By the years, the computer science industry has experienced numerous revolutions in software development. Earlier software was made for basic purposes.

In contrast, software development processes have revolutionized over the years, and with the integration of different technologies available, one can plan and build interesting software all around the world.

The reason behind this massive development is the practices that developers have learned to validate their findings. Thorough research and rigorous efforts have made the revolution possible in the field of software development.

What is Software Development?

Software is available everywhere these days. Phones, computers, laptops, cars, coffee makers, and even pet toys have software-driven features and work only according to the programmed procedure.

These products have been created by an individual or group of people to make electronic signals behave in a particular pattern.

They have worked hard so that the electronic signals received work in a desirable pattern that gives some meaningful results.

In other words, software development can be explained as the overall process involved from taking up the idea of the project to product delivery to the end-users.

Software development consists of several processes including the design, documentation, programming, testing as well as the ongoing maintenance of the delivered software.

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Several aspects are involved in creating a smooth workflow pipeline. These aspects consist of a series of steps when followed accordingly, can result in high-quality deliverable software.

These combined processes come together to make the software development lifecycle. Software development is an art and requires deep knowledge and understanding of ideas.

Nowadays, the processes are executed with the help of a complementary agile project management process, be it a CRM development company, e-commerce, or any other industry of the market.

The software development lifecycle consists of the following processes:

1. Concept
2. Planning/ Roadmap
3. Code/Review/Test
4. Deploy/Release
5. IT Support
6. Incident Management

Concept

Projects must have a concept behind them. The concept is the pillar of software development and should be given top priority. Concepts and ideas can be gained through product research documents or design files.

Planning/ Roadmap

A huge plan is made at first to develop the software and estimate other factors like time and cost. This includes identification of stakeholders, setting the budget as well as infrastructure, and more. These phases can be broken down into modules for smooth functioning.

Code/Review/Test

The development team helps in producing software that meets the demands and feedback of its clients. Optimum developer experienced is ensured by the team through review tools that encourage iterative quality improvement through discussions and meetings.

Deploy/Release

Once code has been approved by the team, the final step is to deploy it. Deployment has become easy for years and is done using cloud hosting services such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft, or more.

IT Support

A very important aspect of software development is the ongoing support and maintenance team. It is essential for both complete as well as underdevelopment software projects. Powerful tools are there to capture and triage support requests.

Incident Management

This includes end-of-life activities and deprecation. Incident management mainly works on customer notification and migration.

History Of Software Development

1. The 1800s – 1950s
2. The 1950s – 1970s
3. The 1970s – 1980s
4. The 1980s – 1990s
5. Since 2000

Back to 1800s – 1950s:

The history of software development can be traced back to the time when Charles Babbage. The history goes back to the 1800s but here let’s start with when it all began significantly.

It was in 1950 when businesses started to use computers. It was the time when IBM provided the first standard software methodology.

NCR was another company that decided to develop an accurately defined system. Both of these companies decided to print books for the employees.

1950s – 1970s:

In the year 1968 and 1969, NATO held two conferences related to software engineering. There were experts from different regions who agreed on the best practices for software development.

These conferences were focused on how software should be developed. The same year as the second conference that is 1969, The U.S Dept. of Justice filed an antitrust suit against IBM.

This was the action that resulted in decoupling hardware and software parts of IBM. This was something that opened more doors for IBM as now they could develop software independently without having to worry about other factors.

This was the beginning of a new era of software development and in ways, it can be said the starting of actual software development.

IBM is without any doubt the company that worked to break the ice and let the businesses know how software can help them in growing. That is the reason that even until now they are one of the big players in the market.

1970s – 1980s:

If we look at the time from 1970 to 1980 there was great development in software development services. In 1975 there was a book named The Mythical Man-Month: Essays On Software Engineering was published.

The central theme of the book was that if you add manpower to the already late software project, it makes it later”. This was also the time when structured programming and object-oriented programming methods were finding their ground in the software development industry.

1980s – 1990s:

From 1980 to 1990 object-oriented programming established its foot in the market. There were a lot of models like waterfall and SDLC that were developed during this time and since then they have been the standard.

This was the time when companies paid attention to the process of software development. They understood that it is important to divide the whole process into phases and make a plan for all the phases to get equal attention.

This was the time that helped developers understand that testing and development can also go hand in hand. Developers also understood that testers and developers cannot be the same.

 

 

After 1990 the software development just got better and better. Quality and performance became one of the important aspects of software development.

The types of CRM Development companies were started that provide services to businesses and create software to improve customer relationship management of the organizations.

Since 2000:

After this, a lot of new programming languages have come into the industry. There are also new operating systems like Linux that provide developers with a unique development type.

Management software and general-purpose software also found their market after this. It was after 2000 that software companies could get into the houses of general people.

Now everything is for general people. There are smartphones and many other devices and there are different development companies for all of them.

This is what has also given birth to web apps. A web development company could never be what it is without applications being integrated into.

Though website development is also a type of software development that was just about creating a web page and that was either updatable or frozen. Applications are what make websites alive and worth the time of users now.

Why Agile Software Development is the Most Popular Management Framework?

Agile software development is the product of frustration among the developers because of ‘monumental’ development methodologies. This was the reason why developers decided to make a different type of software development methodology that is fast and has better functional qualities.

They thought that models like the waterfall system were slowing down the development process. That is true in many senses as it cannot work with big projects. That means only people who are either creating small prototypes of personal software can use them efficiently.

Software is not just something that is manufactured, it is a fluid and forgiving product. These are the properties of which Agile took advantage of.

They provided a complimentary management methodology because of these properties of software. The Agile techniques have improved the development of software for many companies.

CI/CD that is Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. These are a combined process that comes under agile software development.

These processes narrow down the gaps between different development processes and make the process faster while ensuring quality. This is one of the most used development frameworks in the world because it has provided results.

The adoption of this framework has made software development a more disciplined process that yields better results. This is one of the greatest innovations in traditional development methodologies and that is why it is so popular.

The custom software development company that wants to deliver software faster and with the quality that the client wants, it is the best methodology to follow.

Agile development is going strong in the development industry and is not looking to slow down soon. This is better for development companies and the people who are looking to hire dedicated developers.

Types of Software Development Methodologies

1. Extreme Programming
2. Lean Development
3. Waterfall Model

Extreme Programming

This style of programming can be seen as a derivative of the Agile software development framework. This focuses on the satisfaction of the customers as the guide for development iteration cycles.

There is a five-step iteration cycle that is followed in this programming style. Those steps are Planning, Managing, Designing, Coding, and Testing.

These five steps are repeated until all the things in the software are not exactly how the customer wants them to be.

This is great for clients who want their software product development to be perfect. The custom software development company that wants to provide the best services to their clients use this style along with Agile.

Lean Development

The short form of this is quite illegal but it is not. LSD or Lean Software development has evolved from the principles of lean manufacturing and its practices.

It is taken from the Toyota Production System. This programming style is also growing with the Agile development framework with the support of the pre-lean subculture.

This style of development offers a solid and conceptual framework, principles, and values. It also provides good practices of software development that are derived from experiences. This is how they support the agile organizations.

Waterfall Model

This is a process that was mainly developed in the manufacturing and construction industries. This model follows a structure in which the software has to be developed.

There are various phases in which the development process is divided and the developers have to complete them one after another. This model focuses on establishing a flow of software development.

It was focused on making the development process easy and efficient. Earlier a software and web development company could not bind their projects in time.

This model is great but it also comes with its share of negatives and that is why it is not followed as extensively by bigger organizations.

Why Learn Software Development?

Software development is the future of almost all types of businesses. Smartphone software that people also call applications are a way of promoting, scaling a business, and making the relation with customers better. There is no better way to do it.

The businesses can choose a website if not an app but that is also a type of software development. A CRM development company needs employees who have a stronghold on the trending programming languages and frameworks.

Learning software development can open many doors of opportunities. It is a great career path and also one of the ways to stay with the world that is gradually getting digital. Software developers will not just experience but will be able to develop in the coming time.

The Future Of Software Development

Talking about the immediate future, the software development company will see growth in automation, transparency, and democratization.

These are the trends that will shape the future of software development and the technologies around it.

Read More:- How software development can benefit for your business

AI and ML are going to make the machines smarter and IoT will make it possible to connect and control devices through the internet.

This will also help in capturing and refining data that will help in innovation and marketing. Overall, the future is interesting and bright for software developers.

Conclusion

With regular planning, addressing of dependencies as well as task definition, the software development process can be achieved in the planning period and the provided cost. During this period tasks can also be updated with changing trends and requirements. Software