Software Engineering Institute

Prototyping, the creation and enaction of models based on operational scenarios, has been advocated as a useful software engineering paradigm because it lends itself to intense interaction between customers, users, and developers, resulting in early validation of specifications and designs. An extensive and widespread interest in software prototyping in recent years has resulted in a daunting amount of literature and dozens of proposed methods and tools. As with any immature and growing technology, the expanding literature and approaches have resulted in correspondingly expansive and confusing terminology. This report presents an overview of technology and literature relating to the creation and use of software system prototypes. In addition to an annotated bibliography of recent prototyping literature, a technology framework, taxonomy, and series of classifications are provided. The intent of this report is to provide a basic road map through the available literature and technology.