4) Some of the adaptive approaches to developing systems
(like agile) are becoming more popular. Are they better or more appropriate
than prescriptive approaches in most cases? Why or why not?
A prescriptive approach is one where there are fair amount of rules and procedures. People are trained to perform their jobs in precise ways and, projects are structured where the results are more likely to be expected. With the prescriptive approach the structure and requirements are well defined and very little changes can be made during the development process. Adaptive approaches are becoming more popular because they work better with evolving projects that allow more flexibility and you may not be able to predict the outcome. It allows people to work more quickly and easily especially in an environment where the requirements are changing rapidly. Adaptive approaches such as Agile are better than the prescriptive because they embrace change which is inevitable.
While it is true that agile is becoming more popular, some experts from what I've read have noted that it isn't all the hype it is made out to be. While digging into more information, there are both pros and cons to the waterfall approach versus the agile approach. It depends how agile is implemented. If it can be implemented correctly there may come benefits with that.
ReplyDeletePrescriptive approaches work best for managers who are less likely to make changes to a project. Your answer was spot on, though.
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