DNA, XP, SOA, ESB, ETC Are Dead; FAD is the Future
I've come across a truly revolutionary software development methodology called Front Ahead Design (FAD). Essentially, it's a fundamental paradigm shift over "traditional" and "neo" ways of building software. Not only does it surpass every software development methodology out there, it solves every problem there is to building software (and then some). But don't take my word for it, here are the Top Five fundamentals ...
I. Front Ahead Design
The essence of FAD is conveyed directly in its name: design your front-end/user-interface first, ahead of everything else. The customer could care less what's behind the scenes, so long as it looks good and does what its supposed to. Deliver a working front-end first and then Do What It Takes to fill in the functionality gaps.
II. Do What It Takes
Other methodologies are great at delivering excuses. How many times have you heard (or have been told) "we can't do that here because it could throw off the whole design?" In FAD, you just do it (that would have been the bullet point, but Nike has it trademarked). To get it done, you Do What It Takes. Your customer will love you.
III. Code Light, Not "Right"
A traditional methodology calls a complex framework with layer after layer of objects. In those ways, adding a simple value to a form can be a monumental task, requiring it to be added to every single layer. Does that sound right? Proponents of the other methodologies will tell you it is, but what about your customer? With FAD, you just Do What It Takes to add the functionality to your interface. No more.
IV. "Throw Away" Diagrams
Think of all the Visio diagrams you've drawn over the years. Sequence diagrams, context diagrams, flow charts, and so on. Was that really productive? Did your customer ever see any of those? Were those diagrams even relevant after the system was finally developed? Didn't think so.
In FAD, all diagrams are made on a disposable medium. Whiteboards, napkins, even your forearms work. And there is no formal modeling language to battle with: just Do What It Takes to draw and explain your design to other developers.
V. Life Is Short (a.k.a. Patchwork)
The average software system has a life expectancy of seven years. No matter how "properly" the system is designed from the start, within the first year of its life, maintenance programmers unfamiliar with the complex architecture (and having no help from out-of-date documentation) will turn the system into a complete mess with bug fixes and change requests.
In FAD, this isn't even a concern. We know the short life span of a system and develop every feature (from the interface) as a patch. Maintenance programmers can come in and Do What It Takes to add their patches. In FAD, we don't even try to stop the aging process. We encourage it.
There's quite a few more fundamentals, but that's all I've got time for today. I'm incredibly busy trying to finish a book on the topic (halfway through it!!). Hopefully, it'll make it as the first FAD book. I hear some other big names are in the first FAD book race, too.
I also came across some community sites:
FADblogs.com - .TEXT blogging site, open for anyone to blog about FAD
FADisIn.com - general informational site with articles, help, discussion, and tools
ItsAFAD.com - gallery of successful projects (from small business to enterprise) that have successfully used FAD
They're all under construction, but I'm helping a lot with the FADblogs.com, so let me know if you'd like to be one of the FAD bloggers.
Next article: a comparison of the FAD design tools, including H/YPe and nFAD.