The Unified Process (UP)

The Unified Process (UP) is a process for building object-oriented systems.The goal of the UP is to enable the production of high quality software that meets users needs within predictable schedules and budgets.
For complex and sophisticated systems, this linear approach is not realistic.
For simple systems, it might be feasible to sequentially define the whole problem, design the entire solution, build the software, and then test the product.
 

Iteration Length and Timeboxing of Unified Process (UP)

• The UP recommends short iteration lengths to allow for rapid feedback and adaptation.
• Long iterations increase project risk.
• Iterations are fixed in length (timeboxed). If meeting deadline seems to be difficult, then remove tasks or requirements from the iteration and include them in a future iteration.
• The UP recommends that an iteration should be between two and six weeks in duration.

UP: An Iterative & Evolutionary Development

• The iterative lifecycle is based on the successive enlargement and refinement of a system though multiple iterations with feedback and adaptation.
• The system grows incrementally over time, iteration by iteration.
• The system may not be eligible for production deployment until after many iterations.
• The output of an iteration is not an experimental prototype but a production subset of the final system.
• Each iteration tackles new requirements and incrementally extends the system.
• An iteration may occasionally revisit existing software and improve it.

Embracing Change in Unified Process

• Stakeholders usually have changing requirements.
• Each iteration involves choosing a small subset of the requirements and quickly design, implement and testing them.
• This leads to rapid feedback, and an opportunity to modify or adapt understanding of the requirements or design.

Phases of the Unified Process

A Unified Process project organizes the work and iterations across four major phases:

• Inception -Define the scope of project.
• Elaboration -Plan project, specify features, baseline architecture.
• Construction -Build the product
• Transition -Transition the product into end user community

The UP Disciplines

 

 

Unified Process has the following major characteristics:

• UP is use-case driven.
• UP is architecture-centric.
• UP is risk focused.
• UP is iterative and incremental.