Agile Software Development

Agile Software Development

Agile is an umbrella term for a set of frameworks and practices based on the values and principles of SDLC. The thing that separates Agile from other approaches to software development is the focus on people doing the work and how they work together. When the organizations opt for agile software development, they focus on the practices that help with collaboration and organizing the work, which is a benchmark. Agile is based on iterative development where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams.

Agile software development principles

The Manifesto for Agile Software Development is based on twelve principles:-

• Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
• Welcome changing requirements, even in late development.
• Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months).
• Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers.
• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted.
• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location).
• Working software is the primary measure of progress.
• Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace.
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design.
• Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential.
• Best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
• Regularly, the team reflects on how to become more effective, and adjusts accordingly.

Benefits of Agile –

• Benefits to Customer – High value features are developed and delivered more quickly in a short span of time.
• Benefits to Vendor – Vendors reduce wastage by focusing development effort on high-value features.
• Benefits to development teams – Developer’s team members enjoy work and love to see their work used and valued.
• Benefits to Product Managers – Customers feel happy by ensuring that development work is aligned with customer needs.
• Benefits to Project Managers – The focus on task-level tracking give project manager tremendous awareness about the state of the project at all times. This awareness is the key to monitoring the project and to catching and addressing issues quickly.