Essay Sample on the Agile Software Development Method

There are various methods of software development that have been tried and tested by multiple companies. The method of software development depends on the team available, the resources allocated for the process, and the time that it is at hand for the project. One such method for software development is the agile method. The paragraphs below delve more in-depth and talk about the technique of software development, the core principles, the ideologies behind the process, the steps involved, its advantages, and its disadvantages.

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The agile method involves the combination of small iterative and incremental stages to deliver a work project in small executable portions. It is divided into small steps that each produce a deliverable that is presented to the client before the work proceeds (Conboy & Fitzgerald, 2010). The method is more centered on the customer than on the tools involved in the process. It requires teamwork and not individual efforts. The first step is scoping out and prioritizing the projects. Here the team is assigned plans and the objectives of the various projects outlined (Conforto & Amaral, 2010). Secondly, the team manager comes up with a diagrammatic impression of the project for the team to visualize it better.

The first iteration is constructed and then released to production. While there, it is tested for defects and the defects are addressed (Strode, et al., 2009). The project is then accorded ongoing support and aided to full development from which it sets in the retirement phase where the old system is replaced with the new software (Abrahamsson, et al., 2017). The advantages of this method include the fact that it is realistic, promotes teamwork and cross-training, requires minimum resources for development, delivers easily worked solutions in parts, it is flexible and easy to manage (Campanelli & Parreiras, 2015). The disadvantages include not being suitable for complex projects, poses a higher risk of maintainability, sustainability, and extensibility, and its over-dependability on the customer may lead to errors in case of ambiguity.

References

Abrahamsson, P., Salo, O., Ronkainen, J., & Warsta, J. (2017). Agile software development methods: Review and analysis. arXiv preprint arXiv:1709.08439.

Campanelli, A. S., & Parreiras, F. S. (2015). Agile methods tailoring-A systematic literature review. Journal of Systems and Software, 110, 85-100.

Conboy, K., & Fitzgerald, B. (2010). Method and developer characteristics for effective agile method tailoring: A study of XP expert opinion. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), 20(1), 1-30.

Conforto, E. C., & Amaral, D. C. (2010). Evaluating an agile method for planning and controlling innovative projects. Project Management Journal, 41(2), 73-80.

Strode, D. E., Huff, S. L., & Tretiakov, A. (2009, January). The impact of organizational culture on agile method use. In 2009 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 1-9). IEEE.