After years of life cycle development using the tried and true "waterfall" lifecycles, the current rapid application development (RAD) techniques have amply demonstrated considerable success. These techniques rely on iteration, in the spiral or "Nautilus" development of "evaluate, identify, design, and construct" cycles. The spiral often begins from a working prototype which can be refined by adding features and robustness. We’ve developed several banking applications using RAD.

As a design technique it is not foolproof, for there is a danger of over-committing based on early successes, and for under-powering the development based on skimpy design criteria. Scalability and reliability are often sacrificed in getting the product to market quickly. This is why successful RAD designs call for frequent reviews and tests under stringent conditions representing the potential marketplace.