Agile Development
The use of ABE as an integration tool facilitates several fundamental changes
in the software development methodology. First is the replacement of the heavyweight
waterfall development methodology with agile methods. This is made possible because
ABE applications can be built as quickly as one can describe that application.
This implies that documentation-intensive Joint Application Development (JAD) can
be replaced with informal face-to-face user interaction. Because a functioning ABE
application results as soon as data are received, functional applications become
the measure of success rather than project milestones assigned to points in time.
Lightweight agile development modernizes the heavyweight waterfall methodology by
folding milestones into a closed cycle which may be repeated rapidly many times
in days or weeks. This facilitates modeling application development after the writers'
adage: write it, then get it right!
Enterprise Integration Made Possible through ABE Rapid Development Methods
ABE packages application overhead into reusable object components. ABE metadata
assemble applications from these components in a few hours or days. Development
efforts center on value-adding business data and process − not single purpose one-off
coding.
ABE Avoids the Sunk Costs of the One-off Application
The one-off application is a special use application coded from the ground-up and
suited to a single customized purpose. This is traditional application development
made from requirements, coding to anticipated tasks, dedicated data models, and
sunk costs. Most effort is applied to software coding and not business data enhancement,
and because software coding can take so long, it is commonplace for requirements
to walk off original specifications. ABE Agile Development allows for faster development
with immediate results by producing an integrated environment in weeks. Finished
applications may be easily evolved to meet changing requirements, process, and technology.