What Main Processes are there in Developing a Software?

The process of developing software often presents challenges to upcoming and established businesses alike. Most business managers and owners are tempted to sit back and let software developers have their way, but is that good practice? As a manager, you should understand what main processes are there in developing a software.

Basic Steps of the Software Development Process

Research

Contrary to the widespread notion that coding is the most critical process, research is. It is at this stage where problems are identified. All the other processes often build on the research findings and proposals.

This process involves an incisive analysis of a business’ need for software and the problems to be solved by introducing new software into the mix. This software development process is marked by intensive brainstorming, arguments and counterarguments about the value, nature and cost of software.

Whether it is for a business or corporation, software development is targeted at adding value. The research process also involves the careful analysis of service providers. It also considers how to cut cost and how to maximize use of available resources.

Developers and stakeholders in the business should present a comprehensive report. This report should outline the findings and software implementation process and timeline.

Design

The next process is settling on the design of the software project. Some of the top considerations in the software design process are:

• Value: Ability of software to offer desired solutions
• Scalability
• Room for maintenance
• Ability to test and update

Key decisions made during this process are how the software will look and the database to support it. Additionally, the whole technological investment is reviewed. The key pit holes in this process are over-promising, failure to develop the project timeline and poor communication within the teams involved.

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is an easy process to work around. You may only need to consider aspects like budget, business need and size of the software as far as the number of its users is concerned.

Coding

This is the process where developers use a programming language to write the software. Coding is usually done in bits. Developers are usually assigned specific sections of the software to write. The main discussions in this process are choice of the programming language and the choice of developers.

More often than not, this process involves submission and review of progress reports, discussions and improvements in the design of software. If you wish to build your websites from scratch, you would certainly want to stick around during this process. This is because it provides valuable insights and experience in development.

Testing

Usually, software testing is crucial in two ways. One is because it justifies the budget spent. Secondly, it provides an avenue to examine the functionality and value of the software to its users.

The developed software could undergo a series of tests. These may include Agile testing, Black Box testing, White Box testing, Grey Box testing or even the Adhoc testing methods.

Additionally, this process involves a host of testing types like Regression Testing which determine whether bug fixes and improvements have not affected the software. The other types of testing include smoke, functional, usability, security, performance and compliance testing.

These tests are necessary as they reveal critical information that could save a business on maintenance costs. They also provide an avenue to table suggestions and improvements of software.

Implementation and Maintenance

The penultimate process of software development is the software roll-out. In this process, software is made public to all the staff in an organization involved. Here they get a feel of the software and how it works. Similarly, stakeholders also get to offer valuable suggestions to improve the software.

What is software maintenance?

Software maintenance is the ultimate process in SDLC. Maintenance helps to correct the failures of the software. It also helps to update software with a view to improve performance.

Conclusion

Software development is a systematic process. It, therefore, demands that developers follow due process to realize maximum gain. All the software development processes are intertwined. This ensures that the Software development Life Cycle offers necessary recourse at each process to save time and resources.