COMPACT – An industry originated modeling technique for webdevelopment

This paper explores reasons for the low take-up of modeling techniques for web-based applications proposed by academia within industry. We also discuss the key differences between traditional IT development and Web based systems development identifying the issues and current approaches to web development. We argue that industry needs to be central to the future development of web based design methods and solutions in order for these new approaches to work. We then present the COMPACT (Composite Object Modelling Process for Architectural Communication in Teams) model, a technique initially developed by industry for Java based web development which has been further developed and enhanced in conjunction with academia. Its key purpose is to model the high-level system design in order to aid project management and communication between developers of web-based systems who have different skills and knowledge.