A Complete Guideline to Agile Software Development Life Cycle

The term Agile in Information Technology is not alien. The agile software development life cycle offers an easy yet powerful way to release a high-quality product to the market.

Learning Agile has become the first choice of every developer because of this.

What is this Agile Methodology All About?

Well, you have landed on the right page

This blog will detail the meaning of Agile development along with the most important phases associated with the agile software development life cycle.

We will also cover other relevant details that may help you to have an enhanced understanding of Agile development, meanwhile, if you are looking to hire a team of the Agile Software development to create an outstanding project, just say a hi to us.

It is very important to have basic knowledge of SDLC and its different phases to understand Agile thoroughly.

Hence, I am starting the discussion with a brief glance at the Software Development Life Cycle. You can skip this section and move to the next one if you are already well-versed with SDLC.

What is Software Development Life Cycle?

“Software Development Life Cycle is nothing but a set of steps you are required to follow while developing software or product.”

It mainly constitutes the given set of steps

1. Requirement Gathering and Analysis
   Creating an initial document of all the software requirements
2. Designing
   Building the architecture of software with all the elements
3. Development/Coding
   Applying expert coding skills for software creation
4. Testing
   Quality evaluation and bug fixation of software
5. Deployment
   Software execution in a particular environment set up
6. Maintenance
   Updation and assistance to software, post-market launch

SDLC can be implemented using a variety of different models each one of which has its own set of pros and cons.

These models include the Waterfall model, V model, Iterative model, Incremental model, etc. Agile is nothing but the most frequently and commonly used SDLC model.

What is Agile?

Agile is an SDLC model and project management method that is centered around including the customer at all stages throughout the evolution of the software product.

In this model, the entire project is broken down into various sets of requirements, and a working model is created covering one set and deployed to the client.

Here, the stages of development stay the same as a traditional SDLC.

The difference here is rather than taking all the requirements at once, a working model is created using only a subset of requirements, and is deployed to the client for review and suggestions.

After receiving the feedback from the client, a new set of requirements is taken and added to the previous version leading to a new version of the software.

The same process is repeated until all the requirements are covered and a final product is fetched.

Different Phases of Agile Software Development Life Cycle

1. Requirement Gathering
   Initial documentation is created in this phase containing a list of initial requirements.
   This list of requirements generally includes the details about the final outcome expected, supported features, not supported features, and so on.
   The details, however, can be reviewed and refined at the end of each iteration.
2. Design
   The second phase comes is the design phase. Two types of design are basically created in this phase – software design and UI/UX design.
   Under software design, the team reviews the requirements and finds out the most effective ways to handle them. This includes identifying the tools to be used, programming language to be employed, the library and framework requirements, etc.
   Under UI/UX design, an initial mock-up of the user interface is created. This mockup can be modified on the basis of new requirements and functionalities added in further iterations.
3. Coding/Development
   This phase is all about converting all your planning and design into an actual product with the help of your desired programming language.
   The development stage is considered the backbone of the entire development process and requires the maximum amount of your time.
4. Testing
   The testing phase is also a crucial phase of any software development life cycle that ensures that the developed software is bug-free and of good quality.
   This phase prevents software from any kind of bug leakage and guarantees a happy and satisfied customer.
   The testing phase is also important to make sure that the developed software is successfully meeting the predefined set of desired goals.
5. Deployment
   The application, in this phase, is uploaded to the server and deployed to the underlying user for further use.
6. Review
   A review process takes place in this phase ensuring that the application is stable and working as per the requirements.
   After getting satisfactory results, the team moves on to the next iteration.

A Glance at Different Agile Methodologies

Many Agile methodologies are employed at the present date each one of which has its own set of practices, terminologies, and tactics. These include

1. Scrum
2. Kanban
3. Extreme Programming (XP)
4. Crystal
5. Lean Software Development and so on…

Out of the given list, Scrum is the most familiar and commonly used Agile methodology. The use of Scrum Agile methodology is so common that people often consider both the terms as synonyms of each other.

Let us have a brief understanding of Scrum Agile methodology

What is Scrum

Scrum is an Agile development methodology utilized to develop software products by employing the iterative and incremental approach of software development.

Here, the development starts only by having a general idea of what needs to be developed, and then slowly and gradually the requirements are refined and added to the product.

Basic Terminology Associated with Scrum

1. Sprint
   Sprint is a time period generally of one to two weeks, required to complete the given amount of work associated with one iteration.
2. Scrum Master
   The scrum master is the person responsible for the smooth and timely execution of the scrum development process.
   The main job of the scrum master is to lead the team towards hassle-free enhancement and integration.
3. Product Backlog
   The product backlog is nothing but a list of requirements or functionalities to be added to the ongoing project.
4. Product Owner
   The product owner is a crucial member of the scrum team responsible for performing various activities including prioritizing the requirements, maintaining the product backlog, assessing the progress of the project, and so on.
5. Spring Backlog
   The sprint backlog is a list of project requirements to be covered in the underlying sprint..
6. Scrum Team
   It is a team of both technical and non-technical persons responsible for the successful development and deployment of the product.
   The team consists of a variety of professionals including the scrum master, product owner, development as well as QA teams.

Guys, Scrum is a vast topic in itself and it is not possible to cover all the details here. If you want to know more about Scrum, you can follow this link

Benefits of Agile Software Development

Agile software development is the most common methodology employed for software development worldwide.

It offers numerous development benefits including the following

1. It provides an easy way to manage frequent requirement changes.
2. High priority requirements are concentrated first.
3. Agile involves all the stakeholders including the client in the development process. This way it provides better project transparency.
4. The team can easily identify the loopholes after the completion of an iteration and lead to improved project planning.
5. It ensures quick and timely delivery of work.
6. The focus is more on users rather than processes and tools. It helps to assure a delightful and satisfied customer.

Agile v/s Traditional SDLC

Final Words

Agile software development is the right choice if you are looking to create big, enterprise-level projects with a complex and blurry set of requirements.

Contact our team to hire the best and highly talented Agile developers.

Thank you for reading the blog patiently!