If you plan to become a project manager for one of the country's biggest IT companies, you'll have to know quite a bit about software development methodologies. The topic itself can be quite broad, and you may be overwhelmed by all the varying details that fall under it. One of these potentially confusing aspects is the multitude of frameworks available for such methodologies. There are quite a number of them, and it's quite important to know the intrinsic differences between each one. Thus, to get you started on your journey towards becoming a successful project manager, here are the most important things you need to know about each framework.

Waterfall development
Waterfall development is considered a sequential approach. Applying this kind of framework properly to software development methodologies results in work that flows downwards quite smoothly, much like a waterfall. In order to maintain this flow, the life of the project is tightly controlled via the processing of much paperwork - documentation, reviews, approvals, etc. - before the start and end of each process.

Software prototyping
Software prototyping is not a formal framework, per se, but instead involves the creation of samples or prototypes of particular software. The result of this is incomplete versions of the software currently in development. What's great about it is that users are involved in every step of the development process. You can thus consider this one of the more personalized frameworks for software development methodologies.

Incremental development
Incremental development can be seen as an offshoot of waterfall development. The process is divided into a series of mini-Waterfalls, and each of these mini-Waterfalls has to be completed before anyone can move on to the succeeding mini-Waterfall. Before anything can begin, however, a definitive laying out of the entire project has to be done first.

Rapid application development
Rapid application development is, as the name implies, one of the more dynamic frameworks of the lot. It is a mixture of both incremental development as well as software prototyping. Its main goal is to accomplish the speedy development of a system without spending too much. Among the different frameworks for software development methodologies, it is certainly one of the most cost-efficient. Because of this focus on speed, what is deemed more important in this framework is what the business needs. The quality of the technology or engineering done in the project is only secondary.

These four are, of course, only a few of the many frameworks for these methodologies. In order to be a great project manager, get out there and find out more about these other frameworks. Get to know each of them intimately, so when faced with differing challenges, you'll know which one to put into play.