Software development is a technological term that is often thrown about in the world of business. The common understanding of “software development” is that a couple of techies come together and bang heads to create a piece of software. Sound familiar? Well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret; the software development process is much more elaborate and complex that what you may think.
In this post, we aim to break down the software development process so that you can fully understand the work that goes into creating a great software program and the steps that need to be taken long after the software is released.
Once you understand what software development actually is and the process that it involves, you can then decide if it might be something you’d like to explore further by attending college or taking an online course from www.onlineitcourses.com.
I guess you’re eager to know what’s involved? The process of software development usually involves the following steps:
- 1. Analysis of Needs/Requirements
The first step of a software development process is to analyze the exact requirements of the end software product. It is important to consider what the clients business needs are rather than what they believe they need from a software product.
- 2. Defining the Software Specifications
Once the client’s needs are fully understood, a developer needs to mathematical define the specifications of the end software product. This may involve examining how current applications can be redeveloped or enhanced. The specifications comprehensively detail the intended purpose, functionality, technical details and environment of the software.
- 3. Software Architecture Design
This is the procedure of defining the exact structure of the software solution. The architecture essentially serves as a blueprint for how the software will be developed and how the finished product will configure.
- 4. Design Implementation
This stage involves transferring the predefined architectural design into code. The design implementation phase essentially serves as the “build” of a software program. “Code” is a programming language used by software engineers to create software functionality.
- 5. Software Testing
Once the code is written, it’s time to test it to ensure that it’s fully translating into the functionality intended. All parts of the software must be tested, with the need for the program to be tested in full, as it is likely that different developers will have worked on varying parts of the code.
- 6. Process Documentation
Once testing is complete, all steps undertaken in the software development this far needs to be extensively documented. If, in the future, maintenance or upgrades of the software need to be conducted, any software developer should be able to access documentation which will enable them to fully understand the software configuration and the thinking behind it.
- 7. Software Training and Support
It is highly important to provide initial user training and support for the software program. Only then will a software engineer fully understand the usability of the product and realize if any updates or changes to the software need to be made.
- 8. Maintenance & Upgrades
As with most things in life, there will be an ongoing need for upkeep. Maintenance does not just refer to the fixing of bugs when they’re reported; there will be a constant need to explore how the current system design can be enhanced. This may involve reworking the entire code and design of the system. In fact, ongoing maintenance and upgrades account for more than 60% of a software engineer’s work.
As you’ll have now noticed, developing a piece of software is a comprehensive process. We hope that this post has enhanced your understanding of the art of software development as a whole.
