Generally speaking, rapid or fast prototyping can refer either to physical products or to app development. But we’re not here to discuss physical prototyping so we can jump straight to rapid app development for hardware prototyping.
The standard method of software development takes a lot of planning, preparations and testing before the software is put to use. Rapid app development, however, focuses on creating a minimal functionality first so the software can be properly tested and the devs can make sure they’re on the right track. Because IoT usually requires both software and hardware components, it is crucial to see if they show the desired functionality in the early stages of the project.
Let’s say a certain product requires sensors in order to work the way it was designed, fast prototyping will determine whether the data acquisition from sensors provides regular and precise feedback. Once we’re sure that all this is working, the developers can now focus on security, scalability and other ways to expand and perfect the product.
As you can see, the unnecessary worrying in the wrong fields that often gives headaches to the programmers is easy to avoid. We’re not trying to say skip the planning part, but it is highly recommended to cut it short.
