requirement throughout the

drastically reduced life cycle of the product

More productivity with Only suitable for projects which have a

fewer people small development time

Time between prototypes More complex to manage when

and iterations is short compared to other models

Integration isn’t a problem, Only systems which can be modularised

since it integrates from can be developed using Rapid
project inception application development.

Rapid Application Development vs

Other Development Models
When compared to other software development models, rapid application
development varies by a considerable amount. Obviously, the major
difference is how rapid application development focuses on speed, when
compared to other models which usually focus on bringing a working
product to the customer.

Another thing to note here is that rapid application development prefers

having a single team without too many members. This allows for fast
communication with quick meetings for quick information transfer. Other
development models such as the waterfall model prefer having larger
teams divided into different specializations.

Since RAD framework is focused on speed, the development time here is

less than that of other models. But the difference is usually small, since
rapid application development prefers to churn out a lot of prototypes
before the inalized product.

Rapid application development is also heavily focused on keeping the end

user involved throughout the entire stage of the development process.
Other models usually only have user input at the beginning and the end of
the development cycle.

So, When can You Use Rapid

Application Development?
When You can Reliably Test Your Prototypes

If you’ve got a pool of users who can give consistent and reliable feedback
on the prototypes you make, then rapid application development is a
great model to follow. Prototypes built through the rapid application
development model depend on the feedback from previous iterations, so
reliable feedback from dependable sources can be immensely helpful.

When You’ve Got the Budget

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 Compared to other development models, rapid application development
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is relatively inexpensive, but there are some instances where RAD can be
Overview Pricing Features Customers Get Started
expensive. Hiring talented staff means you’ll need to give them
appropriate salaries. The bright side is, if you’ve got the staff, you can get
the idea from concept to end product a lot quicker than other models.

When You Need a Project Done Quickly

If you’ve got a tight deadline, rapid application development is a best bet.

If you’re under pressure to deliver something that works, then opting for a
RAD platform can be the best choice. If you don’t have the time to go
through a long requirement planning and design phase, then rapid
application development software is your best bet. Rapid application
development takes an on-the- ly approach, which makes sense for quick
development which can change direction on a dime.

A Case Study for Rapid Application

Development: Centric Consulting
Rapid application development is particularly useful for small businesses
that need software done quickly, whilst having a lot of input during the
development process.

Centric Consulting, a developer familiar with rapid application

development and agile development methodologies, had a client come to
them with a requirement for a software that would interface with their
customers, one of which had over 35,000 employees, for procurement,
invoicing, and payment.

Centric Consulting was able to use agile and rapid application

development methodologies to quickly understand what the client
needed, speed up the development process using Ruby on Rails, and
keep costs low using open source infrastructure.

Throughout the development process, the customer was able to provide

input as to what functionalities were required. All those functionalities
were rapidly added as and when they were demanded, and ultimately, the
product was delivered to the client.

In the end, Centric Consulting not only met the demands of their client,
but was also able to meet their needs and grow their business.

How Kiss low Can Take Your

Development to Light Speed
There isn’t a doubt that using rapid application development tools is the
best way to develop software. While it still remains the champion, a lot has
changed in 20 years.

Kiss low is an example of the next generation of rapid application

development. It is a no-code platform that lets anyone develop their own
automated process in a matter of minutes instead of days or weeks.
Kiss low can be used by a single person to work on developing an
application.

This is rapid application development taken to a new level–making

applications as quickly as possible that are ready-to-use instantly by the
entire company.

With visual interface tools to create models quickly and easily, pre-built
modules where you don’t have to do the heavy lifting, and drag-and-drop
coding to provide a means of customization to those that don’t have the
proper coding knowledge, Kiss low is designed keeping in mind that
companies want tools that make their lives easier.

RAD

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