Agile Software Development - A Beginners Guide 2024

Agility often refers to your ability in the yoga studio or sports ground.  But this article focuses primarily on agile software development. If you have an idea of how “agile methodology” works, then great. Otherwise, allow us to work you through the basics. 

First and foremost, the agile development approach helps you adapt to changes smoothly, especially in uncertain and turbulent environments.  You can use agile practices to improve your tasks, improve workplace efficiency or align software development teams. 

With that in mind, we can summarize the concept behind the methodology as follows:

“Agile creates a continuous improvement mindset that values flexibility, adaptability, collaboration, and efficiency.”

In this article, we will cover the basics of the agile development approach in detail and some of the benefits of opting for agile methodology.

The Concept of Agile in Software Development

The corporate world offers digital solutions to automate mundane work and make life easier. Over the years, the corporate goal to retain customers has led to digital transformation at a large scale. As a result, rigidity has no place in the enterprise structure of today, and the same applies to software development. 

Consequently, the concept of agile has taken over the software development industry. It is similar to the trait described: adaptability, flexibility, and desirability.

This incremental methodology consists of case-specific processes and follows the following activities:

• Engineering
• Debugging
• Deployment
• Maintenance
• Testing
• Design etc.

Indeed, these look similar to traditional software development practices. But here’s how it differs in the following conceptions:

• Flexibility
• Responsive to change
• Breaking down projects into smaller scales
• Collaboration and synergy with other teams and clients
• Prioritization and responsiveness 
• Frequent delivery and progress measurement
• Transparency

Difference Between Traditional and Agile Software Development

The agile vs Waterfall debate has been around for years now. It is well-known that the agile product development process opposes the traditional “waterfall” software development approach. 

Want to discover more distinguishing characteristics? Dive in without further ado:

Waterfall Methodology

In the traditional approach, the scope is clearly defined with an inflexible timeframe and budget. To put it differently, it requires thoroughly structured requirements up front, which can be challenging for complex and long-term projects. 

Moreover, its sequential nature and reliance on pre-planning make it difficult to deploy mid-project changes. It refers to the rigid sets of processes and techniques which you have to follow.

Most importantly, your team will release at the end of the project cycle. Henceforth, you will not have the space to test the software and eliminate the bugs in the earlier stages.

Agile Methodology

The classic Waterfall method's discontent gave rise to the Agile product development technique. The underlying reasons are the capacity of Agile software development practices to accommodate changes and a speedier software development process.

To highlight, agile project managers lead in project planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closure. 

Not to mention, you must refrain from using milestones in the Agile process. It is based on the number of hours worked, feature selection, prioritizing, and matching the client's needs.

Additionally, the agile technique divides the project into sprints or iterations. To put emphasis, the product development team selects what it can complete within this time limit and what features it can incorporate at the start of each iteration or Sprint.

The team places the software in a production environment after each Sprint so that the customer may inspect it and offer comments.

In contrast, in an agile software development model, the team will deliver the daily progress on the project to you in increments and through official communication channels. To sum up, it is feature-driven, gives developers autonomy, and believes in outcomes.

You must be interested in: HANDS ON GUIDE TO OUTSOURCE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Furthermore, agile practices in software development help developers deal with situational problems quickly. The team enjoys freedom compared to the traditional model that follows roles, and specific people can do specific work. 

As mentioned earlier, agile is non-linear and focuses on flexibility, a collaboration between team members, and ensuring they deliver consistently to the stakeholders.

It believes in evolving, continuous communication as to what’s working and what has to be changed, and what needs to change. The new and multidimensional way of working gets past the bottlenecks embedded in the traditional project management approach. 

12 Core Principles of Agile

Let’s have a quick look at the agile software development principles outlined in the Agile Manifesto to improve functionality:

• Customer satisfaction through continuous and early delivery of software 
• Adoption changes, even in later stages of development
• Delivery of working software between a couple of weeks to a couple of months with working towards reducing timescales
• Collaboration between businesses and developers daily throughout the project
• Provision of supporting environment for motivated individuals
• In-person meetings as they are the most effective
• Working software is the primary measure of progress
• Agile believes in and promotes sustainable development. The users, developers, and clients should all work to maintain and sustain it
• Continuous introduction of new technologies and enhanced designs improve agility
• Simplicity is essential to this approach
• Team reflection that leads to important changes to enhance performance
• Teams that are self-organizing come up with the best designs

Benefits of Agile

You can apply the general philosophy of agile to all sorts of situations because of its versatility which will evolve with the team. In addition, there are countless benefits of implementing agile project methodology.

Following are some benefits of agile practices when applied to software development or any business.

• Achieve optimal efficiency by eliminating waste
• Make decisions effectively
• Easy adaptation and adjustment to new information
• Be consistent with stakeholders' deliverables deadlines
• Adding value for customers and stakeholders
• Try understanding the customer journey
• Build superior products of high quality
• Maintain capacity to make sure no one is under or overworked
• Identify roadblocks before they occur
• Collaboration between team members and stakeholders
• Adaptable to cultural, technological, and economic changes 
• Expect the unexpected
• Tailored processes according to your requirements
• Build an encouraging and cohesive structure
• Development of a mindset that looks for a room for improvement

Popular agile methodologies used in software development

Now that you are quite familiar with agile practices and basics, it is time to understand some of the most popular agile development models. There are many agile models used around the world. However, we primarily focus on the most commonly used models with high success and delivery rates. 

So, let's have a look at them before it is too late:

Scrum

Scrum is one of the most popular in agile product development and is a fairly complicated process for those who aren’t familiar with it. Still, it revolves around a set of sprints that focus on completing a set of tasks. Being similar to Trello, it operates and helps in smooth coordination and tracks the progress in real-time. 

Kanban

This model is a simple process compared to the more complicated Scrum and is often partially utilized with other agile models such as Scrum. It is a task management tool to optimize efficiency. 

Above all, Kanban visually organizes board workflow and records the changes and adjustments along the way.

In simplest terms, the board consists of three columns. These columns are the To-do, doing, and done groups. Together, they allow activities to move easily to the next phase. Notably, Trello is an incredible example of an ongoing Kanban board. 

Lean

Lean follows the 6 lean principles created by Toyota, which help teamwork more productively, efficiently, and effectively. Therefore, you can apply various software development methodologies.

By all means, Lean agile is a simple, agile technique that aims to enhance efficiency by removing waste. Unlike traditional waterfall project management, lean agile also aims to remove all tasks and activities that do not provide actual value.

It ensures that everyone participating in a project or product development may operate as efficiently as possible.

Consider this: You probably work better when your desk isn't fully cluttered with stuff you don't need. Eliminating errors, challenges and waste create an orderly environment and workflow. It allows you to focus on what is essential and operate more efficiently and effectively.

Do You Want To Start An Agile Project? 

To conclude, the agile development approach promotes continuous delivery and places a premium on customer satisfaction. Every few weeks, it produces a functional application with additional features.

Customers may try the most recent iteration of the application and provide input. It is subsequently incorporated into future revisions by the development team.

It also emphasizes frequent cooperation between the business and development teams. All stakeholders monitor the project's progress and fine-tune the requirements, ensuring that a high-quality product is delivered efficiently at the conclusion of each sprint.

Keeping it in mind, if you have any questions about agile process flow at InvoZone, and benefits, get in touch with us today.

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is Agile software development?

Agile software development refers to a set of iterative software development approaches in which requirements and solutions change via cooperation amongst self-organizing cross-functional teams.

What are agile software development practices?

There are countless agile practices. Some of these are listed below: 

• Collaborate with customers
• Work together daily
• Build projects around motivated individuals
• Requirement discovery
• Cross-functional teams
• Adaptive planning
• Early delivery
• Continuous improvement and integration

What are the 6 steps in agile methodology development?

The agile software development life cycle consists of the following 6 steps: 

• Conceptualization
• Inception
• Construction
• Release
• Production and maintenance
• Retirement

What is meant by Agile methodology?

The Agile methodology is a style of project management that divides a project into stages. It entails ongoing engagement with stakeholders and continual development at each level. When the job begins, teams go through a cycle of planning, execution, and evaluation.