1.2. The System Development Process
Perhaps the most significant lesson we have learned since the publication of Strategies is that having a well-defined and effective system development process is necessary before any methods or tools can be effective. Accordingly, this book places a strong emphasis on the system development process, and what it means to use it. An important feature of our approach is that it applies equally well to all technologies, and thereby provides a common language for developers in widely differing disciplines. Another important feature is the coexistence of the requirements and architecture methods, and of the corresponding models they produce. Our approach keeps these two models separate, yet it fully records their ongoing and changing interrelationships. This feature is missing from virtually all other system and software development methods, and from most CASE tools, because most of them automate only the requirements model.
We are not alone in our focus on the system development process: It is also the focus of a great deal of work throughout the industry.