Roadmap to IBM Rational Solutions

Rational staff, Staff, IBM, Software Group

This article is brought to you by the Rational staff at developerWorks.

Summary: IBM Rational software tools offer you proven solutions for common development problems. This roadmap helps you find the right tool to solve your problem.

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Date: 13 Jan 2004
Level: Introductory
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1 September 2003

IBM Rational software tools offer you proven solutions for common development problems. This roadmap helps you find the right tool to solve your problem.

If you've heard about software development best practices and tools from IBM Rational, but you're not sure how they can help you-or if you're unsure of the right place to start in the Rational area within IBM developerWorks-then this is the place for you.

The roadmap below lists the common development problems you can expect to encounter, and then guides you to the specific area within the developerWorks Rational section where you can find solutions to those problems. Click on the links underneath the Rational Tool section of each Problem Scenario to find those solutions.

You can see all the common development problems we've identified in the Problem Scenario list just below this introduction. The name of each Problem Scenario links to the pertinent starting place on the roadmap.

Within the roadmap, you'll first find the Problem Scenario itself, where we state the problem as simply as possible, for example, "Not enough time to write good code." Next, under Elaboration, you'll find a slightly expanded description to help you understand the problem ("Too much time pressure on my team" and so on). Next under Root Causes, we identify some of the possible causes of the problem. (In our example, one of the possible causes is "Too much time spent on requirements and design).

Next, under Solution, we propose the Rational-recommended high-level solution to the problem. These general solutions come straight out of the Rational Unified Process; in fact, each solution is actually one of the standard six RUP "best practices." In our example, the applicable best practices that will solve the problem are "Develop Iteratively" and "Manage Requirements." If you're not familiar with the RUP Best Practices, we recommend you read the Rational whitepaper that introduces them and visit the RUP area with the Rational Developer Domain. (For your convenience, we also link to the whitepaper from each mention of a best practice in the roadmap.)

The next two sections, Rational Toolset and Rational Tool, provide the names of the tool family and the specific tool(s) you can use to implement a solution. In the case of our example, these are "Configurable Process" and "Rational Unified Process," respectively. The links under Rational Tool in each scenario lead you directly to areas within the Web site about each tool, with solutions you can start applying today to help address your development problems. The specific product areas contain links to technical introductions to the products and how-to articles, examples, tutorials, and other materials to help you start solving real development problems by using Rational tools and best practices.

We hope the roadmap provides you a quick, intuitive way of finding what you are looking for in the developerWorks Rational section. If you're ever not sure what you are looking at, you can find a legend at the bottom of the roadmap that describes the terminology we just described. (Following the links from the numbers next to each team also takes you to the legend.)

We will continue to develop the roadmap, and the rest of the Rational developer Web site, to help make it easier for you to find what you want and to start benefiting from Rational technology-based solutions to your development issues. If you have ideas for us, please send them to editors@us.ibm.com and we will do our best to respond to them.

Problem Scenarios

My project is late
My project is over budget
My project is experiencing feature creep
My application doesn't meet the requirements
Requirements change during my project
Designing our application is taking too long
We have to re-invent stuff every time we start working on an application
I'm having problems understanding real-time system behavior
Our code base is too complex
I have to work with different tools, GUIs for each part of the process
Not enough time to write good code
Development is too expensive
Project changes are out of control
My application performs poorly, crashes too frequently, or can't scale to meet my users' demands
QA testing takes too long
Can't effectively track bug/defect resolution

Problem: My project is late
Elaboration2 We can't define the scope of our project We can't get resources for our project Root causes3 Lack of skilled staff Poor planning process Unrealistic planning Solution4 Develop Iteratively Rational Toolset5 Configurable Process Rational Tool6 The Rational Unified Process can help you plan and manage your project so that you can understand the time and resources you will need to complete it on time, and with the resources you have available.
Problem: My project is over budget
Elaboration2 Management doesn't know how to budget the right way We don't know how to plan our projects properly Root causes3 Poor Management practices Unrealistic planning/expectations Solution4 Develop Iteratively Rational Toolset5 Configurable Process Rational Tool6 The Rational Unified Process can help you plan and manage your project so that you can understand the time and resources you will need to complete it according to budget
Problem: My project is experiencing feature creep
Elaboration2 The set of requirements we started with is not even close to what we have now We have lots of stakeholders adding stuff at the last minute Root causes3 Poor Management practices Unrealistic planning/expectations Poorly understood requirements process Unrealistic expectations Solution4 Manage Requirements Develop Iteratively Rational Toolset5 Requirements and Analysis Configurable Process Rational Tool6 The Rational Unified Process can help manage project to help cut down on requirement expansion In order to manage your requirements better, Rational RequisitePro software can help you write and scope requirements more effectively.
Problem: My application doesn't meet the requirements
Elaboration2 My application does not perform according to specification The requirements don't really address the business needs Root causes3 Poor communicationor understanding of requirements Poorly understood business process Development process not driven by Requirements Solution4 Manage Requirements Rational Toolset5 Requirements and Analysis Rational Tool6 So that you can better communicate and understand your application's requirements, we recommend you utilize Rational RequisitePro, software that will make requirements gathering and usage much easier in your project.
Problem: Requirements change during my project
Elaboration2 They changed so much, I can't keep track of them We started out with a great set, but it keeps growing every week! Root causes3 Poorly understood requirements process Solution4 Manage Requirements Manage Change Rational Toolset5 Requirements and Analysis Software Configuration Management Rational Tool6 In order to manage your requirements better, Rational RequisitePro software can help you track requirements more easily. The Rational ClearCase change management tool will help you develop and implement a process for version ing and keeping track of your requirements and other parts of your project.
Problem: Designing our application is taking too long
Elaboration2 We really can't understand the designs once they're complete We'd like to be able to use or buy some stuff to help us develop faster Root causes3 Application is not being modeled properly Solution4 Model Visually Use Component Architectures Rational Toolset5 Visual Modelling and Development Rational Tool6 Rational XDE and Rational Rose, Rational's design and analysis tools, can help you in designing and then implementing your code so that you're able to get your application out to market quicker that you planned.
Problem: We have to re-invent stuff every time we start working on an application
Elaboration2 We'd love to be able to re-use some of the stuff we've written before Root causes3 No artifact storage Do not know how to properly re-use architectures and development artifacts Solution4 Use Component Architectures Rational Toolset5 Visual Modelling and Development Rational Tool6 Rational XDE and Rational Rose, Rational's design and analysis tools, can help you create modular code, and then give you the ability to re-use, integrate, extend, and update it more easily into your future projects.
Problem: I'm having problems understanding real-time system behavior
Elaboration2 Real time code is very difficult; there is a much higher learning curve It's making it harder to develop my application It also makes it harder to support the capabilities my customers want Root causes3 Cannot capture and communicate system design properly Complex code is intricate and has different types of challenges to overcome Solution4 Model Visually Rational Toolset5 Visual Modeling and Development Rational Tool6 Rational Rose RealTime is Rational's premiere real-time modeling and analysis tool. Not only can it help you understand the intricacies of real-time software, it also helps you to generate quality code to use in your embedded applications
Problem: Our code base is too complex
Elaboration2 My application can't integrate well with other applications. It's hard to update the code to a new technology or version Root causes3 Poor design/ architecture Did not develop and analyze a model before I started writing code Did not write software as set of small components Solution4 Use Component Architectures Model Visually Rational Toolset5 Visual Modeling and Development Rational Tool6 Rational XDE and Rational Rose, Rational's design and analysis tools, can help you simplify your code base so it can be integrated, extended, and updated more easily.
Problem: I have to work with different tools, GUIs for each part of the process
Elaboration2 Too many different interfaces, features to master Too much specialization required Root causes3 My tools are not integrated with my development environment My process does not help me choose tools appropriately Solution4 Model Visually Develop Iteratively Rational Toolset5 Visual Modeling and Development Configurable Process Rational Tool6 The Rational XDE design tool integrates with many significant development environments. The Rational Unified Process can help you develop the process that works best for your project.
Problem: Not enough time to write good code
Elaboration2 Too much time pressure on my team We're always late We write code that breaks or doesn't meet the defined requirements Root causes3 Too much time spent on requirements and design Trying to address too many requirements at once Solution4 Develop Iteratively Manage Requirements Rational Toolset5 Configurable Process Rational Tool6 The Rational Unified Process can help you determine a schedule that lets you spend the right amount of time at each phase of the process Rational ReqPro software can help you write and scope requirements
Problem: Development is too expensive
Elaboration2 My team is always going over its budget and schedule We end up canceling much-needed projects Root causes3 Poor overall project planning We try to do too much at the same time Solution4 Develop Iteratively Rational Toolset5 Configurable Process Rational Tool6 The Rational Unified Process can help you plan and manage your project so that you can understand the time and resources you will need to complete it according to budget
Problem: Project changes are out of control
Elaboration2 Too many people are changing the code team members not sure they are working on most current version of project Can't track specific Too many people are changing the code team members not sure they are working on most current version of project Can't track specific changes; not sure who made which changes and when changes were made Root causes3 Weak process for change control/ management Solution4 Manage Change Rational Toolset5 Software Configuration Management Rational Tool6 The Rational ClearCase change management tool will help you develop and implement a process for version and change management of your code and other parts of your project
Problem: My application performs poorly, crashes too frequently, or can't scale to meet my users' demands
Elaboration2 Code hangs, freezes, or doesn't load quickly or at all Root causes3 Runtime errors and memory leaks in code Solution4 Continuously Verify Quality Rational Toolset5 Visual modeling and development Rational Tool6 The Rational PurifyPlus Family of products helps you perform code runtime analysis to uncover reliability, performance and scalability, and durability problems in your application
Problem: QA testing takes too long
Elaboration2 Can't cover all areas needed functional, regression and reliability testing-with resources and time available Not uncovering bugs fast enough Root causes3 Process not automated Not effectively managing test plans and test cases Solution4 Continuously Verify Quality Rational Toolset5 Automated Testing Rational Tool6 Rational TestManager helps you manage your testing assets, while Rational Robot (for .NET, C++, and other applications) and Rational XDE Tester (for Web and Java apps) enable you to run automated test schemes
Problem: Can't effectively track bug/defect resolution
Elaboration2 Bug count out of control and not being managed to closure Development team can't reproduce bugs Root causes3 Weak process for entering and tracking defects Solution4 Manage Change Rational Toolset5 Software Configuration Management Rational Tool6 Rational ClearQuest provides process and functionality you can use to enter, prioritize, track, and close all software defects

1.) Problem scenario: Short description of a major problem faced by a development team.

2.) Elaboration: What this problem looks like to you and your team

3.) Root causes: Some of the significant possible causes of the problem

4.) Solution: A procedural solution to the problem, as defined by the Rational Unified Process (RUP)

5.) Rational Toolset: Name of the set of Rational software tools that help you implement a solution to the problem

6.) Rational Tool: The specific Rational tool you can use to implement a solution, with a link to the appropriate area within the Rational Developer Domain where you can find how-to articles and examples to help you solve the problem.

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This article is brought to you by the Rational staff at developerWorks.

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