The Real World (RW) Methodology is a new Software Methodology for reliable, rapid and quality Software Development.
It embraces the complete path for developing and maintaining software, from the specification of the users’ necessities of information and information processing (the software targets) to the implementation of the applications that satisfy these necessities.
The creation of a Software Methodology requires a thorough understanding of the essence of the software development and maintenance, for not to add to the unavoidable and necessary complexity of the reality the avoidable and unnecessary complexity of inadequate tools, techniques and languages.
Plans, activities and decision-makings depend on the support of information. Without information the outcome of any action will depend more on chance than on conscious decisions.
The human manipulation of information has natural limitations. The involved physical “resources” (brain, senses and human body in general) have limited speed, limited precision, limited work and storing capacities. They are adequate for the everyday activities, but inadequate for the huge volume of information processed by the organizations.
The software mechanizes the data manipulations, outreaching the human limitations. It is indispensable for supporting the operational routines of organizations, determining the quality and speed of the decision-making and, to a certain extent, the capacity to act and react.
Software is the bottleneck of many organizational projects and the demand for software services grows faster than the productivity of the software technology.
For all these reasons, the improvement of the software technology is both worthwhile and urgent.
The utilization of computers is hampered by the problems of the software technology. Software is indispensable, but also unreliable and labor-intensive. The current practices and methodologies produce low quality software that causes unsafe operation and high maintenance level. Software costs are high, terms long, time-schedules and budgets unreliable.
To change this situation is a difficult task. Many promised and no one yet delivered. Their efforts produced important improvements but no final solution. The software community is still looking for something better.