There are many factors to be considered when developing a commercially viable product, including selecting a software development company, trying to get support, monitoring products, and ensuring upgrades. You will face a number of challenges in the process, including planning your pipeline of products, assessing an appropriate development methodology, identifying the sequence of steps required to achieve it, and determining how to develop those step-by-step.
Key stages of software development
Software development cycles can ensure that success is achieved during the development of the product. Through a clear understanding, one can eliminate the pitfalls that are likely to arise. This allows one to create a commercially viable product that benefits the business that will increase its revenue.
During development, software must be created in distinct stages. These stages minimize risks for the customer while also keeping developers from creating product by violating the principles of creating. The main stages of software development and the lifecycle are as follows:
Task definition. A major task in the software development lifecycle is to understand the given requirement. This can begin the early design process which may in turn affect the direction of the rest of the process. A question with this specification would boil down to, “What does the customer need and what can be done?”
Development of a software application should continually occur, so that the product does not sit idly for years, but rather gets better, figuring out new things to do. It should be developed in such a way that it doesn’t just sit around. With that, does that mean that the development, support, and changes and modifications to the product ceases to exist? Absolutely not. That’s why the development of the software product should never end. The product should always be updated, constantly improved to keep up with the times.
The software development cycle
In order to make the application development efficient and correct, a specific cycle approach was chosen. It is determined when discussing the project, because the choice of development method depends on cost, duration, complexity and execution principles. Two basic software lifecycle models are commonly used.
The waterfall cycle
The waterfall development cycle involves the step-by-step implementation of components and creation of applications. It includes the stages in which development occurs. The basic concept is that they cannot be skipped. Nonetheless, some steps in a cascaded loop can run in parallel without interfering with each other. In general, however, the process follows a well-defined algorithm.
The waterfall cycle consists of several phases: Preparation, during which data is collected and work is planned. Then comes design, prototyping. Thus, the project is assembled, the code is written, and the phase of creating the technical application is underway. It is at this stage that it is acceptable to do some work in parallel. The procedure is then introduced in the company and the employees are trained. Then there’s support and maintenance services.
The cascading loop of software development requires the creation of well-defined tasks, the almost complete exclusion of improvisation, and any contractual changes. The exact development costs and approximate time frame were determined. Take the time to write the specification of the basic terms of the order, as well as the stage of coordination with the customer.
In cascaded circuits, intermediate stages are usually not shown. At least not quite. The client can control what stage the development is in, but cannot influence or make changes. This can only be achieved by signing an additional agreement.
The hybrid cycle
A hybrid software development cycle is an approach that allows you to make changes directly during the development process without affecting the project or making it more expensive, controlling every operation and seeing results at every stage. This approach is also known as Agile.
Its essence lies in the fact that development occurs in short cycles – convulsions, which take 1 to 4 weeks. The main tasks that need to be completed in this sprint determine the implementation time. After that, the developer starts working on a specific task for a given amount of time. At the end of the short-term phase, the results are analyzed and new tasks are formed, taking into account current developments.
The software development cycle looks like this: first the task for a particular sprint is planned and the resources needed for implementation are determined. Then this stage is developed, tested and the result is presented to the client. If everything is OK, the implementation takes place, if not, refinements are made.
The peculiarity of the hybrid cycle is that it requires the constant participation of company representatives. In fact, the customer is part of the development team and is involved in thinking through the idea, choosing implementation methods. He is fully immersed in the project and constantly monitors the results.
The Agile method does not require creating detailed technical specifications, unlike the waterfall method. But in the beginning it is difficult to understand the budget, estimate development time, and even see what the end result will be. The ability to change ideas during development, changing approaches and technology stack provides flexibility, but does not give an understanding of the final product. The cost of development is usually lower, because only the time really spent by the specialists is estimated. However, if there is no specific vision of the final result, the cost may increase due to the duration of development.
Software lifecycle models are defined based on business needs, product requirements and various other criteria. Therefore, we suggest that you visit us at the Inoxoft office or call us to discuss the details and decide which type of development is right for you.
Software development stages
Software development cycles consist of several stages. The more precise the understanding of all the processes is, the cheaper and higher quality the product will be created. The steps of software development may be as follows:
- Assessment and planning. Before development, you have to answer some questions. What kind of product will it be? What is its purpose? What can be created? The answers will help you understand the goal, without it the development process will be more difficult.
- Analytics. After getting the information, we need to move on to the analysis. We will be able to understand how we can achieve our goals. At this stage, the requirements are defined and the goals are formed. At this stage we answer the question “How to do”
- Design. After the previous stages, you can proceed to the design. Architecture, interface, security system, elaboration of modules. The design gives an idea of the future appearance and operation of the software.
- Development. Technical stage – programmers take the task, prototype and create modules. They implement the ideas in the form of a technical intrument. From the point of view of development this is the most difficult stage. After that it is already possible to install the software on the device.
- Testing. During development, you need to answer the question, “Did you succeed in doing what you planned to do in the evaluation and planning phase? This is only possible with tests. What tests will be conducted is determined in the planning phase. Test methodology and rules for evaluating the results are developed. If defects are detected, additional work is carried out to eliminate them. The purpose of the testing phase is to minimize startup risks and eliminate visible and probable problems. As part of the support, regular tests are conducted to detect failures in operation. This keeps the program running.
- Supply and support. The next step in software development is to install the program on the customer’s equipment. The startup process includes a number of steps, from installation, employee training, to launching the program, connecting third-party services, configuration, and performance testing.
This is what software development looks like. This approach gives the opportunity to minimize costs, reduce the time of work, make a quality product and get the desired result
Software development problems
Why do we even need software life-cycle models? After all, if you know what you want, can you create a working product? In fact, however, the right approach solves 4 major software development problems:
- Not knowing what the user wants. If you think you know what kind of product you want, you probably don’t. There’s a general idea, a concept, but it’s not enough.
- Debugging. A problem occurs when a developer begins to discover bugs. If you follow the software lifecycle model, you can quickly identify what the problem is and how to solve it. The lack of an approach will not solve the problem quickly.
- Too intense a change in technology. What is relevant today will no longer be so in six months. This is one of the challenges of creating modern products. The software development cycle allows you to see trends and understand how to follow them and how to improve the product if trends change.
- Safety. The biggest development problem. It is hard to detect until the product encounters security vulnerabilities in practice. It is associated with commercial losses. The software lifecycle allows you to predict vulnerabilities and consider all the nuances of security operations. This does not eliminate but minimizes the problem.
Solving this difficulty makes development more efficient, cheaper, and faster. This stage is necessary to create a quality product. You can come to Inoxoft and we will discuss in detail, tell you how development goes, what it takes, how the loop is created and start working on your project. Let’s create quality digital products for your company together.
