Modeling the Mapplet (Release 1)

In this chapter, we told the story of a project team beginning to adapt to ICONIX Process, with the prototype release of the mapplet project. We showed how the initial set of use cases was analyzed and broken down into an objectoriented design using a cookbook-style, step-by-step process.

This first release was intended as a way of testing ESRI’s new server product, so release 1 was earmarked very much as a prototype. While the team did do some modeling, the emphasis was on writing prototype code and getting familiar with the new technology. As a result, the team skipped some of the initial design efforts. However, to the team’s credit, the deliverable software for this first release matched up to the requirements pretty well.

We also showed one of the safety nets (namely, code-level refactoring) that Agile ICONIX puts in place for when the team strays from the process path. (This does occur, particularly early in a project when the team is still adapting to the new design process, so expect it to happen and be prepared!)

Finally, we saw the end result of this first release: the alpha release of the mapplet.

Having seen the first release, the team now has a much better idea of what works and what doesn’t, designwise. So in the next chapter, we revisit the design and give it a serious going-over in preparation for release 2.