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>But there seems to me, with the advent of 'Agile' and all that, prototyping has kinda gone the way of the dinosaurs. Most of the 'Agile' groups I've seen are FAR more concerned with making the deadline then actually producing workable code. Please note that I'm not saying that Agile methodology doesn't work - what I've seen is that middle management gets hold of a new buzzword and the people in the trenches are expected to 'make it so'.

Agile and prototyping aren't mutually exclusive. I agree, depending on how much middle management gets involved, they can throw a monkey wrench into everything.

I take the "meaningful prototype" approach - though in fairness it's a bit easier to do in the SQL/BI area than it was in the .NET area. Different worlds....