In software development a prototype is a preliminary form or version of the software product, from which other forms are developed.

The core idea behind all prototyping is to gain feedback on versions of the product, in order to make informed decisions about the product’s future.

One of the courses^[1] details the following types:

• Illustrative prototype - what will it look like?
• Exploratory prototype - how realizable it is to develop the product?
• Throwaway prototype - what are the basic problems that only a full version can show?
• Incremental prototype - which most important features would be implemented, if we stopped at the current iteration?
• Evolutionary prototype - how evolved would each feature be if we stopped at the current iteration?

1. University of Alberta: Software Processes and Agile Practices