RUP has enabled great strides in development community standards and the acceptance of use cases and unified modeling language (UML). RUP is comprised of three characteristics and a recurring four-phase cycle.

RUP has the following key characteristics:

• Use-case driven from inception to deployment
• Architecture-centric, where architecture is a function of user needs
• Iterative and incremental, where large projects are divided into smaller projects

RUP follows the following four-phase process:

• Inception: The core idea is envisioned.
• Elaboration: Use cases and architecture are designed.
• Construction: Activities from design to completed product
• Transition: Follow-up activities to ensure customer satisfaction