Unified Process for EDUcation:
Lifecycle and Phases
Topics:
Phases and Milestones
-
Inception
-
Elaboration
-
Contruction
-
Transition
The phases and milestones of a project
From a management perspective, the software lifecycle of the
Unified Process for EDUcation (UPEDU) is decomposed over time into four sequential phases,
each concluded by a major milestone; each phase is essentially a span of time
between two major milestones. At each phase-end an assessment is performed to determine whether the objectives of the phase
have been met. A satisfactory assessment allows the project to move to the next
phase.
Planning Phases
All phases are not identical in terms of schedule and effort.
Although this varies considerably depending on the project, a typical initial
development cycle for a medium-sized project should anticipate the following
distribution between effort and schedule:
|
Inception
|
Elaboration
|
Construction
|
Transition
|
Effort
|
~5
%
|
20
%
|
65
%
|
10%
|
Schedule
|
10
%
|
30
%
|
50
%
|
10%
|
which can be depicted graphically as
For an evolution cycle, the inception and elaboration phases
would be considerably smaller. Tools which can automate some portion of the
Construction effort can mitigate this, making the construction phase much
smaller than the inception and elaboration phases together.
One pass through the four phases is a
development cycle
;
each pass through the four phases produces a
generation
of the
software. Unless the product "dies," it will evolve into its next
generation by repeating the same sequence of inception, elaboration,
construction and transition phases, but this time with a different emphasis on
the various phases. These subsequent cycles are called
evolution cycles.
As the product goes through several cycles, new generations are
produced.
Evolution cycles may be triggered by user-suggested
enhancements, changes in the user context, changes in the underlying technology,
reaction to the competition, and so on. Evolution cycles typically have much
shorter Inception and Elaboration phases, since the basic product definition and
architecture are determined by prior development cycles. Exceptions
to this rule are evolution cycles in which a significant product or
architectural redefinition occurs.
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