Agile Software Development
Agile is a general term that stands for a complex set of methods in the software development process. It is one of the main approaches at the moment, as it proved itself to be very efficient in this field. Most of the software development teams prefer these methods. They are the best for managing efforts and communication.
The distinction of the Agile approach is splitting the process into many smaller steps. On completion of the tasks from every step, the obligatory retrospective takes place. This guarantees that the working product comes to the market quickly and that it can improve constantly under a changing environment.
Also, this software development process will focus on direct communication. This way it helps the team to get feedback and resolve all issues as soon as possible. The team members share their knowledge and gain more experience to apply the new skills for the next iterations of the product development.
More pluses of Agile methods
The main advantage is the mentioned faster development and precise delivery while keeping room for flexibility. The more arguments in favor of the Agile principles are as follows:
- Possibility to change the priorities and plans themselves when new requirements appear;
- The processes become more productive;
- Constant improving the quality of the backend and UI;
- Constant testing of each feature guarantees the stable performance of the product;
- Much better risk management and significant reducing of risks;
- Cost-wise Agile software development is much more efficient;
- It is convenient for cooperation with remote teams;
- Fair and transparent budgeting of individual product iterations becomes possible
- Constant optimization with changes in the environment and the market conditions.
These methods are suitable for most of modern software products. However, this approach is favored when it comes to the development of mobile applications. The speed of production and flexibility of the Agile approach match this task best of all.
Agile practices in action
Extreme Programming (XP) is a systematic approach to programming that focuses on the engineering process itself. This method is applicable in the following cases:
- Software requirements undergo regular changes;
- New technology is used for the product;
- The team is small and works in the same location;
- The development process includes constant functional testing.
Feature Driven Development (FDD) is a set of methods that concentrate on the required functionality. It includes the direct cooperation of the UI designers with the developers. These parties work on the common task to create a feature of the product. FDD starts from the definition of the general concept and “narrows” the focus. It aims to understand and describe the separate pieces of functionality. Thus, it has to pass the below steps:
- The scoping analysis;
- Defining the list of properties;
- Developing a plan on how and when to put in place each of the defined properties;
- Design and implementation for each of the properties.
How we develop applications with the Agile approach
- The team will get your idea and build the vision of the project – the summary of the goals of the product. Then we compose the roadmap with the software requirements and list the features that are going to be in the product. This way the team determines the estimated time of delivery of the product.
- The team will remain in touch with you constantly to report about the progress, discuss the plans, and adjust the requirements.
- All team members exchange information concerning the process of software development. This way they can track all obstacles and failures that happen in different areas, and fix them at once. Constant sharing of the information also assures that the product can be adapted quickly due to the new requirements.
- We gather feedback from all important participants: the internal QA experts, the product owner, and the users. Agile methodology allows tracking the process on each stage with the immediate reaction.
- The team and each team member are highly motivated. We gather the right team members to assure there will be the best experts in the field who can collaborate and complement one another.
- At the end of each stage – iteration – we present a new product version. The retrospect procedure lets us optimize the work further.
- If needed, the project itself or some of its parts can be revised. We take into consideration all your remarks to create the relevant product that is essential on the market.
Agile software development is not the only option. We combine elements from different approaches and methods to ensure the best productivity of work and quality of the product. However, Agile practices are best suitable for the current highly competitive market and promised delivery were mutual expectations of all shareholders can be met.