Using the spiral model to assess, select and integrate software development tools

Rather than having software tool assessment and selection be performed separately from the software development process, Boehm´s (1988) spiral model of software development can be used to provide a framework within which tool assessment and selection can be systematically integrated into the software development process. The result is an incremental decision making/integration process which results in conservative (minimal, best-for-now) decisions which come under review each cycle through the spiral. This paper first describes the decision making/integration process. It then shows how the decision making/integration process has been used in the VETRONICS Simulation Facility project. The first three cycles through the spiral are described for the selection of a CASE tool, a prototyping tool, and an interprocess communication (IPC) tool