5 Most Commonly used Software Development Methodologies

Software development is the process of creating, testing, and maintaining software products and services that meet user, customer, or stakeholder expectations. Software development methodologies are frameworks or models that guide the software development process and define the roles, responsibilities, activities, and deliverables of the software development team.

There are lots of different software development methodologies present, and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we will discuss the five most commonly used software development methodologies: Agile, Scrum, Kanban, DevOps, and Waterfall.

Most Commonly used Software Development Methodologies

Agile

In English, Agile means ‘the ability to move quickly and easily’ and respond to change rapidly – this is an important aspect of Agile software development. Agile Software Development is a software development methodology that values flexibility, collaboration, and customer satisfaction. The Agile Model was primarily designed to help a project adapt quickly to change requests. So, the main aim of the Agile model is to facilitate quick project completion.

Some of the advantages of Agile are:

1. It provides faster delivery of software products and features.
2. Agile methodologies prioritize customer satisfaction.
3. In Agile methodology the daily interactions are required between the business people and the developers.
4. Changes in the requirements are accepted even in the later stages of the development.
5. Better adaption to rapidly changing requirements and respond faster.

Some of the disadvantages of Agile are:

1. Agile development models require a high degree of expertise from team members.
2. Agile model not suitable for larger, and complex project.
3. For complex projects, the resource requirement and effort are difficult to estimate.
4. Sometimes in Agile methodology the requirement is not very clear hence it’s difficult to predict the expected result.

Scrum

Scrum is a lightweight framework for agile development. It is subset of Agile Software development process which is nothing but an iterative and incremental software development technology. Scrum divides the software development process into fixed-length iterations called sprints, which typically last from one to four weeks.

Each sprint consists of four phases:

1. Sprint planning: In this stage, the Product owner defines a goal for the sprint at starting time of the sprint.
2. Daily Scrum Meeting : Scrum team gathers together in a meeting for around 15 minutes. They specify the progress report and roadblocks.
3. Sprint Review: In this stage, the team demonstrates that what is ready for delivery to the customers. A meeting gets conducted between the customer, product owner, and the Scrum Team. 
4. Sprint Retrospective: In this stage, Feedback is taken about the team that how they worked in the last sprint. and what action needs to be taken for improvement.

Some of the advantages of Scrum are:

1. Scrum provide framework for managing complex projects.
2. In Scrum customer satisfaction is very important.
3. Through iterative development and frequent feedback scrum focuses on delivering value to the customer.
4. Good for dynamic projects because of adaptability to changing requirements.

Some of the disadvantages of Scrum are:

1. Frequents meeting in scrum sometime become time consuming and impact productivity.
2. Scrum framework do not allow changes into their sprint.
3. Not good for the projects like those with highly predictable and well-defined requirements.

Kanban

Kanban is effective way to manage projects and make your workflow even better. The term “Kanban” originates from the Japanese language, translating to “visual signal” or “card.” Basically, you use a board with columns that show the different stages of your plan, and you use cards to represent tasks or features.

The board is divided into sections like “To Do,” “In Progress,” “In Review,” and “Done.” It’s easy to understand and helps to keep track of everything. and also helps the teams to monitor and control at each stages and apply changes to improve efficiency.

Some of the advantages of Kanban are:

1. Kanban is easy to implement and understand
2. Use transparency to drive process improvement.
3. Allows for quick reprioritization in order to adapt changes according to market demand.
4. Limiting Work in Progress and setting policies will result in a better focus on quality and, as a result, increased customer satisfaction.
5. Prioritization helps in streamlining processes and workflow to enhanced quality of work

Some of the disadvantages of Kanban are:

1. When multiple team are involved managing complex project is very difficult through Kanban boards.
2. Kanban may not ensure timely release or completion of tasks or features.
3. Kanban doesn’t provide a fixed time frame for tasks or feature.
4. The lack of defined roles and responsibilities in Kanban may result in inconsistent practices across teams.

DevOps

DevOps is basically a combination of two words- Development and Operations. which promotes collaboration between development and operations teams, resulting in better communication, increased efficiency, and faster delivery of the new products and frequent updates. The goal of DevOps is to increase an organization’s speed when it comes to delivering applications and services. 

Some of the advantages of DevOps are:

1. DevOps helps organization for faster delivery of new product and updates faster and more frequently.
2. DevOps provide better resource utilization.
3. DevOps provide customer satisfaction as the releases and update are too frequent.
4. DevOps promotes collaboration between development and operations teams, resulting in better communication, increased efficiency, and reduced friction.

Some of the disadvantages of DevOps are:

1. Sometimes implementing DevOps can be costly process.
2. Finding a qualified DevOps person is very challenging.
3. DevOps is still a relatively new field, and there is a lack of standardization in terms of methodologies, tools, and processes. 

Waterfall

Waterfall is one most traditional software development methodology that follows incremental and sequential approach. In waterfall there are at least 6 phase of development. the six phase are requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. And most important things is each phase is completed before moving to next phase, and no change or revision are done once a phase is completed.

Some of the advantages of Waterfall are:

1. Waterfall Model is very simple and easy to understand.
2. Waterfall Model works well for smaller projects and projects where requirements are well understood.
3. In each phase detailed documentation is required.
4. Phases in the Waterfall model are processed one at a time.

Some of the disadvantages of Waterfall are:

1. It is not well-suited where requirement are continuously changing and updating.
2. Also there is no error detection or feedback present in each stage.
3. Waterfall Model is not well-suited for complex projects.
4. Waterfall Model can result in a lengthy development cycle, as each phase must be completed before moving on to the next. This can result in delays and increased costs if requirements change or new issues arise.
5. There is no collaboration and innovation among different team members.

Conclusion:

For software development process software development methodologies are very essential. There is no one methodology that works for every project or team. Each of the methodologies have their own pros and cons. i.e. it is very important to choose the suitable methodology for each project or team base on factor like complexity, scope, size, duration, budget, customer expectation etc. The main goal of the deliver software product or service that meet the customers or user or stakeholders expectations.

FAQs on 5 Most Commonly used Software Development Methodologies:

What is the most commonly used software development methodology?

The most popular software development methodology, agile, promotes adaptability and client happiness.

What is the most common technique used for developing software?

Agile software development methodologies like Scrum and Kanban are popular approaches.

Which Agile methodology is most widely used?

It is noteworthy that Scrum is the Agile approach most commonly used.

What are the top 5 SDLC?

Agile, Scrum, Kanban, DevOps, and Waterfall are the top 5 SDLCs.

Why waterfall is better than Agile?

For projects with sequential methodology and predictable requirements, waterfall development may be favoured over agile development.