Last updated on January 31st, 2022 at 11:32 am

In today’s time, people have control over anything and everything at the tip of their fingers and this has helped technology develop at a significant rate. And it is all possible because of the software development industry. It is a limitless field with a tremendous amount of growth rate and innovation. Software developers help businesses come online and offer their services with the use of unique systems. For this, the software development team uses different methodologies and in this blog, we are going to learn all about them.

Before going through the different software development methodologies, we will learn a bit about software development.

What is Software Development?

Software development is nothing but a process of creating a computer program that helps users to make their daily tasks easy. It is called Software Development Life Cycle that comes with several phases that provide the developers a method to build a product that meets user’s requirements and technical specifications. Besides this, SDLC is a process that provides an international standard that the majority of software development companies can use to create computer programs and improve them. Software developers get a defined structure for developing some amazing systems by following a few steps like designing, creating, and maintaining high-quality software.

What is Software Development Methodology?

The software development methodology is a simple process that software development companies use to create a system. Basically, it is just like a design and development phase. It is something that describes the development life cycle of every software. The software development methodology is basically a codified communication. This means that there are norms that go between a group of people that clears the work that is going to be done and how it is going to be done.

Top Software Development Methodologies to Adapt in 2021

1.   Waterfall Model

The waterfall is a traditional method of creating software. It is a classic for the IT industry since 1970 when Dr. Winston W. Royce introduced it. It is an approach with a very popular version of the system development life cycle in the world of software engineering. In this method, the goals of the projects are pre-defined for each software development phase. Basically, it is known as a linear project progressing method where the completion of one stage leads to another.

Advantages of Waterfall Methodology

• It is a straightforward method with no complexity and very little experience is required to work with it.
• Time-saving process.
• Testing is very simple.
• The waterfall is an easy-to-manage model as it has separate review processes.
• It is an effective method, especially for small projects.
• It has a fixed deadline for each development stage.

Disadvantages in Waterfall Methodology

• Developers cannot create the maintenance type of projects with waterfall.
• Only used when requirements are well-defined.
• The software only functions after the last stage of development.
• After the project is done, there can be no changes or edits.

2.   Agile Methodology

Agile is completely the opposite of the waterfall development method and it is one of the most popular approaches in the software engineering world. Besides, there are many software production methodologies based on agile approaches. But they do differ in some things from each other. The main focus of the agile approach is to finish the product with collaborative efforts. Agile follows a development cycle that involves iteration and each of these iterations is well organized. The iterations are nothing but tasks like requirements analyzing and planning,  adding new functionalities, designing, programming, testing, and documenting. When the number of iterations, the development team prioritizes the backlog.

Advantages of Agile Methodology

• Agile delivers a high-quality output because of the involvement of small iterations.
• It doesn’t depend on the initial documentation and if any chances are applied while the development process is carried forward, there will be no setbacks.
• It enables developers to creatively improve and modify the software during the development process.
• With Agile, the costing and budgets of the software development process are well planned.
• There are regular interactions among the client, members of the production process, and software developers.

Disadvantages of Agile Methodology

• The product specification doesn’t give a clear idea about the project at the initial stage.
• There is a lack of efficiency in documentation.
• No strict project deadlines are there when a developer is working with an Agile approach.
• The main challenge with Agile is to estimate the required resources for a project.

3.   Rapid App Development Model

The rapid application development (RAD) methodology is a concept of delivering the software at a faster rate with high-quality functionalities. It is a process that is complemented by the active users participating in the entire development process. The software solution for the client’s business is created at a faster rate by focusing on the requirements gathered by the team,  prototyping, reusing software components, user testing, informal communications, and continuous reviews.

Advantages of RAD Model

• In the RAD model, the functions are created separately and then integrated into the project. By following this method, the developers minimize the chances of errors.
• In this method, the customer’s feedback is very important as it guides the development team to improve the quality of the software.
• Regular testing is required in this method to eliminate drastic errors.
• The business owner is allowed to constantly access the development process.

Disadvantages of RAD Model

• Rapid application development is not the perfect choice for projects that have a limited budget.
• RAD is profitable to the projects that have system designs that can easily fit into the modules of the system.
• It needs a team of professionals with a strong knowledge base and who can easily identify and create the client’s project requirements.

4.   Spiral Methodology

The Spiral model is highly sophisticated and it works on the early identification of risks in a software development project. As this is a small-scale methodology, it surrounds itself with risk exploration and the plans to eliminate the risks. Then, the spiral model indicates if the next level of iteration can begin or not. It is a methodology that enables the software developers to make changes in the code or design even if it is in the testing phase. This makes it suitable for most kinds of projects.

Advantages of Spiral Methodology

• The spiral model involves a risk analysis method that leads to very minimal risks.
• This method enables the developer to add functionality and features even at the last stage of development.
• It is an effective method for developing large and high-risk and projects.

Disadvantages of Spiral Methodology

• When the risk factor is low in any project, a spiral model must not be used as it can be a waste of resources.
• The risk factor in spiral development methodology begins inconclusively and this brings out results without a conclusion.
• The success of the project created using this approach completely depends on the risk analysis. If there is any issue in the analysis the software can fail.

5.   Scrum Model

Scrum is one of the most used methods that work on the Agile approach. It is a methodology that can be used for projects that have priority emerging or fast-changing requirements. Here, in this model, the interactions are known as sprints. Besides, the development process in this method kicks off with proper planning of the sprints and it continues with the meetings that highlight the progress of the project. It is a model that is suitable for projects that don’t have well-defined requirements and work as per the feedback from the clients.

Advantages of Scrum Model

• The scrum development team decides the principal of project decisions.
• It helps developers in discovering the problems at a faster rate and then after short meetings, it enables the team to focus on the issue.
• The daily meeting can help the team promote the productivity level and make required improvements.
• The business owners are a very important part of the project’s production cycle as they can provide feedback after every sprint.
• Scrum is not only flexible but also a customer-driven method.

Disadvantages of Scrum Model

• When the development team doesn’t have enough knowledge about developing software, choosing the scrum method is not the perfect option.
• Not an effective method for big projects.
• The project development estimation time and the costs are the two main reasons for the project’s success or failure.

6.   Feature-Driven Development Method

Feature-driven development (FDD) is a method that follows the iterative approach but with a combination of object modeling. It is a very effective methodology for large projects. With FDD, the development process starts with reviewing the scope of the software, and then comes the model creation part which involves the features of the software. The process goes through stages like the creation of the model, listing features, planning, designing the software, and creating it feature by feature.

Advantages of Feature-Driven Development Method

• FDD is suitable for big projects.
• It follows a five-step development process to accelerate the project with ease.
• The standards of the FDD model rank very well in the software engineering industry.
• This model enables multiple teams to work parallelly.
• The features created using this model are great.

Disadvantages of Feature-Driven Development Method

• FDD has no project documentation in its development process.
• The success of this model depends on the leader and skilled developers of the team.
• The pattern of development is very complex with the feature-driven method.

7.   Prototype Model

The prototype is a specialized procedure of software development that enables the developers to create a sample of the resolution and validate its functions from the customers and make final changes before launching the system. This method tends to resolve all the issues that developers used to face while working with the waterfall method.

Advantages of Prototype Model

• The prototype model offers a clear idea about the functions of the project.
• It assists the developers to gather the project requirements and analyze them.
• It reduces the risk of software failure.

Disadvantages of Prototype Model

• There are chances of the management cost to get extensive.
• The frequent changes make the workflow of the software weak.
• It allows excessive involvement of the business owner which completely affects the development of the project.

8.   Joint App Development Method

The last software development methodology in our list is the joint app development model. It is known as one of the best solutions for business software. It is a model that is effective for all kinds of the project. It gives special attention to the use cases and user stories and this makes it automate the business with a unique software solution.

Advantages of Joint App Development Method

• With joint app development, developers can create high-quality software with fewer errors and faster speed.
• It enables the team to gather adequate information and analyze it in a short time.
• It is a perfect solution for solving challenging issues.

Disadvantages of Joint App Development Method

• Clients expect high results with this model.
• The method is very time-consuming.
• Requires commitment from the end-users.

Conclusion

The software development methodologies are a very essential part of the project creation process as it enables the developers to come up with unique software that satisfies the client’s requirements. All the methods described in this blog are the best at what they do, but which to choose from it for your next project completely depends on the project type, budget, and the resources available. Take your time to understand these models and then decide the right one for your software development project.