Back when we talked about agile development and the SCRUM methodology, we mentioned two of the most famous types of software development for both mobile and web solutions. However, when it comes to mobile development there’s another methodology that’s famous for making developer’s jobs significantly easier, and it’s called rapid mobile development.
Rapid mobile development is the mobile methodology of RAD or Rapid Application Development, and it’s based on the idea of creating mobile solutions with minimum effort. Let’s take a look.
What really is a rapid mobile app development?
RMAD is a mobile software development methodology that is based on the idea of creating all types of mobile apps in a short amount of time, putting the minimum effort while doing so. Much like agile software development, rapid mobile app development focuses on getting great results without investing so much time and unnecessary steps into the process.
To be more precise, the definition of RMAD is a software development model based on the concept of developing mobile apps through early prototyping, reusable components and low to no code programming tools. The whole point of RMAD is to create mobile applications in the fastest, most efficient way possible without investing so many resources, time and money into creating a software app.
How do they do this? You might wonder, well… By using low to no-code programming tool through cross-platform development. In other words, programmers use these different tools to create different mobile apps that can run in different platforms.
What this means is that programmers don’t have to develop applications in the regular way (meaning, coding in whatever language the mobile device uses such as Java, or Swift) but use no-code platforms that don’t require coding at all. These low-code/no-code platforms, also known as IDEs or Integrated Development Environments, allow developers to use a graphical user interface to create and build mobile or web apps.
Of course, the overall process involved in RMAD process is more extensive than it seems, but the essence of this method is to create an application paying more attention to the front-end development than the back-end of the solution. That’s the reason why most rapid mobile development tools use metadata in order to summarize the information of the functions of an specific application, thanslarint these specifications into code, instead of having to actually do the coding themselves.
Benefits of rapid mobile app development
By now, we are sure you’ve noticed the benefits of implementing this particular software methodology, however, let’s take a look at the top three benefits of RMAD for software developers: Develop mobile applications faster: This is the main reasons development teams choose to work with rapid mobile development because it allows them to pick up the pace and create mobile apps in a shorter amount of time.
This way, big and complex mobile applications processes can get done in a minimum time, significantly reducing production time and costs. No need to be an expert developer: Another reason why companies choose to go for rapid mobile app development is because it doesn’t require a great level of expertise.
This method allows companies to create their own mobile app without having to be expert engineers or having to hire an external company to take care of their processes.
Re-usable applications: Last, but not least, the RMAD method allows companies to re-use and re-shape applications as they are created, meaning you can use the same components you implemented in the application again and again, which further facilitates the developing process. Rapid mobile app development is a fast efficient approach to software development that is recommended to be used for small companies in easy development projects.
However, when you think about implementing this methodology to a more complex software development process, you might find this process falls short to accomplish more specific requirements Implementing (or buying) this type of solution means having certain restrictions regarding the scope of your mobile application and the security behind it (Since most RMAD developed apps aren’t as secure as others).
Yes, rapid mobile app development offers an easy solution for simple mobile apps (and even web applications) but for bigger projects, a more traditional approach is a better option, specially when it comes to mobile app development.
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