Software development

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Software development is the set of activities that results in software products. Software development may include research, new development, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products.^[1] Especially the first phase in the software development process may involve many departments, including marketing, engineering, research and development and general management.^[2]

The term software development may also refer to computer programming, the process of writing and maintaining the source code.

Overview

There are several different approaches to software development, much like the various views of political parties toward governing a country. Some take a more structured, engineering-based approach to developing business solutions, whereas others may take a more incremental approach, where software evolves as it is developed piece-by-piece. Most methodologies share some combination of the following stages of software development:

• Market research
• Gathering requirements for the proposed business solution
• Analyzing the problem
• Devising a plan or design for the software-based solution
• Implementation (coding) of the software
• Testing the software
• Deployment
• Maintenance and bug fixing

These stages are often referred to collectively as the software development lifecycle, or SDLC. Different approaches to software development may carry out these stages in different orders, or devote more or less time to different stages. The level of detail of the documentation produced at each stage of software development may also vary. These stages may also be carried out in turn (a “waterfall” based approach), or they may be repeated over various cycles or iterations (a more "extreme" approach). The more extreme approach usually involves less time spent on planning and documentation, and more time spent on coding and development of automated tests. More “extreme” approaches also promote continuous testing throughout the development lifecycle, as well as having a working (or bug-free) product at all times. More structured or “waterfall” based approaches attempt to assess the majority of risks and develop a detailed plan for the software before implementation (coding) begins, and avoid significant design changes and re-coding in later stages of the software development lifecycle.

There are significant advantages and disadvantages to the various methodologies, and the best approach to solving a problem using software will often depend on the type of problem. If the problem is well understood and a solution can be effectively planned out ahead of time, the more "waterfall" based approach may work the best. If, on the other hand, the problem is unique (at least to the development team) and the structure of the software solution cannot be easily envisioned, then a more "extreme" incremental approach may work best. A software development process is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Synonyms include software life cycle and software process. There are several models for such processes, each describing approaches to a variety of tasks or activities that take place during the process.

Software development topic

Marketing

The sources of ideas for software products are legion.^[2] These ideas can come from market research including the demographics of potential new customers, existing customers, sales prospects who rejected the product, other internal software development staff, or a creative third party. Ideas for software products are usually first evaluated by marketing personnel for economic feasibility, for fit with existing channels distribution, for possible effects on existing product lines, required features, and for fit with the company's marketing objectives. In a marketing evaluation phase, the cost and time assumptions become evaluated. A decision is reached early in the first phase as to whether, based on the more detailed information generated by the marketing and development staff, the project should be pursued further.^[2]

In the book "Great Software Debates", Alan M. Davis states in the chapter "Requirements", subchapter "The Missing Piece of Software Development":

Because software development may involve compromising or going beyond what is required by the client, a software development project may stray into less technical concerns such as human resources, risk management, intellectual property, budgeting, crisis management, etc. These processes may also cause the role of business development to overlap with software development.

Software development methodology

A software development methodology is a framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing information systems. A wide variety of such frameworks have evolved over the years, each with its own recognized strengths and weaknesses. One system development methodology is not necessarily suitable for use by all projects. Each of the available methodologies is best suited to specific kinds of projects, based on various technical, organizational, project and team considerations.^[4]

Recent trends in the sector

Given the rapid growth of this sector, several companies have started to use offshore development in China, India and other countries with a lower cost per developer model. Several new Web 2.0 platforms and sites are now developed offshore while management is located in Western countries. The advantages mostly revolve around better cost-control over the process, which means that there is lower cash-outflow (often the biggest struggle for startups). Furthermore, the time difference when working with India and China for the Western world allows work to be done round the clock adding a competitive advantage. Notable firms that are involved in development include Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, and Satyam.

The end of the 1990 provided W3C standards^[5] which enabled ontologies to unite 4 modelling functions in 1 knowledge model: the knowledge representation (in RDF(S) and OWL), the knowledge generation through inferences, the conceptual model through ontologies and the physical model through triple stores. The latest developments allow to generate applications straight from the knowledge systems (ontologies)^[6]. This approach finds its justification in the use of semantic technologies with substitution of www data with verified production data. One business case for this developement method is available at the finance ontology website.

See also

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Software development

• Jim McCarthy (1995). Dynamics of Software Development.
• Dan Conde (2002). Software Product Management: Managing Software Development from Idea to Product to Marketing to Sales.
• A.M. Davis (2005). Just enough requirements management: where software development meets marketing.
• Edward Hasted. (2005). Software That Sells : A Practical Guide to Developing and Marketing Your Software Project.
• Luke Hohmann (2003). Beyond Software Architecture: Creating and Sustaining Winning Solutions.
• John W. Horch (2005). "Two Orientations On How To Work With Objects." In: IEEE Software. vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 117-118, Mar., 1995.
• John Rittinghouse (2003). Managing Software Deliverables: A Software Development Management Methodology.
• Karl E. Wiegers (2005). More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice.
• Robert K. Wysocki (2006). Effective Software Project Management.