Modeling or Writing?

Overview

The Agile Manifesto says to put individuals and interactions over processes and tools. We’ve had many discussions about this assertion, especially with people who are convinced that tools are out of the question in Agile projects. Although development environments like Visual Studio and Eclipse are indispensable, the use of modeling environments is often regarded as a curse against the manifesto. Don’t be discouraged. In many projects, the use of modeling environments is a welcome and often trusted improvement over index cards or Microsoft Word.

Modeling tools

Modeling tools such as Enterprise Architect or Rational Rose include a repository where models and model elements are stored. This contributes to keeping requirements and work items consistent and unambiguous, so that reuse is easier to achieve. The same model element is used in different diagrams. Moreover, modeling tools are capable of generating documentation and are frequently used to generate code instead of engaging in manual development. This increases the quality of the software and realizes traceability between design and code.