Bacula incremental is a process of development of software where products are designed, created, implemented, and eventually tested until the product is finished. All the above steps are done incrementally.
For a product to be qualified as finished, it must satisfy all the mentioned requirements.
Bacula incremental is used in the case when the full system requirements are clearly defined and understood. It can also be used in the case of wanting to get a product into the market early or when using new technology.
One of the main importance of the bacula incremental model is to fragment software development into submodules. Each of the submodules is developed by following the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) processes. Some of these processes are, in no particular order, testing, design, code, and analysis.
Bacula incremental model is not to be confused with the iterative model. While the incremental model is the breaking down of work into small bite-sized pieces, the iterative model is the refinement of how work is done.
4 Phases of Bacula Incremental model
There are several phases of the incremental model. They are as follows:
1. Requirement Analysis
This is the client consultation phase.
Here, clients communicate all their desires and requirements and they are noted down for fulfillment according to the client’s specifications.
2. Modelling
All the client’s requirements and specifications are analyzed in this phase.
UML diagrams are implemented in this phase to help draw an outline of the client’s product, which plays an integral part in the implementation of the product.
UML (Universal Modelling Language) diagrams, is a drawing or a visual representation of a system.
The system drawing incorporates all the main actors, actions, roles, or classes. This system is represented in this way to allow a better understanding of it in case there is a need to maintain, alter, or document any information concerning it.
3. Implementation
In this phase, programs are developed and coded in small segments which will later be brought together to form the complete final operation product.
By coding small segments one at a time, there will be fewer mistakes in the overall final operational product.
4. Deployment
In this phase, a product demonstration is done for a client.
The client gives feedback of what they like and dislike and what more they would like to see in the product to the team, which it uses in the development of the next increment.
When a project deadline seems impossible to meet, that is when the bacula incremental model should be implemented.
4 Types of Bacula Incremental Model Implementations
There are several types of incremental model implementations. They are as follows:
1. Top Down
The topmost component of the software is usually the user interface and it is the visible part of the software.
In top-down bacula incremental model implementation, the user interface is implemented first. It is usually used as a demonstrator for a client, to imitate the finished product.
2. Bottom-up
As you can guess from the title, the bottom-most element of the software is implemented before any other.
The lowest component can be referred to as the brain. This is because every other component that makes up software depends on it. Without it, the rest of the components cannot function.
However, this approach is considered a drawback because the client cannot view a working model in early increments.
3. Middle Out
In the middle out, the system begins being developed from the center. A central component is chosen as a starting point of the project.
Components are distributed and assigned to different developers and are all developed independently and concurrently. After completion, the individual segments are merged to form a final complete product.
4. Use Case-based
By using this approach, the functions that will carry out tasks are analyzed by the developers.
The functions are then demonstrated to the client and are modified according to the client’s specifications and overall feedback.
In this method, the above is repeated until the user becomes satisfied with the outcome of the function of that particular segment. This is done for each segment one after the other. By doing this, the entire system becomes implemented.
The use case approach is best suited for cases of depth-first. The client, in this approach, is always served with the visible product.
Conclusion
Not only does the bacula incremental model offer flexibility in that as components are being incorporated one by one, the user can be able to change the requirements, but also the client can choose and decide in which order the modules will be implemented which offers the client a degree of control over the project. This makes the bacula incremental model the best model available today.