what is Rational's RUP ?

it's a "meta-methodology"

basically you take RUP, look at the software you're trying to build, customize RUP to your project's SPECIFIC needs, then follow the methodology you've just created.

Rational's marketing arm does sometimes blur the concept of what RUP is.

Keep in mind that you can generate waterfall, iteriative, spiral, RAD, JAD, agile, XP, scrum, etc. all using RUP. All RUP does is give you the parts; YOU have to figure out what to do with them.

larsonaa at 2007-7-9 17:19:15 >

> is it that we need to buy/download RUP software ?

No, RUP is a process; not software. Just buy a few books about it and read them.

> what do you mean by the above you said, is RUP a tool like Rational Rose/TogetherJ where we can make various diagrams, etc ?

No, the diagrams are specific to UML. You don't have to use UML to use RUP (though I would recommend using UML on any project because it's the standard). You don't need tools to use UML or RUP; tools will (usually) make your life easier - but THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED.

In summary:

1) RUP is a process not a tool; you don't need to buy any software - just books. Make sure you read them

2) RUP is used to create a methodology for a project. That means that you use the concepts (described in books on RUP) and determine what steps/artifacts of the RUP process your project needs and what steps/artifacts you DON'T need.

3) you implement your project using the methodology you used in step #2; this process COULD be anything from a heavy-weight waterfall methodology to a light-weight iteriative methodology or anywhere in between.

It sounds to me like you have a lot of confusion over what RUP is and how to use it. I would expect your project to fail if no-one on the project has experience using the RUP methodology. I would recommend using a methodology you're more familiar with (or hiring several people with RUP experience).

larsonaa at 2007-7-9 17:19:15 >

> It follow the iterative approach.

It does not necessarily follow iteriative. They stress that it SHOULD, but it's not required (in fact iteriative should not be used in all cases).

This gets to the bigger problem that RUP is trying to solve: there is NO single process that will be effective on all projects in all domains. The process (methodology) must be selected based on the characteristics of the people, problem, and technology involved in the project. A methodology that is capable of writing software for intensive-care cardio monitoring equiptment is unnecessarily rigorous for generating an employee intranet site. The two projects have different characteristics; the same process will not work for both.

> RUP has 4 major phase

> 1. Inception

> 2. Elaboration

> 3. Construction

> 4. Transition

Again, no. These are four of the POSSIBLE major phases of a methodology generated from RUP. RUP is used to generate methodologies; RUP itself is not a methodology. It is a way of creating a process (methodology).

larsonaa at 2007-7-9 17:19:15 >