Supportsoft Glossary

Software Development Methodologies and Their Uses

Historically, methodologies such as Waterfall offered a systematic way to progress linearly through the stages of development: requirements, design, implementation and testing. While this approach still works well for projects that have stable and well-defined requirements, in many fast-paced business environments Waterfall's rigidness can lead to poor outcomes. 

As a result, agile methodologies developed to meet the need of allowing teams to quickly adapt to changing market conditions by breaking down the work into small increments and constantly seeking feedback from stakeholders and customers. The most common forms of Agile methodology are Scrum, which is a time-boxed approach that uses time-constrained sprints for organisation of work, and Kanban, which involves creating visual representations of workflow and removing bottlenecks within that workflow. Lean methodologies also enhance Agile development by eliminating wasteful activities and maximising efficiency throughout the development process. 

Finally, in some situations, a combination of Agile and traditional methodologies may be necessary to provide teams with both the predictability of a structured process while allowing for flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. When methodologies are chosen carefully, they can significantly affect communication between teams and their decision-making process, as well as how quickly teams respond to change within the marketplace or organisation. As a result, when selected and utilised correctly, methodologies allow teams to create better quality software with increased clarity and collaboration between team members.