The growing trend of using technologies and trends has been really overwhelming in the last few years. Users have been expecting more every day and businesses are coming up with new ideas every second. The power of software applications is increasing day by day and to an extended horizon. Technology has impacted all lives across the globe and the ease of using it is making the overall experience quite fascinating.

Now coming to the software application development industry, there are more and more requests coming from the business for software development. These ideas are creating a solution to users’ problems faced by them in their daily lives. All users are experiencing is the software application as the final product, but the development phase is quite crucial to both software development company and the business.

It consists of the process of planning, developing, coding, testing and maintaining software throughout the phase. Even after the launch, the software needs a timely upgrade so that it functions properly without any bug or error hampering it.

Many software development companies follow the methodology of selecting the framework that supports them in the development process. It is an essential exercise as a framework helps in managing the development process and keeping it in check for better follow-up. However, the challenge with methodologies is that software development companies need to choose the most appropriate one to support them in the development. This is the most crucial part as the opted approach would define the course of their software development.

It’s best to analyze each approach so that software development company can choose the best.

1) Waterfall Approach
The waterfall approach is also called as the structured approach. As the name suggests, the methodology is quite structured, linear and sequential project development. It is best suited for simple and small projects. Each stage is clearly defined, and the developers need to complete it before moving on to the next stage. No changes can be done once the stage is completed. All the changes can only be made once the process gets completed and the application is tested.

2) Agile Approach
The best approach followed by most software development companies is the agile approach. Agile does not follow the predefined structured development processes. It follows the rule of the iterative approach at each stage. The approach is quite flexible and thus is the most favored approach by the software developers. Agile is chosen when it comes to custom software development. The application is tested at each stage and thus any changes to be made in the stage is completed then and there itself before working on the next stage.

3) Kanban Approach
Kanban methodology is used by software development companies when the requirement or the solution is uncertain. It's best suited for projects with minimal cost of delay. It also offers limited work in progress to focus on one job at a time. Each task is monitored, and the time is noted so that other prioritized work can be given importance to. This methodology is usually preferred when the project is related to maintenance and support.

There are other methodologies like Rapid Application Development (RAD), Scrum, Extreme Programming for developers to choose from as per their need of the software application development. The question which arises now is how do they choose out of all?

We have a few tips that could help you choose the right approach or software development. Read through to know more.

1) Size of Project
One of the first thing to do before finalizing the approach is to look at the size of the project. Not all methodologies are best for the small-sized project and the same goes with big projects too. For instance, waterfall methodology is best for small and simple projects. But for big projects, agile is best as it could need multiple iterations as the development progress.

2) Feedback
Feedback is a two-way process for both development companies and their clients. The software development process is all about developing the software as per the guidelines stated by the clients. It’s best to follow the practice of collecting feedback whenever needed and at all stages. The outcome can be improvised only when both parties are aware of what they are doing and how they should make amendments as per market conditions. Some methodologies need more feedback at each stage than usual methodologies like agile framework.

3) Cost of delay
Coming to the wait time on the project, there might be situations when a project may not be delivered to clients due to delay in the development process. This could be due to any reason and challenges with the outside and inside environment. Delay also brings in the extra cost with it. This needs to be in consideration before opting the approach as whatever methodology is opted by the development company could come with the cost of delay too. This should be discussed beforehand to avoid any challenges.

Conclusion
Wrapping up, the path to software development is quite challenging. The best approach to ease the process for a custom software development company is to opt for any development methodology and follow the protocols of the framework. This offers great help to developers as the stages are defined. However, not all approach fulfills the need for development. One needs to look at various factors beforehand and then proceed with choosing the best approach for software development.

Author
Siya Carla is the Solution Consultant at Finoit Technologies, a leading custom software development company which provides unique web design and mobile app development services. By creating interactive mobile apps for 450+ customers across the globe, Finoit enjoys a great reputation as a prominent mobile app development company.