Software prototyping

Software prototyping
A prototype is an initial version of a software system that is used to demonstrate
concepts, try out design options and, generally, to find out more about the problem
and its possible solutions. Rapid, iterative development of the prototype is essen-
tial so that costs are controlled and system stakeholders can experiment with the
prototype early in the software process.
A software prototype can be used in a software development process in several
ways:
1.
In the requirements engineering process, a prototype can help with the elicita-
tion and validation of system requirements.
2.
In the system design process, a prototype can be used to explore particular soft-
ware solutions and to support user interface design.
3.
In the testing process, a prototype can be used to run back-to-back tests with
the system that will be delivered to the customer.
A system prototype may be used while the system is being designed to carry out
design experiments to check the feasibility of a proposed design. For example, a database
design may be prototyped and tested to check that it allows for the most efficient data
access for the most common user queries. Prototyping is also an essential part of the
user interface design process. Because of the dynamic nature of user interfaces, tex-
tual descriptions and diagrams are not good enough for expressing the user interface
requirements. Therefore, rapid prototyping with end-user involvement is the only sen-
sible way to develop graphical user interfaces for software systems.