Starting Complex Projects without a thorough Planning
When we need to design a complex system without extensive planning, one of the greatest ways to get started is to create a short and filthy prototype for demonstration purposes, which allows us to show how it could work.
In general, the challenge with big projects is that there are many unknowns. Building a prototype helps address some of these unknowns and demonstrate that a strategy will work well enough.
Address conflicts and highlight potential technical debts.
Most large projects, even after the team has written hundreds of pages of Design and RFC, may be unable to reach an agreement on how to proceed. However, a few weeks of effort to develop a prototype addressed numerous sources of conflicts and unknowns. While prototypes are sometimes discarded, they can serve as a scaffolding for complicated system integrations and highlight potential technical deficits at an early stage.
Managing multiple moving parts smoothly.
When there are a lot of moving pieces, use prototyping as an exploratory technique. For example, when there is a need to interact with a third-party API and advise how it should work.
Create Highly Collaborative Learning Teams.
The goal of a prototype is to demonstrate that something works before moving on to construct software. And the team can learn plenty by creating proof-of-concepts and engaging in productive debates about a specific problem and solution.
Build an appropriate sophisticated system with minimal difficulty.
When you develop a prototype and throw it away, there is no requirement for code reviews, automated tests, or code that will be maintained later. The risk with any proof-of-concept is that someone higher up. Sometimes stakeholders say it looks excellent and should be shipped. It would be better to refuse to ship a prototype. Instead, create a suitable version from scratch. This should not be as difficult with a working prototype.
Prototyping is a tool for developing better architectural methods. The more you do this, the more productive you will become, and the architecture you build will be better.
