PROTOTYPING

Prototyping is the process of building a model that demonstrates the features of a proposed product, service, or system. Programmers use prototypes—a model of a proposed system or software application—to show users what the software will do.

Because of its power, programmers use the software development environment to create working prototypes for end user testing and feedback. Remember, a software development environment is an application that provides programming tools to debug and manage software programs.

The prototypes aren't completely functional like the final software application, but they provide enough information for users to make decisions.

Users can "try out" a prototype to see if the software meets their needs. If it doesn't, the programmer makes changes and sends out another prototype. Programmers refer to this as rapid application development. Rapid application development (RAD) uses prototypes to test software components until they meet specifications.

We've provided links below to information on prototypes and prototyping, software development environments programmers use during prototyping, and resources on rapid application development.

Prototypes and Prototyping

• Dmoz's Rapid Prototyping Resources: A comprehensive list of rapid prototyping links.
• Prototype-Based Languages: A list of programming languages designed for prototyping.
• More Prototype-Based Languages: An even longer list of programming languages designed for prototyping.

Software Development Environments

• Astronomy SDE: A software development environment used specifically for rapid development and prototyping in astronomy.
• Cygwin: A Linux development environment for Windows.
• Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition: Sun Microsystems' Java development environment.
• KDE Development Environment: An open source environment for developing Linux applications in KDE.
• Macintosh Development Kits: These software development environments are designed to create specific applications in Macintosh OS X.
• Visual Studio .NET: Microsoft's .NET development environment.

Rapid Application Development

• About.com's RAD Page: An overview and associated links about RAD.
• An Overview of RAD: A detailed outline from Professor Walter Maner of Bowling Green State University.
• Software Tech News on RAD: A government magazine special issue on RAD.
• Whatis.com's RAD Page: A good resource for a RAD overview.