A TAXONOMY OF SOFTWARE-DEVELOPMENT METHODS

Although a taxonomy is defined as either the study of the general prin ciples of scientific classification or an orderly classification of pl ants and animals categorizations of methods of user interface design a nd requirements analysis. This article follows the latter tradition by organizing a taxonomy of the methods used in software development. As with taxonomy, the term method is often misapplied. A method is a sys tematic process, technique, or mode of inquiry, which-in our case-is u sed to aid in the creation of a satisfactory software product. Many of the methods discussed here are also called methodologies, but a metho dology is defined as either a body of methods, rules, or postulates em ployed by a discipline or more simply, the study methods. Clearly we b egin with a vocabulary that is subject to many common interpretations, and precise definitions may confuse as much as they clarify.