Rapid Application Development (RAD)

What is Rapid Application Development?

Imagine you want to build a Lego tower. Instead of planning the whole tower from the start, you might build one part of the tower first, like the base. Once you finish the base, show it to your friends and ask what they think. They might give you some ideas, like adding more blocks or changing the color. You then use these ideas to make your base even better.

Then, you build the next part, say the middle section, and again ask your friends what they think. You continue this process until you’ve built the entire tower.

This is kind of how Rapid Application Development (RAD) works. Instead of planning the whole software at the beginning, developers build a small part first, then show it to users to get feedback, make improvements based on the feedback, and then move to the next part.

Benefits and Downsides of the RAD Model

Benefits

1. Quick Feedback: Like how you could quickly improve your Lego tower because your friends gave you ideas, developers can make the software faster because they get user feedback quickly.
2. Flexibility: If you decide to change something in your Lego tower, you can do it quickly because you’re building it piece by piece. Similarly, in RAD, changes can be made easily at any time during the development.
3. Faster Delivery: Because you’re building and improving your Lego tower piece by piece, you can have something to show very quickly. The same applies to RAD; you can have working software faster.

Downsides

1. Depends on User Feedback: If your friends don’t give you ideas, you might not know how to improve your Lego tower. In the same way, RAD depends a lot on user feedback. If users don’t give feedback, it might be hard to improve the software.
2. Less Planning: Sometimes, if you don’t plan your Lego tower well, you might end up with a tower that’s not as strong or tall as you wanted. There can be issues in RAD in the final software because there’s less planning at the beginning.

Further Readings

1. Rapid Application Development: Definition, Tools & Model - This article explains RAD in more detail.
2. Rapid Application Development (RAD): What Is It And How Do You Use It? - This post discusses how to use RAD in your software development.