?What is Unified Process?? someone asked.
We
were discussing agile software development and related methodologies. Someone asked
?What is Unified Process?? We had discussed about XP, Scrum, and agile development
in general.
How
Unified Process (UP) is different from those was the intent of the question.
I have
read and practiced UP. I have used it to various degree on my projects. It is a process
that can get
very
ceremonial. You could get buried into it if you are not careful. When I read Craig
Larman?s
suggestion
that UP is agile, it surprised me. I just had not thought that way before. His comment
makes
sense
if you understand the real sprit of UP, however. You could actually use UP and still
be agile.
So,
when I was asked to comment of UP, these thoughts ran through my head, and I realized
how close UP
was
to something I have known for a long time ? Hinduism (and you may substitute Christianity
here and
that may make sense to you as well).
I see
so much similarity between UP and Hinduism. Hinduism can be very ceremonial. There
are people
who
get immersed into various ceremonies and spend hours each day practicing these. However,
to be a
Hindu,
you are not required to practice any ceremony! You are not required to go to temples.
You
are
not required to perform any specific duties. You are a Hindu, if you want to be one.
You can pretty
much
decide what you want to follow. There are of course some core values.
But, you are no less of a Hindu
if you don?t go to temple or do not perform a certain ceremony.
If
you ask me if I am a Hindu, sure I am. However, I do not go to temple with any specific
frequency.
I may
visit a temple, once a year or so, usually at the invitation of a friend or family.
I don?t spend any
time in ceremonial activities. I don?t even have
a specific time I devote for prayer. (I have taken a
philosophy of Hinduism to my heart ? "your profession
is your worship.") That does not
make me any
less religious, however. I believe in God ("In God we trust."). I also call
God quite often, especially while
coding. You will hear me say ?Oh God, what the heck is this code doing??
:)
UP
is similarly very ceremonial ? if you want it to be. However, if you want
to focus on the iterative and
incremental
aspect of it, you could use UP and still be agile. Don?t take my word for it. I suggest
that you
read
Craig Larman?s work.
