provided by: 
Originally published at Internet.comThis week I'm going to move past Web Services and talk about a word that causes most developers to cringe. There are, in fact, many words that cause developers to cringe. Words such as "testing" and "documentation" are examples. The focus today, however, is on a word that encompasses both of these-"methodology."
When I sat down at my first development job a few (15) years ago, I received what seemed like an encyclopedia set of documents. Fortunately, I was given one three-inch ream of paper that summarized the key points of the documentation. I was told that this was the process through which all projects within the organization were to be created. This was the METHODOLOGY.
I quickly realized that there were an only a few valuable documents within the massive reams of paper. I also quickly learned why the average project time frame at this company was measured in years rather than days or weeks.
In later years, I added to this experience with methodologies. None of the methodologies I would encounter would match the depth of the first. Training classes would later expose me to more efficient methodologies including RAD (Rapid Application Development) and ASD (Accelerated Systems Development). I'd also get to experience CASE (Computer Aided Systems Engineering), which allowed you to use the computer to create the reams of paper most methodologies could only dream of having you produce...
Read article at Internet.com site