top 3 software development methodologies: pros & cons
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Software development methodologies are the backbone of the software industry. There are several software development methodologies suited to different software and applications, but choosing the right one delivers the project with the best results. Read more to know what are the top 3 software development methodologies.TRANSCRIPT
Top 3 Software Development Methodologies: Pros & Cons
In today’s highly digitized ecosystem, technology is evolving at a fast pace. And it is
pushing software organizations to compete and work in a highly competitive
environment. Software development methodologies are one of the vital factors
that form the backbone of the software industry, that efficiently binds employees,
processes, technology, and tools. IDC research reveals that the global information
technology industry is headed at full pace to reach $5.2 trillion by the end of this
year, which is also employing millions of people who build, design, grow and sell
computer software and services.
There are numerous software development methodologies suited to building
different types of software and applications. Picking up the correct one is crucial
for delivering the project with the best results and within the specified timeframe.
Thus, getting acquainted with popular software development methodologies,
along with their pros and cons is essential before embarking upon the software
development journey.
Types of Software
Development Methodologies
This article offers the top software development methodologies comparison that
will help you make a grounded decision on what methodology fits your business
and functional requirements.
1. Waterfall Model
Though less common these days, when your end product’s requirements are fixed, yet time and money are variable, choose the waterfall method. –Patrick Rockwell
Introduced by Dr. Winston W. Royce in a paper published in 1970, the Waterfall
Methodology is a sequential, linear software development process of project
management.
The Waterfall Approach focuses on the logical progression of all the steps involved
in the software development life cycle (SDLC). The structure of phases it follows is
simple—each stage cascades down to the next level of development. In short, it is
not one big Niagara Falls; rather it is a series of cascading waterfalls in which the
pools (phases of development) do not overlap.
Stages Involved in the Waterfall
Methodology
A Waterfall Model passes through several individual phases, which amalgamate to
result in the desired product. The stages are explained briefly with an example to
understand the core of the Waterfall model better.
Assume that a renowned bank is planning to build a new banking application in the
90s. So the ideal approach to develop the software is:
Requirements: In this phase, the
client’s detailed requirements are
gathered, followed by defining the
expectations and goals of the project
and analyzing the risks. As the team
goes through the list, some more
questions are revealed by the
dedicated project team, which may
not be mentioned in the
requirements document. For
instance:
o How many countries will use this
banking application?
o Is there a need to support
multiple languages?
o What is the number of users
expected to use this
application?
Design: Identifying the goals of the
project is followed by the designing
phase of the product, which involves
drawing the blueprint for coders to
meet the desired requirements. In
this case, the architect of the project
works to design the banking
application’s software architecture.
For instance, it is decided that the
application is required to have
redundant backup and failover
capabilities so that the system is
accessible all the time. Thus, the
architect designs documents and
creates an architecture diagram for
the same.
Construction: This phase is also
known as development, coding, or
implementation. In this stage, the
development team works on writing
the software for the project. They
follow the design documents to
ensure their solution follows the
design as finalized by the architect.
Being a banking application, the
highest priority is given to the security
of the application. Thus, developers
implement various security checks
and audit logging features in the app.
Testing and Debugging: In this phase
of the process, the software
undergoes the stress-test and is
combed over for errors to ensure that
the final product meets the
customer’s requirements. If there is
any defect in the application,
developers fix the same, and the
testing team tests the fixes to make
sure the error is fixed. They also
perform regression testing of the app
to see if any new defects were
introduced.
Deployment: After testing and
debugging are complete, the code is
deployed to a production
environment as per the agreed-upon
requirements. Another set of testing
and verification often follows after
implementation. In the case of a
banking application, the team builds
and installs the application on the
servers. Some of the high-level
activities involve installing the OS on
the servers, installing security
patches, hardening the servers,
installing web servers and application
servers, installing the database, etc.
In this phase, the team also ensures
that the application runs smoothly on
the servers without downtime.
Pros and Cons of the Waterfall
Methodology
A majority of the organizations, these days, use an assortment of software
methodologies. A survey conducted on manufacturing companies points out that
57% of its respondents use a combination of methodologies, while 25.5% of
companies rely entirely on the Waterfall methodology.
2. Agile Software Development
Methodology
If you adopt only one #agile practice, let it be retrospectives. Everything else will follow. –Woody Zuill
On one bright sunny day, a few people with varied software development
methodologies backgrounds sat on a round table to brainstorm a possible
alternative solution to software development. The aim was to achieve
faster software development time with less documentation. The result of the
meeting is what we call today the Agile Software Development process, which has
grown to become one of the most popular software development methodologies.
The main aim of this approach is to – “learn quickly and often enough that you
don’t simply plow on and exacerbate any issues. Progress iteratively with a
retrospective after each cycle, and you will improve.”
An Agile Development Process is an innovative approach used for articulating a
well-organized project management procedure to minimize the perils by building
software in short boxes, called iterations, which exist from one week to one month.
What is Agile Methodology in Software
Development: Stages Involved
The Agile Methodology Process also goes through its own life cycle. There are 6
phases in this approach, which are explained, followed by an example of a mobile
app development project named Coach.
Concept: In this step of the agile
development process, the team
envisions and prioritizes projects
according to their importance. Some
teams may work on more than one
project simultaneously, depending on
the organization’s departments.
Inception: Once the project has been
identified, team members work with
stakeholders to determine and
discuss requirements. Here, with the
help of flow diagrams, it is easy to
understand how the new feature will
function and fit into the existing
system.
Iteration/Construction: Once the
requirements have been defined for
the initial sprint based on the
stakeholders’ feedback, the real work
starts—the project team begins to
work on development. UX designers
and developers start work on
their user design and the first
iteration of the project.
Release: At this stage, you are very
close to release the product into the
real world. Quality testing and
training, both internal and external
and documentation and reporting,
are put into production.
Production: This stage involves
ongoing support for the software
release. The Agile method helps keep
track of your project and make sure it
is continuously optimized and ready
to bounce back from any sudden
changes or uncertainties.
Retirement: At this stage, you
remove the system release from
production. In short, it is the end of
the life of these activities.
Coach and its Successful Agile Journey
with Net Solutions
IsaiX approached Net Solutions to redo their flagship web-based product, Coach
Technology®, that helps managers with training, targeting, planning, tracking,
evaluating, and encouraging employee performance.
We followed the Agile Development Process for this project with Team Foundation
Server (TFS) that managed our sprint planning, tracking, and team velocity. Using a
system like Coach5 that has three sites under its umbrella, we devised a custom
automated deployment process consisting of all our environments: development,
staging, QC-testing, and operations. For example, pulling the latest from the
repository as per the applied code-label and building the solutions after that. The
deployment component was built as a group of batch files from batch
programming.
Pros and Cons of the Agile Methodology
3. DevOps Software Development
Methodology
DevOps is not a goal, but a never-ending process of continual improvement. –Jez Humble
DevOps is the offspring of the Agile Software Development process, which came
into existence to match the increased software velocity. Over the past few years,
advancements in the agile culture have paved the way for the need for more
holistic software development approaches to the end-to-end software delivery
lifecycle. This approach acts as an ideal bridge between the development and
operational phases of a company.
When the teams used to work separately:
Dev was often oblivious of QA and
Ops roadblocks that prevent the
program from working as anticipated.
QA and Ops were typically working
across many features and had a little
context of the business purpose and
value of the software.
Each group working in this ecosystem would have opposing goals that could open
doors of inefficiency and finger-pointing when something went wrong. To address
these challenges, DevOps took birth intending to establish collaborative cross-
functional teams.
Stages Involved in the DevOps
Methodology
Continuous Development (Plan,
Code, and Build): In this phase, all
software deliverables are divided into
multiple sprints of short and lean
development cycles. These are then
passed on to the Ops in a very short
duration of time.
Continuous Testing (Test): Here, the
built application is tested by QA team
time and again to look for the bugs.
This constant monitoring helps find
the shortcomings of a code right
when they are built.
Continuous Integration (Release): In
this stage, the existing code gets
integrated with the code supporting
new functionality.
Continuous Deployment (Deploy and
Operate): In this stage, the code is
handed over to the production
ecosystem, which makes sure that
the code gets deployed correctly on
all the servers.
Continuous Monitoring (monitor and
provide feedback): Being a very
important stage in the DevOps
software development process, it is
aimed at achieving a high quality of
the software because of incessant
monitoring of its performance.
Software Development
Methodologies – Final
Thoughts
In a digital landscape that demands continuous innovation and customer-centric
approach, the first step being with putting together the right process and team in
place. The above-mentioned list constitutes the most commonly used software
development methodologies suited for various types of situations and solutions.
All these work well, depending upon the nature of the project. None of these are
foolproof, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages developers/project
owners must have a thorough understanding of all these methodologies for
software development.
Source - https://www.netsolutions.com/insights/top-3-software-development-methodologies-pros-
cons/