The Waterfall Approach For Software Development Projects

This article by Phillip A. Laplante and Colin J. Neill of Penn State University explores the rumors of the demise of the waterfall model. The Waterfall process model progresses software products linearly from conception, through requirements, design, code, and test (Neill, 2004). The Waterfall method was developed in 1970 by Winston Royce when computer systems were monolithic, number-crunching entities with rudimentary front ends and users’ needs were filtered through the partisan minds of the computer illuminati building the systems (Neill, 2004). Most systems built in that time did not pay much attention to input from stakeholders, which is a good environment for the Waterfall method to work in – an environment where requirements seldom change after specification due to the fact that users are not involved in the development and therefore cannot provide feedback regarding incorrect assumptions or missing features (Neill, 2004).

Agile techniques should be used to solve the current issues faced by the company as agile techniques normally being used by the software industry help the business to act in response under the unpredictable situations faced. In Agile methodologies opportunities are been provided to evaluate whether the project is under the direction all through its development cycle. All this is being accomplished with the help of regular tempo kept in work, and the teams must show a product which is having the desired potential.

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

This means that as each of the individual eight stages (conception, initiation, analysis, design, construction, testing, implementation, and maintenance) are accomplished, the designers move on to the next step. Being that this is sequential processes, when a step has ended, creators cannot go back to an earlier step, that is, not short of scrapping the entire project and starting from the beginning. There’s no room for modification or inaccuracy, so a project outcome and a wide-ranging plan must be fixed in the creation and then followed cautiously. The waterfall methodology stresses thorough record keeping. Having such records will provide the project managers the capability to improve upon the existing program in the future. The client knows what to expect when the waterfall methodology is used. . They’ll have knowledge of the scope, price, and timeline for the project. They will also have a definite indication of what their program will do in the end

The Agile methodology is an alternative type of project management, typically used in software development. It helps project teams respond to change and work iteratively. Throughout a project using the Agile

Agile Software development addresses principles of software development in which requirements and solutions manifest through collaborative efforts and cross-functional teams. Agile development

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)

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.

Traditionally, this organization has utilized a waterfall methodology to develop software. The two main reasons for this are that is a well vetted methodology, and it provides a very well defined scope that we can use to manage projects and stay within a defined budget. As the business climate becomes increasingly volatile, the benefits of using this methodology have quickly become detractors. As requirements shift, the waterfall methodology locks clients in to a specific predetermined scope. While this is a good way to control budget, it does not provide the flexibility required to meet client needs. Several new software development methodologies have gained traction in the industry over the past few years. However, none of them provides both the flexibility needed by the end user and the rigidity and control needed to manage both the scope and budget of a project in order to set client expectations appropriately. This proposal recommends a hybrid approach that utilizes three of the more flexible software

The agile lifecycle based on experiment operation, which cause the good performance. The visibility indicates to support the product development. This provides efficient vision for key users. Risk management, a short incremental releases are visual to the product holder and product team through its development which help us to select any problems early and make it easier to reply to alteration. Agility indicates to admit the alterations, client satisfaction, creating the suitable product [6, 8]. There are agile methodologies: feature driven development, Extreme programming, rational unified process, animated systems development, scrum and Adaptive software development [9].

Yet unlike the methods that originated it, agile development is less confined and allows developers and teams to circumvent the red tape that more bureaucratic methods put forth. This newfound flexibility and freeform environment in agile development is feasible by excluding some of the extensive planning, detailed documentation, and defined cycles that are intrinsic to other traditional methods. This sort of approach deviates significantly from most traditional software engineering methods for many reasons. For example, unlike the waterfall method, agile development merges the testing and building phase as concurrent processes, speeding up the overall process. In ideal conditions Agile software development allows for earlier accessibility of software, gradual and iterative progress, and higher feasibility of change. However ideal conditions are not always the case in the real world. Due to the intentional reduction of analysis and planning, agile development is most effective and efficient in smaller sized and highly skilled teams. If teams can’t be quick to adopt a project, and make rapid progress, the agile method is not very effective.

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.

The biggest reason for the change in methodology in software development is due to the failures realized through the use of traditional sequential development. With these failures an assembly of individuals developed a declaration of policy that included the following ideologies: “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation and finally responding to change.” (“Manifesto for agile software development,” n.d.). Let’s continue on with this document and examine at some of the principles with regard to the concept of agile development.

The traditional approach to software development can be illustrated through the waterfall model which is time tested and easy to understand. The waterfall model approaches software development in sequential manner, completing one activity before the other. It brakes up project in stages: requirement analysis, design, coding and testing, operation and maintenance (see fig. 1 below).

Waterfall model is a software engineering process that has sequence of steps which are required for a product to be built or for the completion of a project successfully. This model starts with the requirements analysis phase and end with maintenance having several stages like design, implementation and verification. This model gives us a planned model for developing a product and deploying it in the market. This is also known as a sequential model.