Importance of Software Development Methodologies

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Importance of Software development methodologies

The ultimate objective of software engineering is to produce good quality maintainable software within reasonable time frame and at an affordable cost. This is achievable only if we have matured processes to produce it. For a mature process, it should be possible to determine in advance how much time and effort would be required to produce the final product. Software development organizations follow some method when developing a software product. This methodology refers to the framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing an information system. A wide variety of such frameworks have evolved over the years, each with its own recognized strengths and weaknesses. Common methodologies include waterfall, prototyping, iterative and incremental development, spiral development, rapid application development, and extreme programming. Often, several models are combined into some sort of hybrid methodology. These methods generally promote a disciplined project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation.

The software development method typically includes a requirements phase, design phase, implementation phase, test phase, operation and maintenance phase. One software 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. The choice of software development method can significantly affect overall costs associated with a software product.

Documentation in a software development method is crucial regardless of the type of model chosen or devised for any ...

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...ll-defined unambiguous and complete policies will lead to the benefits of correct requirements. These requirements then lead to the generation of the correct product which meets the customer's needs preciously. The product therefore will include necessary features that will reduce the post-development cost.

Conclusion

We can conclude that any software project needs to be executed with a formally defined process.

The increased complexities and huge size of the software development projects make them tough to control without formal practices. If the software development process is weak the end product will undoubtedly suffer. Therefore the selection of the right process model is essential in developing a successful product. Also these formally defined development processes are likely to reduce the post-development costs due to early recognition of errors.

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