Agile Development
The
traditional method for software development has been for decades
variations on the Waterfall Development method (see Waterfall
Development Method). In such an approach, analysis and design are the
starting point of the effort and is aimed at collecting all
requirements.
This inevitably presumes that the project
requirements could be accurately determined at the beginning of the
project. Further, that no changes may occur during lengthy
development cycles are to the requirements, and when they do because
of business and marketing requirements, such changes are added to the
requirements of the next release of the product, irrespective of
their probably urgency.
Typical Process Flow in an Agile Environment
Typical Process Flow in an Agile Environment
In contrast, the Agile Development Method is
dependent on the development of an iteration loop during the
development process. To facilitate that, initial requirements are
established in a plan a Pre-Iteration Plan. The plan for each
iteration cycle is setout in its own Iteration Plan. The result of
each iteration are reviewed by the stakeholders from within and from
outside the development environments. The iteration cycles are
repeated depending on the requirement of the project.
The Development Cycles in an Agile Development Environment
Agile Development Method is aimed at:
- Increasing team efficiency through more active communication and collaboration.
- Producing better software quality due to repeated testing occurring at the end of each Sprint.
- Enhancing customer experience through the opportunities for stakeholders to include up-to-date business vision.
It is
further argued that once the practice is in place, and provided the
iteration cycles are well designed and managed, the method leads to:
- Lower development costs
- Faster time to market
- Repeatable results
It is important to
note, however, that while the introduction of this method is
initially disruptive and appear to be contrived, these effects are
removed or at least ameliorated if it was adapted to the particular
needs of the enterprise and its development practices and strategies.
