Agile Software Development Model Development

Abstract: Agile software development is a conceptual framework for software engineering that promotes development in iterations throughout the life-cycle of the project .Software developed during one unit of time is referred to as an iteration, which may last from one to four week Scrum is part of the Agile movement. It is a lightweight process framework for agile development. The Scrum method is most often used to manage complex software and product development, using iterative and incremental practices. And results have been shown about significantly increase in productivity and reduces time to benefits relative to classic “waterfall” processes. But scrum method also have some problems and to overcome the problems a new approach is proposed

Agile is an iterative and incremental (evolutionary) approach to software development which is performed in a highly collaborative manner by self-organizing teams within an effective governance framework, with "just enough" ceremony, that produces high quality solutions, in a cost effective and timely manner which meets the changing needs of its stakeholders [1].

Agile methodology is a software development lifecycle which designed to produce faster development and high quality results compared with the traditional lifecycle. The Agile method focuses on incremental and iterative development where requirements, specifications, design, implementation, and testing continue throughout the project lifecycle (Nanthaamornphong, Morris, Rouson & Michelsen, 2013). Agile software development methods enable software developer to be more flexible and responsive to the changing environments and customer demands. However, Agile adoption comes with special challenges and fundamental organizational changes are necessary for successful outcome.

This essay involves the comparison and contrast of the different methodologies used by programming teams. Among these methodologies are; System development life cycle (SDLC), Extreme programming and Agile methodology. Software development methodologies are the frameworks involved to structure, plan and control the processes used in developing an information system. The system development life cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model which is involved in most project management and used for large scale projects with relatively large number of developers. A good example of SDCL methodologies includes; waterfall model. The SDCL takes a lot of time to produce complete products but of high quality. Agile methodology is a conceptual framework used also in project management and it is designed for small projects with few developers. Extreme programming on the other hand allow for communication with customers and by doing so it ensures interaction between developers and consumers in order to change as fast as the customers' needs and desires changes. Even though there different methodologies, agile methodologies seem to have a lot of advantages over the Extreme programming and system development life cycle. Since it combines a number of other methodologies to come up with a better way for developer to produce faster and change to as customers desires changes.

Software development is one of the highest demands in all over the world. We use software development techniques to solve the problems and to satisfy customers. Agile software development is a conceptual framework for software; it is also a group of software development methods based on iterative development. In 2001, agile software development was created by seventeen people with a desire to find alternative approaches to software development. The most important thing about agile methods are team work, conveying information to the team, face to face conversation, and satisfy the customer. There are various methodologies but I am going to describe the most popular ones.

This method utilizes smaller cross functional groups of people that work together on complex issues in a creative self-organized team environment. These teams should be comprised of all the right people needed to complete assignments and can include business analysts, developers, testers and the end users. Collaboration, teamwork and change are embraced rather than focusing on processes, extensive documentation and sticking to a precise plan. Incremental phases under agile allow for changes and product releases are delivered after each iteration. The most common agile method is scrum, in which a relatively small group of dedicated resources are solely responsible for every aspect of the work and are self-sufficient. Additional popular agile methods include rapid application development, lean software development, Kanban, extreme programming and scrumban. In the agile manifesto, developed in 2001, some of the key principles are to deliver frequent improvements that add value, to welcome change that adds competitive advantage, to continually work together through motivated individuals and focus on simplicity and maximizing the amount of work not done.

Ever since the Agile Manifesto came into existence in 2001, it has led many agile software development processes to spurt up. Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), Extreme Programming (XP), Feature Driven Development (FDD), SCRUM and Crystal Methodologies are some of the most famous agile software development methodology famous today (Vlaanderen et. al, 20011), (Dingsøyr et. al, 2012). In the recent research done by (Dingsøyr et. al, 2012), it’s been found that XP and scrum are the two most common agile methodologies used currently. In their empirical research (Dingsøyr et. al, 2012) also found that most of the existing studies on agile methodology focus on XP and there are very limited studies done on SCRUM. The purpose of this literature review research is to analyze the existing research available on SCRUM methodology. This literature review will provide a broad overview on various information researchers are providing on agile software development methodology, keeping Scrum agile methodology in the focal point. In addition, this literature review will also address the advantages and disadvantages of SCRUM agile methodology. This research will help the audience to gaze over the recent study over scrum and will help in making the decision whether Scrum is the right agile methodology for their software development project.

Agile software development refers to a group of software development methodologies e.g. Dynamics System Development Model, Crystal Methods and Extreme programming (XP methodology). Agile methods attempt to minimise the risk in software in short time boxes called iterations. Every iteration includes all the tasks necessary to release the mini increment of new functionality: planning, requirements analysis, design coding, testing and documentation. At the end of every iteration the priorities will be evaluated. Agile methods emphasise real time communication, preferably face to face instead of written documents. Agile methods also emphasise working software as the primary measure of progress. Agile methods produce very little documentation compared to other methods. Most Agile teams are located in a bullpen and include all the people necessary to finish the software. (1) (3)

When assessing the reason “the field is young”, one may surmise that newer developers may adopt more modern methodologies. Agile modeling came about after more traditional practices. However, less experienced developers may lean toward a more known and proven theory like the waterfall approach which uses successive phases to be completed and finalized. The waterfall is rigid but more predictable and may be easier to manage for new project managers. Using different types of techniques may confuse a

There are a number of software engineers who advocate this approach and there are huge software development organizations that prefer agile approach to use than other traditional methodologies. According to Andrew Begel and Nachiappan Nagappan [2] from more than two decade agile software methodology is gaining acceptance by the professionals since 1990. Due to fast changing technology, common customer can not define his needs properly. New approaches and methodologies were needed able to define changing requirements properly. Traditional methods such as waterfall model are not able to deal with real ways software engineering functions in software development. Some group of software consultants signed the agile SD manifesto in 2001. This was the era when agile software development was basically emerged. Main benefit of this approach is to promote and develop the response and speed of software development to change the requirement as well as deadlines [3] [4]. There are many agile methods used in agile software methods. The most known method is extreme programming generally called XP. Some others are Dynamic Software Development Methods DSDN, Scrum and Crystal. These mentioned methods can be considered as a new idea plan that is based on the traditional methods. Basic description of software development methodologies is given bellow as.

In agile development model, the development of software is in incremental, rapid cycles. It is building new features on previous functionality with each small incremental release. The software quality is maintained by rigorously testing each release. It is useful for time critical applications. The most well-known current agile development life cycle model is Extreme Programming (XP).

The article also covered the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development,” which was an outcome of an event held in 2001. The “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” is basically a set of values and principles that software developers came up with from that event that should help themselves and others improve the ways of developing software. At the end of the article there is a list of the principles that make up the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. The author also covered why Agile is becoming more favorable in regards to the software being delivered in the form of a service and less of a good. He also explained the roles that the licensee and licensor played in the way that the Waterfall Method software was delivered and updated. In addition, he compared it to the way Agile has changed software into more of a service that is conducted over the Internet. This article also covers in a brief paragraph the purpose of a development agreement and some terms that can be included in it to help both parties. Even though these development agreements can provide great uncertainty and high risk allocation, attorneys can use some features of Agile to help with managing those problems, instead of, being opposed to the development of Agile projects. Now in the article, An Excursion to Software Development Life Cycle, the author focuses more on the different stages in the software development

/**Agile methodologies are a relatively new set of software development approaches created to tackle the issues of traditional methods and increase productivity and accuracy of software systems produced by a self-organised team of developers. Agile methods increase productivity which means more frequent delivery to clients and faster completion times. This shorter time span between deliveries means high-priority functions are implemented first and so more value is delivered to the clients during development, so software has increased value to the customer earlier in the development process so customers are happier that the development is going well because they get a working piece of software and so there is higher development visibility for clients.

Agile is a methodology that which enables the continuous iteration of development and testing in the software development life cycle throughout the project. Iteration is defined as a basic or initial part of the software to release. Agile Testing process starts at the beginning of the project with high integration between development and testing teams.

Despite the fact that agile process has many advantages, Software Organizations still using traditional process and not jumping into agile. We have summarized the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses and issues of the conventional and agile methods in below Table1.