Can Stand Alone As The Sole Development Strategy

Cost and resource needs are higher for traditional than Agile due to Waterfall’s sequential development phase of all requirements determined in the beginning, software design and finally implementation of master design. The need for all information up front takes substantial time to gather and the sequential design does not allow for project changes as the flow enters into the programming stage. With Agile, costs remain low because there exists an incremental and iterative approach to the project, meaning less time is used to collect all requirements up front, the

The rigid methods employed by the Waterfall approach makes it easy to manage because the team cannot move onto the next stage if all of the

It has been observed that in software development, change is unavoidable and must be accommodated for in the life cycle. A number of alternative process models have been introduced in order to attempt to fix the issues in the Waterfall model. An early modification to the standard Waterfall method introduced prototyping as a feedback and discovery mechanism to identify misunderstandings and omissions early on in the process (Neill, 2004). Other process models attempted to further get rid of the risks of misunderstandings by breaking down projects

For the past years, waterfall process had been used by small and big companies as an approach to development process. This approach looks like a waterfall where it shows a steady downwards flow. This approach of development is the most mature and disciplined.

Focus is kept on the recurrence of condensed work cycles and also at the functional product yielded by the outcome, but in waterfall technique only once chance is been given to the development team to keep the project aspects right. But under the agile technique each and every feature of development including the design, requirements, is thoroughly checked under its lifecycle (Mahfuj et al, 2012). There is always some time to steer in another direction if a team stops at regular interval say after every two weeks and re-evaluates the project done.

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].

Waterfall method is one of the traditional software developing method that has been implementing for decades. Usually, clients have requests, then software developers create an initial paln; after client approves the plan, developers follow through the plan; at the end, developers test and finish the task. Upon clients’ additional requests or tests, developers add up the extra features, but in most of the case, it would be too late or too hard to change. The entire process is not very communicative or translucent since clients and developers generally meet just once or twice throughout the project. In the article Why Making Software is so Difficult the author mentioned that software production is very

The important thing here to mention is that each method consists of activities specific only to them. These activities are yet another difference between the waterfall and agile method. The waterfall model emphasizes planning while the agile method stresses flexibility more. Waterfall model groups its activities in phases, where each phase is different and has its purpose. These phases include planning phase, analysis phase, design phase, implementation phase, and support phase. [1] Because the development process goes from phase to phase, it is crucial to carefully plan each one out. Once you move to the next phase, there is no going back. This model is very simple and easy to understand and use. However, when the system is put to a test, if it does not satisfy all the requirements, then the entire system must be redesigned, which is a very inefficient and costly job to do. This is the biggest weakness of the waterfall approach and that is why this model is best suited for systems with well-defined requirements as well as those with a lower chance to change in the near future. In contrast to the waterfall method, the agile method uses the iterative approach to systems development. This way, all the phases that are previously mentioned in the waterfall model are also present, but they are repeated in each iteration. For this reason, detailed planning is unnecessary because, at the end of each iteration, the prototype is tested and improvements are made. Also, it is much easier for clients to be closely involved with the whole process of development. Being able to actually see the system’s prototype not only helps clients in forming their image of what they can expect in the end, but also helps developers understand the clients’ vision of the system. Although the collaboration between developers and clients is positive and most certainly welcome, implementing all ideas that are

In 1970 Winston W. Royce created the “Waterfall Method” which eventually became very popular with managers due to the logical flow from beginning to end. Winston’s original design involved 6 steps; requirements, design, implementation, verification, and maintenance it was later on when people started to customize the design and changed the requirements phase into the idea phase or just split the requirements phase into planning and analysis. As we move into the future the Waterfall method is very popular in software development since it is ridged, systematic, and sequential.

incremental development process makes it the opposite to the rigid requirement needs of the Waterfall method. Agile methodologies are open to change as the project starts and progresses. The contrasting requirements need of the two methodologies, is one of the main contrast points in today’s project life cycle processes. There is a constant struggle between the two processes even in today’s business landscape. I have worked at Google as a program manager - mobile and after Google, I worked at a satellite manufacturing company called Space Systems Loral. The former is a software company and latter is a hardware company. At Google, they have embraced agile methodologies for software development, as the company is very progressive in nature. They are also very open to feedback from their users, and therefore agile allows them to take in product suggestions and address users’ needs with no predetermined rigid requirements from clients or users for initial requirements. Work is done in mini project or sprints format and when there is a need to shift directions, everything already worked on is scrapped if not necessary, and then a complete reset occurs. Since the project’s initial framework is not known at the time the project starts, the final product can deviate drastically from what was initially envisioned. At Space Systems Loral, being that it is a hardware satellite manufacturing company, they inherently have to adopt the waterfall methodology for their needs.

There are many ways to develop software. A very popular and preferred method of software development today is the Agile development methodology. One of the original development methods is the Waterfall method. When comparing the two software development methods, Agile fluid process are preferred to the rigid traditional Waterfall development methodology’s created back when computers were very large physical behemoths, taking up entire rooms.

The waterfall model consists of five phases such as requirements, Design, implementation, verification and maintenance. The method is a sequential design process where progress is seen as flowing downwards in a steadily manner, each development phase has its own distinct goals. The model is similar to water flowing down a cliff it can only flow in one way and cannot go back up it is the same with waterfall development ,after a development phase is completed it proceeds to the next development phase you cannot go back.

Unlike the waterfall model in agile model very limited planning is required to get started with the project. Agile assumes that the end users’ needs are ever changing in a dynamic business and IT world. Changes can be discussed and features can be newly effected or removed based on feedback. This effectively gives the customer the finished system they want or need. Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication.

For the waterfall model, the rigorous planning prior to the project being started leads to a rigid design for the software (Ali, 2017, pg.16). The rigid design makes it difficult to accommodate for any changes that may need to be made along the way (Krishna, Sreekanth, 2016, pg.162). Ultimately, this could make the waterfall model risky as it has less flexibility (Dawson, 2014, pg.44). The waterfall model is not very suitable for projects where some requirements may be unknown (2,162). Unknown requirements may call for a change in another part of the project, which the waterfall model cannot tolerate (1,16).

Most of the agile methods try to reduce risk by developing software in short time boxes, known as iterations, which usually last for one to four weeks. Each iteration is like a mini software project of its specific, and contains all the tasks required to release the mini-increment of new functionality: planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, testing, and documentation. Whereas iteration won’t be adding required functionality to permit releasing the product, an agile software project anticipates to be able to release new software by the end of each iteration. At the end of each iteration, the team reassesses project