Rapid Application Development Challenges In Java

Rapid Application Development Challenges in Java Harshavardhan M. Karkar Java User Group Nagpur http://www.jugnagpur.com

Rapid Application Development

What is Rapid Application Development

Project Development is configured quickly for all resources in the team.

Easy to use Source Control Mechanism
Easy to configure the Development Setup

Development Resources are easy to use and quickly configurable such as

Development IDE
Libraries
Design Tools
Debugging Tools

Code Automation

Automated code is available for development
Quick Integration of Libraries
Automated Syntax error check
Intelligent Code Browsing

Quick Debugging & Analyzing of program flows

Run time tracing and debugging
Effective and easy presentation for Variable values, Object Values, Output values.

Rapid Application Development…

What is Rapid Application Development….

Quick Integration with Database

Easy Connection Configuration
Services Configuration

Quick Integration with Content and External Tools
In Short the Rapid Application Development allows the project human resources to focus on

Development Items and Business Logic
Quick Testing
Taking away the Labor of

Managing Configuration
Integration of Tools and Libraries
Build and Testing Procedures

Rapid Application Development Challenges in Java

Java Development

Is Based mostly on Open Source / Freely Available Development Resources
Challenges are divided primarily into following categories viz.

Configuration Challenges

Configuration of Development Environment for Project Team

Development IDE
Source Control
Database
Libraries
External Tools

Rapid Application Development Challenges in Java

Java Development

Configuration Challenges …

Individual Testing Setup

Local Database Servers / Application Servers Setup
Testing and Debugging through the IDE
Consistency in Development environment and machines setup.

Staging / Deployment Testing Setup

Configuration & Maintenance / Regular updating of Staging and Deployment Servers
Depends and Changes largely based on the Operating System specific environment.

Rapid Application Development Challenges in Java ..

Java Development

Development Challenges

Web Development Challenges

Mostly a single developer develops the View (HTML / CSS) and the required Server Side & Client Side code.
HTML / CSS development if done by different individuals often causes rework
HTML / CSS / DHTML development nearly manual and mostly takes time.
Debugging of Server Side and Client operations is again most time consuming process.
Integration of Web – MVC Frameworks in Web Development is a Challenge
Strong need of Automation in this area is desired.

Java Development

Development Challenges

Integrating Web Development Challenges

Integrating the Web Development with the Core Application Framework is Challenge for unit testing and debugging.

Application Web Configuration

Server Specific configuration changes
Application Contents Resources

Security Configuration

Authentication
Secured Connections

Communicating with Other Web Applications

Integrating Payment Gateways

Java Development

Development Challenges …

Up gradation of Tools and Libraries

For fitting a Library to use in a project for a specific purpose involves R & D
Changes in versions / releases / logic the already installed libraries takes extra efforts for

Integrating
Testing
Debugging.

Java Development

Development Challenges …

Core Development / Application Framework Development Challenges

Applications based on Multiple JVM’s
Applications tested on deployment environment which is different from the development environment.
Testing of Performance Issues
Testing of Applications involving Threading, Serialization
Extending or incorporating Frameworks for presentation and control

Java Development

Knowledge Management Challenges

Most of the day to day development problems are resolved with the help of search engines especially visiting various community and open source support sites having

Source code
Information pages
Libraries
References and Samples

Java Development

Knowledge Management Challenges

Unless the searched knowledge / Information is put to use and tested the complete set of problems do not come to surface.
If problems are found out after putting the solution to use then it further involves R&D. Most Common Cases are related to using MVC Frameworks, Server Configuration and Deployments, Multi Browser Scripting is also a very large Challenge.

Java Development

Knowledge Management Challenges …

If problems are found out after putting the solution to use then it further involves R&D. Most Common Cases are related to using MVC Frameworks, Server Configuration and Deployments, Multi Browser Scripting is also a very large Challenge.
Crucial Time is also spent in establishing whether the information received is accurate and most latest or relevant and is “compatible” to the situation we are using in our project / development effort.

Java Development

Knowledge Management Challenges …

Integration of applications with 3 rd Party Tools / Software

Crucial R & D efforts go in before a 3 rd Party Tool / Software is integrated in the current project scenario
Need for highly skill full resource increases in this case.

Maintaining Common / Updated / Accurate Knowledge Base is a Challenge in the project.

Java Development

Project Management Challenges

Since keeping a uniform knowledge base of implementation is a challenge, human resources in development are mostly bound to a specific area of the project.

When these resources are required to be given a different task in another area of project a learning curve is involved.
Not all human resources are good in all areas of the development which is again a challenge for circulating tasks.
The above 3 points are a potential risk for the project in case the resource is going out of the scope for several reasons.

Java Development

Project Management Challenges ….

Configuration Management is a Challenge right from development setup to deployment setup
Since lot of operations involve R&D a sufficient buffer always needs to be maintained in the Estimates
Resource skill requirements and experience levels are higher
Production Deployment challenges often come across when the project is released and commonly involve high efforts due to lack of environment consistency.

Java Development

Project Management Challenges ….

Since keeping a uniform knowledge base of implementation is a challenge, human resources in development are mostly bound to a specific area of the project.

When these resources are required to be given a different task in another area of project a learning curve is involved.
Not all human resources are good in all areas of the development which is again a challenge for circulating tasks.
The above 3 points are a potential risk for the project in case the resource is going out of the scope for several reasons.

Cumulative Effect of Challenges in Java Development

High Initial and Overall Cost of the project due to.

Skilled Human Resources
R & D efforts and Increased time line
Highly Skilled & Experienced Technical Project Management

Higher Maintenance cost.
Higher Knowledge Management cost.
No. of Resources required are more.
Learning curve costs are often high.

Reasons of Challenges in Java Development

Lack of Automation Development tools which eliminate / avoid the labor of manual work.
Lack of quick configuration of development and testing setup operations, this point means we do not have proper / reliable knowledge base of configurations for

Development IDE
Application Servers
Database Servers
Testing tools

Lack of Standardization procedures for

Coding Standards and testing procedures
Reference Standards i.e. how to establish that the specified solution is correct.
Impact Analysis procedures

Reasons of Challenges in Java Development …

Human Resources in Project do not have at times

Complete knowledge about

Using the Development IDE
Proper Standards of Development and Configurations
Unit Testing the development

The ideal way of working for a Human resource on the project is based on

Search Engines
Solutions and References Found
Which is not improper but is lacking the proper impact analysis
This way of working is often developed because of time lines in delivery .

Why Rapid Application Development In Java

Java Development is looked upon as a Costly Development in terms of

Costly Human Resources
Time Line Requirement is often Higher
Post Development Maintenance needs

Moderate to Highly Skilled Resource

Higher Overall Cost on an average cost of usage of Java in development will involve 1.5 times higher estimates than that in other Technologies

Other technologies provide a better alternative to Java due to

Automated / Semi Automated Development Setup
Rapid Development tools allowing focus on Business Logic
Low Cost of Resources
Fast Internet Responses
Quick Development and Testing

Java Becomes an Option No 2.

Java is Chosen over other Technologies for development when
Licensing and Infra Structure Costs for Other Technologies Weigh Higher than Java

Some Proposed Solutions

Standardization of Knowledge Base for

Application Development
Tools and Libraries to be used
Establishing reliable references / reference sites and correct refined ways of up gradation

Improvisation of Human Resources Knowledge Level for

Ways of Learning and upgrading knowledge covering

Features of Development Standards and optimal development techniques in regular day to day development to minimize R & D and development time.
Impact Analysis procedures
Unit Testing
Maintaining / Updating Knowledge base

Ready to Deploy Configurations

There could be a organizational level Ready to Deploy Application Setup covering various Java Application types which can be quickly reused, probably with use of Virtualization (VM) and Ready Source controls and Development Setup.
Ready Knowledge Repository acting as a training data package covering