Developing software is complicated. To ensure that development projects go well, teams implement one of several different software development methodologies that clearly define a process for planning and managing software development.
Most software development methodologies, also called software development processes, divide work into smaller, sequential, or parallel steps to improve project management and enhance the product’s design. Most methods also include a way to define milestones or deliverables, an iterative process for improving the design, and how and where to implement testing.
There are multiple software development process options for software engineering because each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Smart teams pick the right workflow for their team and the project.
The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Before we dive into the various ways you can plan and manage a development project, we should review the steps involved in modern software development and the software development life cycle:
- Requirements: Capture the needs and objectives of the piece of software.
- Plan: Create a roadmap, schedule, resource allocation map, and deliverables list.
- Design: Establish the software's architecture, user interface (UI), user experience (UX), and overall structure.
- Create: Code the software.
- Test: Run the software to systematically identify and document any problems before release.
- Deploy: Publish the software along with implementation tools, documentation, and required data for users.
- Maintain: Provide user support, capture issues, and document enhancements.
Every software development methodology manages these different stages of development, but how they are implemented and how they relate to each other varies for each methodology.
5 Software Development Methodologies Everyone Should Understand
Managers, stakeholders, and development team members should be familiar with the most common methodologies. Understanding how they work will help you be more effective regardless of your role in delivering software products to users. Here are the methodologies we encounter most often when working with our customers.
1. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CI/CD)
Continuous integration and continuous delivery, sometimes just called “continuous integration,” is a variation of the agile methodology that requires developers to integrate their source code changes frequently into the shared code base for the application. Then, an automated system compiles and tests the entire application. Any issues during build or testing are interactively reported to the dev team. It is a form of DevOps, a collaboration between development and operations teams that uses automated and frequent testing.
When continuous deployment is included, a successfully tested version of the software is immediately deployed to users. Strict version control and monitoring uncover issues and bring feedback into the development loop.
Pros
Automation in the testing stage, coupled with frequent testing of the entire application, leads to finding and fixing errors early in the process. Faults are also identified earlier, leading to faster Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR). When deployed correctly, the method delivers a faster release rate. When CI and CD are combined, the communications between development teams and deployment result in better input into both cycles.
Cons
The enabling technology for CI/CD is automated testing on a CI server. The team must develop and maintain the automated testing for every new bug fix or feature. In addition, the project will need special servers and software, increasing costs. This approach's architecture can cause delays when developers integrate their source code simultaneously.
Applications
Continuous integration solves the dependency problem between software modules by testing frequently. Teams use it on applications with complex relationships between different parts of the code base, where quickly getting incremental improvements to end-users is critical.
2. Rapid Application Development (RAD)
Rapid application development is both a specific software development methodology and a catchall name for adaptive development efforts. The general term refers to multiple agile methodologies that use a prototype methodology and user feedback instead of extensive planning.
The RAD methodology replaces the standard agile coding-testing loop with user design and construction iterative loops. Initially implemented as a Spiral model in the 1980s, it used risk analysis to identify and deal with risks as an integrated part of the process.
In its modern form, developers often use tools to create prototypes and models to present inputs, outputs, and system processes to users. That feedback is then used directly as part of the construction phase. Once the team is satisfied with the functionality of a feature, an abbreviated implementation phase replaces the traditional deployment and maintenance steps.
Pros
By working closely with users, the functionality delivered to users more closely matches their needs. Also, new capabilities can be added and prototyped much faster than in other methods. The methodology also reduces risk by testing key risk factors early in the development process. The primary advantage is in the name — rapid development.
Cons
Iterations with users can be time-consuming, and those resources may not be easily available. The constant interaction between people also makes the project difficult to scale for larger development efforts. Adaptive processes also trade control of the process for flexibility. In extreme cases, the lack of a comprehensive plan can cause feature drift or applications with architectural issues.
Applications
The RAD methodology has found favor on smaller projects driven by user interface and user workflow requirements. Mobile app development often uses this method because it is driven by user interface design and user experience, allowing quick prototyping of proposed interactions.
3. Pair Programming
Pair programming is a software development approach in which two developers work together on a piece of software. The “driver” writes code while the “navigator,” also called the “observer,” reviews each line of code as it’s created and assists the driver with finding defects and solving problems. The pair switches roles frequently and may work on the same computer.
Teams use this approach inside an agile methodology for the coding step. At Focused Labs, we work hand in hand with customer teams to empower internal developers to have ownership over the project and write quality code.
Pros
By pairing two people together, development teams hope to achieve high-quality code, greater creativity while developing, and the transfer of experience between developers. Studies also show that software developers enjoy working together and are more satisfied. When done properly, the increased cost of pair programming is justified by faster development, fewer errors, and simpler, more innovative code.
Applications
The best application for pair programming is ramping up new developers on a team. The new team member gets to be trained in a hands-on way, and more experienced programmers get their eyes opened to new ideas and methods. It is also a good technique to deploy when a project has difficult-to-find and hard-to-correct defects.
4. Extreme Programming (XP)
Extreme programming (XP) is an agile software development methodology that takes the beneficial techniques of agile to an extreme. It leverages a short development cycle with frequent releases. XP advocates pair programming, extensive code review, unit testing of all code, and not adding features until they are required. The method also includes the assumption that customer requirements will change with time as a software tool is used.
XP adds the activity of listening to the standard steps of designing, coding, and testing. Simplicity is assumed with the method and development teams using XP are encouraged to embrace change. It also puts a significant emphasis on coding over specifications and design.
Pros
XP methodology can increase speed and reduce costs while improving customer relationships, building strong teamwork, and encouraging open communication within the development team and with stakeholders.
Applications
Extreme programming has faded in popularity, and most teams only use some aspects combined with other agile methods. Project management will implement an XP approach when a project requires a fast turnaround of feature development or where customer requirements are constantly changing. Smaller teams with two to twelve developers skilled at communicating with customers are a good fit for this approach.
5. Continuous Feedback Loops
Continuous feedback loops are an important part of the DevOps process. Because development and implementation are closely merged under DevOps, tools can be put into place to implement continuous monitoring during the pre-production and production phases of development. Where agile uses pair programming, unit tests, CI, daily scrums, and sprints to gather feedback, continuous feedback loops are fed by collecting information from the release and deployment of the software. The information gathered is summarized in a dashboard and reviewed with all stakeholders daily.
Pros
In the context of a DevOps approach to product development, continuous feedback loops provide the information developers need to meet project requirements. Implementing them can improve communications across stakeholders, increase programmer productivity, effectively include the customer's voice in the final product, and identify software problems early in the development cycle.
Cons
The timing of the feedback loops is critical, and if the feedback doesn’t arrive in time it can be outdated and of little value to the development team. In a similar way, if there are too many feedback loops, important information can be overlooked. And like many methods developed for smaller projects, this method may not be able to keep up with a large or complex software development project.
Applications
Continuous feedback loops are best applied when development and operations are working closely, and it is possible to put continuous monitoring tools into the software development system. The team needs to be small, with a manageable number of items to monitor.
Other Software Development Methodologies and Techniques
As seen in the list above, you can combine the various iterative approaches to software development in different ways. Some key methodologies and techniques that can be added to the above in order to meet the needs of a particular project are:
- Feature-Driven Development (FDD): An agile iterative development process driven by the functions identified and ranked by customers. The approach reconfigures each software development life cycle step into a stage focused on features. Developers build a feature list, plan by feature, design by feature, and then build by feature.
- Lean Development: Beyond Kanban boards, teams can apply other lean manufacturing project management methodologies to create the lean software development process. It fits well within the agile framework.
- Test-Driven Development (TDD): A technique in which an automated unit-level test case is built to fail in a known way, and the associated software is modified until the code passes the test. Both the test and the code are then refactored as functionality is added.
Reach out to Focused Labs, and let’s have a discussion about where you are and where you want your digital assets to go. Let’s work together.
