Managing the software development by using the recursive multithreaded (RMT) tool

Abstract

A number of software life cycles for object oriented software development (Fountain Model, Recursive/Parallel Model, McGregor and Sykes Model, and Chaos Model Life-Cycle) exist today. However, these life cycles have little or no support for estimating and monitoring progress during the development of the software. The ability to measure progress during the development is significant because it allows both the managers and the developers to determine whether a project is on schedule or not. Identifying that a project is behind schedule allows managers and developers to notify appropriate individuals of any scheduling and/or budgetary impacts at an early stage during the development and to determine appropriate course of action. The paper presents the Recursive Multi-Threaded (RMT) software life cycle which supports the monitoring of progress during development, addresses the specific needs of the developing object oriented software, and attempts to resolve deficiencies found in many existing software life cycles. What makes RMT unique from existing software life cycles is its use of a "thread" for partitioning and organizing software development activities. Threads support iteration and recursion, which are critical concepts for the development of the software. To implement the concepts of the RMT software life cycle model, we develop the RMT Tool, which is Java based. The Tool was used in an actual software development project in our software engineering course to test its functionalities.