Best Rapid Application Development Software

Rapid application development (RAD) tools are a class of tools that assist developers in creating both web- and mobile-based applications. They enable users to develop better applications more quickly than they would be able to if these tools were absent. RAD tools give developers the ability to move quickly without forcing them to create sub-standard applications.

RAD tools can take different forms. They can be pieces of developmental software, frameworks, other applications, or toolkits. These tools are often divided into different categories that reflect the development phase that that particular tool covers. The most flexible of these tools enable users to cover multiple phases at the same time. This gives users the ability to maximize their output while minimizing their costs.

Rapid application development is a multi-stepped process. It can be divided into 4 phases.

1. Define project requirements: This first phase involves stakeholders defining a loose set of project requirements. During this phase, all project stakeholders, including developers, clients, software users, and teams, communicate to determine the project’s requirements, such as goals, expectations, timelines, and budget. When defining project requirements, the client also provides a vision for the product. In collaboration with other stakeholders, research is conducted to finalize requirements with each stakeholder’s approval.
   
   
2. Prototype: In this second phase, the goal is to rapidly produce a working design that can be demonstrated to the client. To ensure the client’s needs are being met, developers and designers work hand-in-hand with clients until a final product is ready. The use of rapidly built prototypes encourages user involvement, testing, and feedback on a live system, rather than attempting to make abstract evaluations of a design document. The nature of this consistent feedback enables developers to adjust models incrementally until the client is satisfied. Because the development team can easily evaluate the feasibility of complex components through prototyping, it leads to software that is more robust, less error-prone, and better structured for future design additions.
   
   
3. Rapid construction and client feedback: During rapid construction, application coding, system testing, and unit integration occurs, to convert prototype and beta systems into a working model. In this phase, it is not uncommon for teams to use low-code or rapid application development tools to quickly progress the application. At this point of the process, developers also work with clients and end users to collect feedback on interface and functionality, and to improve all aspects of the product.
   
   
4. Finalize product/implementation: This is the final phase of rapid application development, when developers address the technical debt accrued in early prototyping, optimizing implementation to improve stability and maintainability as they finalize the product for launch. During this phase, development teams move components to a live production environment, where any necessary full-scale testing or training can take place. In addition, when finalizing the product, teams write thorough documentation and also complete other necessary maintenance tasks before delivering the final product to the client.

Some of the benefits of using rapid application development (RAD) software include:

• Enjoy a high level of flexibility and adaptability. The RAD method enables developers to quickly make adjustments to the applications that they are creating.

• Dramatically reduce development time. Developers gain the ability to create iterations of their applications in a shorter amount of time than they would be able to using the more traditional method.

• Reduce the amount of manual coding that is required. The RAD method encourages developers to reuse code. This reduces the amount of coding required, the number of errors that might arise, and the amount of testing required.

• Increase the level of customer satisfaction. The RAD method creates a greater level of customer satisfaction than the traditional method. The high level of collaboration between all of the stakeholders is what creates this satisfaction.

• Manage risk better than with the traditional method. Developers and other stakeholders can address any and all potential vulnerabilities without pausing the development process.

• Enable users to integrate their application with other applications. The RAD model incorporates integrations from the earliest stages of the development process.

The following are some differences between rapid application development and agile development:

• Rapid application development includes planning, designing, development, testing, and deployment while agile development includes planning, designing, building, testing, review, and launching.

• Rapid application development implements application development through prototypes, while agile development does not.

• Rapid application development software implementers do not focus on quality in the first stages of app development. In contrast, with agile development, the solution is broken down into features. These features are then developed more incrementally.

• Rapid application development teams reveal screen prototypes and mockups to customers and the customers remain involved throughout each step of the process. Agile development does not include customers throughout its different stages, but rather only demonstrates the end product after every iteration.

• With rapid application development, it is much easier to implement existing prototypes. With agile development, on the other hand, small projects cannot be implemented because such projects cannot be easily divided into small parts for incremental development.

When selecting a rapid application development software tool, look for the following features:

• Pre-designed application templates: It is useful to have a tool that provides app templates that are customizable.

• Visual development support: A good rapid application development software tool will let you bypass writing lines of code by using a visual approach instead. A visual approach lays out the data operators through shapes on the screen linked by arrows that represent the flow of data.

• Lifecycle management: It is very unlikely that the first version of the designed app is the same as what the final version will be. Therefore, it is important to look for a rapid application development tool that will allow you to customize processes and organizational models throughout the lifetime of the app. The tool you choose should have the capability to drive this object-oriented way of programming through repeated prototyping.

• Cross-platform compatibility: Cross-platform functionality is a highly-rated rapid application development feature. If the rapid application development software you use lets you create apps that can be used across a variety of mediums, you will be able to accommodate users who are using desktops, laptops, and even handheld devices, and employees will even be able to use their own devices rather than those provided by your organization.

• WYSIWYG form designers: If a rapid software development tool is going to be used to create apps that involve data collection through forms, the drag-and-drop features of a “what you see is what you get” designer tool are a necessity.

Although rapid application development has many benefits and a lot of fantastic features, it still comes with some disadvantage:

• Scale: When a project expands beyond a single team or requires inter-team communication, the development cycle invariably slows and muddles the direction of the project. In other words, it is challenging to keep a large group of people on the same page when your project needs to scale.

• Client and developer commitment: In a rapid application environment, the frequent cycle of prototypes requires developers and clients to commit to frequent meetings that, on the outset, may appear to consume unnecessary cycles.

• Interface-focus: Some developers forego best practices on the back end to accelerate the development of the front-end-focused prototype. When it’s time to deliver a working product, they patch up the jerry-rigged server code to avoid a refactor.