Corporate and commercial software-development teams all want solutions for one important problem--how to get their high-pressure development schedules under control. In RAPID DEVELOPMENT author Steve McConnell addresses that concern head-on with overall strategies specific best practices and valuable tips that help shrink and control development schedules and keep projects moving. Inside you ll find: A rapid-development strategy that can be applied to any project and the best practices to make that strategy work Candid discussions of great and not-so-great rapid-development practices--estimation prototyping forced overtime motivation teamwork rapid-development languages risk management and many others A list of classic mistakes to avoid for rapid-development projects including creeping requirements shortchanged quality and silver-bullet syndrome Case studies that vividly illustrate what can go wrong what can go right and how to tell which direction your project is going RAPID DEVELOPMENT is the real-world guide to more efficient applications development.