Rational Unified Process - Online Course

The Rational Unified Process series is designed to provide learners with an introduction to the RUP software engineering process and framework. The series explains the software development principles behind the RUP and shows learners how to apply the RUP in their own organizations.

This series is for anyone who is interested in learning to understand and use the Rational Unified Process. This online course contains 7 lessons and should take approximately 18 hours to complete.

Lesson 1: Understanding the RUP (3.0) hours

Understanding the RUP teaches you how to define the Rational Unified Process (RUP), explain the underlying principles of the RUP, compare iterative and waterfall development approaches, explain briefly the four development phases in the RUP, and explain the modeling elements of the RUP. This course shows learners what the Rational Unified Process is and explains the motivation behind its development and its application. This course also provides an overview of the underlying development principles behind the RUP. Topics include Defining the RUP, Underlying principles of the RUP approach, The RUP and iterative development, Dynamic structure of the RUP, Static structure of the RUP, Customizable process product, Guidelines for success with the RUP, Attacking major risks, Delivering value to the customer, Staying focused, Accommodating change, Baselining an executable architecture, Building your system with components, Working together as one team, and Making quality a way of life.

Lesson 2: Inception and Elaboration Phases (2.0) hours

Inception and Elaboration Phases teaches you how to explain the objectives of the Inception phase, produce a Vision document for a project, explain the objectives of the Elaboration phase, define an executable architecture for a project, and design critical use cases for a project. This course provides learners with a detailed explanation of the first two phases of the RUP development process: Inception and Elaboration. Topics include Understanding the phases, Objectives of the Inception phase, Understanding what to build, Identifying key system functionality, Determining possible solutions, Understanding costs, schedule, and risks, Choosing a process and tools, Objectives of the Elaboration phase, Understanding the requirements, Designing the architecture, Implementing the architecture, Mitigating risks, and Establishing the development environment.

Lesson 3: Construction and Transition Phases (2.0) hours

Construction and Transition Phases teaches you how to explain the objectives of the Construction phase, achieve parallelism among team members, prepare a product for beta and final deployment, explain the objectives of the Transition phase, and validate that a project meets user expectations. This course provides learners with a detailed explanation of the final two phases of the RUP development process: Construction and Transition. Topics include Objectives of the Construction phase, Minimizing development costs, Developing a complete product, Deploying the product, Objectives of the Transition phase, Beta testing, Achieving user self-reliability, Preparing the deployment site, Preparing for launch, Achieving stakeholder approval, and Improving future project performance.

Lesson 4: Adopting the RUP (2.0) hours

Adopting the RUP teaches you how to explain how to configure the RUP product for a specific project, produce an RUP Process Configuration, produce RUP Process Views, compare thin and structural RUP plug-ins, explain how to adopt the RUP in projects of various sizes, and explain how to adopt the RUP for moderate or major change. This course explains the RUP product and how it can be extended and configured to meet specific needs. This course also outlines strategies for implementing the RUP, including incremental rollout, pilot projects, and training curricula. Topics include Configuring the RUP, Instantiating the RUP in a project, Customizing the RUP, Creating structural RUP plug-ins, Assessing and planning for the RUP, Adopting the RUP in a project, Adopting the RUP in a small project, Adopting the RUP in a large organization, and Studying RUP implementation cases.

Lesson 5: Planning an Iterative Project (3.0) hours

Planning an Iterative Project teaches you how to explain the key concepts behind iterative planning, build coarse-grained project plans, build fine-grained iteration plans, avoid common mistakes related to RUP implementation, and avoid common mistakes related to iterative development. This course shows learners how to move from a waterfall approach to iterative development and how to plan an RUP project. This course also discusses common mistakes made when adopting the RUP, and how to avoid them. Topics include Motivation and key concepts, Project plans and iteration plans, Building a project plan, Determining the number of iterations, Iteration planning, Estimating, Optimizing the project plan, Avoiding mistakes when adopting the RUP, Avoiding RUP-related pitfalls, Avoiding mistakes when managing iterative development, Avoiding iterative development-related pitfalls, Avoiding mistakes in specialized work roles, and Avoiding work role-related pitfalls.

Lesson 6: RUP for Project Managers, Analysts, and Architects (3.0) hours

RUP for Project Managers, Analysts, and Architects teaches you how to explain the mission of an RUP project manager, explain the mission of an RUP analyst, describe the activities of an RUP analyst, explain the mission of an RUP architect, and describe the activities of an RUP architect. This course provides a guide to the RUP tailored to the perspective of three crucial software development roles: project manager, analyst, and architect. Topics include The mission of a project manager, Project management, Activities of a project manager, The mission of an analyst, Understanding your business, Developing a vision, Developing a use case model, Fine-tuning your models, The mission of an architect, Understanding architecture, An evolving role, Defining the RUP, and The architect's roles in the RUP.

Lesson 7: RUP for Developers and Testers (3.0) hours

RUP for Developers and Testers teaches you how to explain the mission of a developer and how it relates to the RUP, describe the activities of a developer in an RUP-driven project, explain the mission of a tester and how it relates to the RUP, and describe the activities of a tester in an RUP-driven project. This course provides a guide to the RUP that is tailored to the perspective of two crucial software development roles: developer and tester. Topics include The mission of a developer, Understanding requirements and design constraints, Designing use cases, Implementing and testing use cases, Designing, implementing, and testing databases, Integrating with other developers, Developer best practices, The mission of a tester, Defining testing, The RUP testing philosophy, The test discipline in the RUP, and Activities of the tester.