The process of software development (for dummies)

Software development is complex process. It is the result of the combined efforts of the analysis, development and testing. The development of a program can be seen as setting a series of descriptions of increasingly precise and increasingly closer to an executable program and its documentation. Transitions from one description to another are often called successive refinements. This is a simplified view that does not take into account the iterative nature of the development process.

Once developed a program is put into service. Now all the maintenance issues, correcting faults, improving tracking certain features or changing are requirements to be settled and resolved before hitting the market. Maintenance may require modifying the system functions and thus a process of redevelopment. Because of this we call it the life cycle of a program, when we consider the operation and maintenance in addition to growth.

Usually by working in teams, one examines, explains a sequence of code that gets to be modified by another person different than the one who originally wrote it, or even the same person after a long period of time, then another test that changes in certain procedures or functions. Throughout the period the work can cause misunderstandings, errors and other unwanted events and constant propagation of errors to the end and can reach the user without erosion while the image of the product / company is in detrimental of all parties involved.

To avoid all this, it is necessary to meet certain quality procedures that lead to positive effects in the medium and long term, even if short time it can lead to consuming more resources. At the high level there must be taken all the necessary steps in a software development project, understanding the problem and analysis while bringing major benefits. Reducing the development work at the level of requirements, we can mention here a number of procedures which facilitate subsequent re-development, modifications and prevention of errors.

A software development process is based on a formalization of the specific activities to which we have referred. The aim is to obtain a combination of formalization mechanisms if they are applied consistently it allows to obtain in a repetitive and reliable consistent quality software. The description of the process remains general because it is not possible to define a single standard adapted to all kinds of applications and to all people.

First stages of a software development project :

• Understanding the problem - general notions about the program;
• Requirements analysis - following specifications received and discussions with the client to clarify its requirements, record questions and define the functional aspects;
• Analysis of the application modules - functionality will be divided into modules for easy management;
• Choice of technology development - will choose the best technology for development;
• Identifying and formalizing entities - design of the structure and organization of data;
• Design functionality - the menu, the organization of visual information (screens), search and retrieval methods, etc.;
• Technical Design - structure and functions required classes (with technical staff);
• Formalizing the analysis - is elaborated a document detailing the concepts, data structures and functionality of the program;