Six Best Practices

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Six Best Practices is a paradigm in software engineering that lists six ideas to follow when designing any software project to minimize faults and increase productivity as described in Rational Unified Process. These practices are:

Develop Iteratively – it is best to know all requirements in advance; however, often this is not the case. Several software development processes exist that deal with providing solution on how to minimize cost in terms of development phases
Manage Requirements – always keep in mind the requirements set by user
Use Components – breaking down an advanced project is not only suggested but in fact unavoidable. This promotes ability to test individual components before they are integrated into a larger system. Also, code reuse is a big plus and can be accomplished easier through the use of object-oriented programming
Model Visually – use diagrams to represent all major components, users, and their interaction. "UML", short for Unified Modeling Language, is one tool that can be used to make this task more feasible.
Verify Quality – always make testing a major part of the project at any point of time. Testing becomes heavier as the project progresses but should be a constant factor in any software product creation.
Control Changes – many projects are created by many teams, sometimes in various locations, different platforms may be used, etc. As a result it is essential to make sure that changes made to a system are synchronized and verified constantly. One tool used for this is Concurrent Versions System