The author of this report has long been interested in the
process of developing software. Commonly referred to as
"software engineering", the definition and standardization of
the process has been a subject of concern throughout the
software industry. As early as 1972, Frederick P. Brooks
likened large system programming efforts to the La Brea Tar
Pits; the muck, mire and tar of software development delays
and cost overruns eventually defeating even the most skillful
and experienced developers. [1] This report is intended to
provide another stepping stone through the tar.
The author was fortunate to be provided the opportunity
to develop two similar software projects, in like hardware
environments, using different development approaches. The
first project was developed using an Evolutionary Development
approach, the later system utilized the current government
standard, DOD-STD-2167A. This report outlines the lessons
learned in applying these development approaches.
This report does not intend to criticize either the Evolutionary Development or DOD-STD-2167A approaches to
developing software. Rather this analysis seeks to identify
factors and issues which software developers should consider
in implementing either of these approaches.
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