History of the Unified Process
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To understand the history of the Unified Process, we must also look at the history of Objectory, the Rational Unified Process (RUP), and the Enterprise Unified ProcessTM (EUP). The RUP is an endeavor of IBM's Rational division, formerly Rational Software Corporation. Rational is best known for its development toolset and as the initial developers of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The UML is now maintained by the Object Management Group (OMG).

Critical events in the evolution of the Unified Process are:

• 1988: Objectory v1.0 is defined by Ivar Jacobson's Objectory AB company. The Objectory process defined the core process from which the RUP and later the EUP evolved.

• 1995: Objectory v3.8 releases their first online version.

• 1995: Rational Corporation purchases Objectory AB.

• 1996: Rational Objectory Process (ROP) 4.0 is developed. Rational extends Objectory with internal Rational architecture concepts and introduces iterative concepts to it.

• June 1998: Rational Unified Process (RUP) 5.0 is released. This is the renamed ROP, extended with process material obtained from other tool companies purchased by Rational Corporation as well as material developed by the RUP group led by Phillipe Kruchten. This version describes how to apply the UML diagrams in the development of object-based systems.

• February 1999: The Unified Software Development Process is published.  This book describes the Unified Process framework in detail.

• June 1999: RUP 5.5 is released. Major enhancements focus on real-time and web-based development.

• October 1999: An enhanced lifecycle for the RUP is first proposed by Scott Ambler, which extends the RUP with a production phase and a cross-system discipline called Infrastructure Management.

• February 2000: RUP 2000 is released. Major enhancements include the addition of business engineering techniques to the business modeling discipline and a more extensive approach to requirements.

• 2000-2002: The Unified Process series of books, edited by Scott W. Ambler and Larry Constantine, is published.  This series repositions the enhanced RUP lifecycle as the EUP. These books reprint a large collection of articles originally printed in Software Development that describe topics not yet covered by the RUP.  Some topics, such as improved testing and agility, have since been added to the RUP.

• March 2002: Agile Modeling is published, showing how it is possible to take an agile approach to modeling on a RUP project.

• August 2002: IBM purchases PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC), developers of the Summit methodology. Material from Summit is later adopted into the RUP.

• December 2002: IBM purchases Rational Corporation.

• May 2003: RUP 2003 is released. Some of the material from the Unified Process series, in particular an enhanced test discipline and some agile concepts, are now covered by the RUP.

• Spring 2003. The EUP site and the EUP mailing list go online.

• January 2004: EUP v2004 is released. Enhancements include the addition of the retirement phase and the expansion of the enterprise management discipline (formerly the infrastructure management discipline) into seven detailed disciplines.

• February 2005: Release of The Enterprise Unified Process: Extending the Rational Unified Process by Prentice Hall PTR.

• September 2005: The Agile Unified Process (AUP) product is announced at Software Development Best Practices in Boston.

• October 2005: The Eclipse Project Framework (EPF) and Basic Unified Process (BUP) announced by IBM.

• November 2005: The Rational Method Composer (RMC) is announced by IBM.  For more information, read Peter Haumer's IBM Rational Method Composer: Key Concepts.

• March 2006: BUP is renamed OpenUP

• September 2006: EPF 1.0 and OpenUP 0.9 released

Recommended Resources

The Agile Unified Process (AUP) A Manager's Introduction to the Rational Unified Process (RUP) Open Unified Process (OpenUP) Surveys Exploring the Current State of Information Technology Practices Agile Modeling: Effective Practices for Extreme Programming and the Unified Process is the seminal book describing how agile software developers approach modeling and documentation.  It describes principles and practices which you can tailor into your existing software process, such as XP, the Rational Unified Process (RUP), or the Agile Unified Process (AUP), to streamline your modeling and documentation efforts.  Modeling and documentation are important aspects of any software project, including agile projects, and this book describes in detail how to elicit requirements, architect, and then design your system in an agile manner.

The Enterprise Unified Process: Extending the Rational Unified Process by Scott W. Ambler, John Nalbone, and Michael Vizdos.  Whereas the RUP defines a software development lifecycle, the EUP extends it to cover the entire information technology (IT) lifecycle. The extensions include two new phases, Production and Retirement, and several new disciplines: Operations and Support and the seven enterprise disciplines (Enterprise Business Modeling, Portfolio Management, Enterprise Architecture, Strategic Reuse, People Management, Enterprise Administration, and Software Process Improvement).