Early and not-so-early prototyping-rationale and tool support

A taxonomy is advanced that classifies prototyping in software engineering according to its application to different stages of the software development process. The prototyping categories are termed early, middle, and late. The rationale and tool support for each category are described and compared. Whereas early prototyping is the traditional perception of the activity, middle and late prototyping are separate categories that are supported by operational methods of software development. In particular, late prototyping evaluates performance, rather than functionality and interface, and is made cost-effectively feasible by operational methods