Is it agile or prototyping?

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You can build a prototype using agile. But agile and prototyping are different. Many people are confused about this. They talk agile and prototyping in the same breath. Both look similar to people without a background in agile. To give clarity let us check what are the differences.


Prototyping
Agile
Goal is to develop an incomplete version of the software.
Goal is to develop production ready software at each iteration.
Prototyping is the first step before traditional methods take over.
Agile follows same process in each iteration.
Prototype may not follow the design or architecture required by the end product.
Even though there is refactoring all development follows the required architecture and design.
Agile methods can be used for developing prototype.
Agile follows some of prototyping techniques. Also there is a agile methodology called DSDM which extends the prototyping.


For more details on prototyping refer the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_prototyping

Prototyping need few more steps to become agile. But prototyping is a first step to become agile.

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