Software Development Process

Wikipedia

Number of words	2330
Computer science content	high
Math content	low
Business content	medium
English language complexity	high

Sub-areas covered

Software engineering
Software development methodologies

Learning objectives

to recognize differences between the Iterative and Waterfall Process of software development
to be able to give examples of the Iterative Process
to understand the whole process from the customer’s order to implementation
to acquire basic vocabulary linked with the software development process

Keywords

software (oprogramowanie)

in general - computer programs

maintenance

"looking after" the written software

bug (bug, błąd)

error in software, something that spoils the flow of the program

hardware

all the physical parts of a computer

developer

a person who develops software

code (programowanie)

(coding) refers to the process of transforming the concept into program code

up-front

(design, analysis, requirements) a feature of the Waterfall model in which time and effort are spent early in the software development process to remove any errors or bugs

Agile Software Development

a conceptual framework for software development which promotes development iterations throughout the life-cycle of the project

Summary

The text deals with the problem of software development. It starts with a short description of some standards (methodologies) that were introduced to unify the process of creating software. In a section entitled: “The Main Steps of Software Development”, the reader is introduced to the typical steps that a team follows while developing software. For each step in the process, there is a brief description of its basic characteristics. Then the text describes two different approaches to software development, in which the previously listed steps are applied. The final part discusses the iterative development process and its three main types. This section also presents some advantages and disadvantages of the iterative process compared with the “Waterfall Process” model of design, described earlier in the text.

Tekst dotyczy problematyki tworzenia oprogramowania. Na wstępie, opisane są standardy (metodologie) jakie zostały wprowadzone by ujednolicić ten proces. W następnej części, zatytułowanej “Main Steps Of The Software Development”, przybliżone zostają główne kroki, którymi zwykle podąża zespół tworzący oprogramowanie. Kroki te opatrzone są krótkimi opisami ich cech lub problemów, jakie ze sobą niosą. Dwie ostatnie części tekstu opisują dwa różne podejścia do tworzenia oprogramowania, w których wykorzystane są opisane wcześniej kroki. W ostatniej części, opisującej iteracyjny proces projektowania przedstawione są trzy spośród jego najważniejszych odmian (Agile Software Development, Extreme Programming i Test Driven Development). Część ta przedstawia także niektóre zalety oraz wady iteracyjnego procesu projektowania w zestawieniu w modelem projektowania “Waterfall Processes” opisanym wcześniej.

Pre-reading questions

What kind of job do you see yourself holding five years from now?
Do you know any companies developing software? Would you like to join any of them?
How do you imagine work is organized in these companies? What software development methods do you know?
Have you used any of these methods so far?