The milestones that software development made in various businesses have addressed specific programming functionalities for better products and services.
Software development process has a series of steps followed by programmers and developers to generate computer programs. Understanding these software development processes offers the IT sector vast opportunities in today’s digital era.
If you want to learn more about software development, and factors every organization should consider in their development cycle, this article is for you.
What is software development?
Software development refers to the process that programmers use to build computer programs. This process is called Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
In SDLC, several phases are laid out for building products that meet technical specifications and user requirements. SDLC provides an international standard that software companies should use to build and improve their programs.
It offers a defined structure for development teams to follow in terms of design, creation and maintenance of high-quality software. The aim of SLDC and other software development processes is to build effective products with the money and timeframe they have.
Steps to consider in software development process
Upon determining the budget and timeframe you need in your software development process, consider these following steps as they can affect the entire cycle of software development.
Identification
Before a firm decides on its software, it needs to conduct extensive market research to determine the software and product’s viability. Identification is the first step in market research.
Developers must identify the functions and services a software could provide to its demographics and target consumers. This is to determine if the software would be useful and beneficial for its consumers.
There are ways to perform identification such as asking for customers’ feedback or a survey test for your potential clients.
This is also the perfect opportunity for IT teams and other divisions in the company to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the product. Software development processes would only succeed if the product satisfies every parameter that needs to be checked out.
Requirement analysis
In this step, stakeholders will discuss the technical requirements and specifications of the proposed product.
Requirement analysis provides a detailed outline of every component, scope, tasks of developers and testing parameters to deliver the expected quality of a product. The step also involves developers, users, testers, project managers and quality assurance.
Teams will record the outcome of this stage in a Software Requirement Specification document which they can always consult during their project implementation.
Design
In this section, designers, architects and developers draw up technical specifications they need to create the software. This includes risk levels, composition, technologies, time, budget, project limitations, method and design.
The Design Specification Document (DSD) specifies the software’s design, components, and user flows of the product. This step provides a materialized template for developers and testers to reduce the chances of errors and delays.
Development and implementation
This step deals with the development and implementation of the design. To meet the product requirements, company procedures and guidelines, developers build interfaces. Meanwhile, database administrators create relevant data.
Once it’s complete, developers deploy the product to the implementation stage. This allows them to conduct a pilot test of the software to see if the performance will match the requirements.
Testing
Testing is a crucial step for the software development process. It verifies the software for bugs to check its performance before delivery to users.
In the testing stage, experts verify the product’s functions to ensure it performs in accordance with the product requirements.
In case of malfunction, testers would have to notify developers of any defects. If developers can confirm that the errors were valid, they should take measures to improve the product.
Maintenance of software
Once developers are able to improve the product until it’s detect-free, they can deliver it to customers.
After the release of a software’s final product, the software development company would then have to manage issues towards all client’s encounters with the product.
Maintenance of the software is a bit challenging even if it is a minor issue. This is because minor issues can develop into severe software failures that require updates.
Bring your software development projects into fruituition
People who operate both inside and outside the IT industry often ask what software development is and how it can contribute to the growth of your business.
The development of software is usually a planned initiative with a number of steps and stages. But, it can vary depending on how an organization conducts its own software development process.
The milestones that software development made in various businesses, may it be outsourced software development, have addressed specific programming functionalities for better products and services.
If you have a defined and structured software development process built to your specific needs, you can definitely bring your software development projects into fruit tuition at its best quality.
