An Approach to the Process of Software Development
4 Min. read
It can start with cups of coffee and hours of brainstorming sessions. But streamlined communication and expert knowledge can fasten the process of understanding the project requirements. When we talk about software development or product development projects, there is a need to establish a link between the idea and the approach to implement the idea.
The idea has to be narrowed down to cull out the precise requirements for effective implementation. It can be a very basic idea, but it is important to be critical to the idea in order to draw the possibilities of pros and cons. Thus, a process is important where the requirements are precisely drawn, given a structure and prepared for development process.
A process has to be followed in case of software development or web development project, irrespective of the kind of project, as an approach shall make all the difference. This is where the development life cycle initiates. Let us understand the process of eliciting the idea, collecting the data and then finally developing the requirements of a development project.
What is Software Development Process?
It is a methodology adopted for software development. There are mainly three kinds of models that software development experts consider which depends on project timelines, objectives, challenges, degree of requirements, availability of resources, factors of the environment and system and risk tolerance.
Three Models of Software Development Process (SDP)
- Waterfall Model
- Spiral Model
- Agile Model
Steps of Software Development Lifecycle
Create Requirement Document
The first and foremost step for your software development cycle is to create a document of the precise requirements of the solution. The project managers along with the solution architect and the development team, must create a flow of requirements, categorize it then take it further for analysis. It is important to draw possibilities to reach the best solution while having a focused approach towards software development.
Analysis of Requirements
Once your development team has developed the basic understanding of the project, the second step in the process will be analyzing the requirements for preparing the resources for the same. Here, your team will play a crucial role and they will need interpersonal skills in order to develop an understanding in the technical context. It is important that you be critical towards this step in order to recognize the incomplete, ambiguous or contradictory requirements. This will require a team of experienced and highly skilled software development specialists.
Define the Specs
This is a logical step and needs to be approached with reasoning. Drawing the specification is an important part of the development cycle, as your solution will depend on how successfully the specifications are being written. In cases of safety critical software systems, generally the specifications are specified before the application development. It is necessary to draw the requirement with precision, so the solution achieves accuracy and fulfills the purpose of building the respective software solution.
Your solution architect experience and skills towards this step will be prime aspect in this step. He/ she should be able to efficiently give structure for the development team to pursue the process. Here, the term architecture refers to a representation of that system. It is concerned with making the software system is meeting the requirements of the product by ensuring the requirements of the solution.
Implementation of Solutions – Development
This will require an effective collaboration of the Design team and the development team. The communication has to be streamlined. The development team should be assigned with timelines and scope of requirements where the teams must stay in touch at all levels of development. Dividing the development process in stages/ phases makes the process more clear and accurate.
Testing & Scrutinizing
Once the solution is developed, the testing team needs to check the solution thoroughly with the requirements and the specifications. And then test the functionality of the solution. Testing on devices by checking every functionality is a sign of good IT Team. A team of Quality and Testing should be suitable to conduct testing for a software solution to understand the loopholes. They will scrutinize and test the solution and thus prepare for further changes required before deployment.
It is important to define the internal design of the developed solution through well documented procedure. This needs to done in order to see whether the solution has achieved its purpose. Also, you need to do this to understand the future needs of support and maintenance. From the documentation, you can also cull of aspects that will need enhancements in the coming days. It lets the software engineers foresee the performance of the solution and provides insights on the learning curve.
Software Development Process
Software Development Process requires a team, a leader along with efficiency and experience. Following a cycle identifies with the operational needs where the flow will assess the concept and the completion of its operations. It also helps the software engineers in sticking to the timeline. With the help of a software development cycle, they can discover, elicit, collect and define the requirements with clarity and precision. This allows them to offer high end development and thereby solution.
We will be coming with an article on eliciting, collecting and developing the requirements of a software development project. So stay tuned until the next blog. You can follow us for tips and approaches of development on our social media channels; will help you improvise on your IT development strategies.