A Shortcut to Understanding Software Development

The following questions are set out to aid individuals in getting to grips with areas of software development that are vital to powering websites and mobile devices and ensuring that the technology in use serves the ever-changing needs of the user.

What is software engineering?

Software engineering is an umbrella term used to describe the practice of any aspect of planning/designing, developing, testing and maintaining software. To be specific, many experts make a distinction between software engineering and general programming as the application of a more disciplined, scientific approach to the design and implementation of any given piece of software.

How can I learn to code?

Software programming is a hands-on process that requires real-time learning in front of a device. Much like learning a language or taking up a sport, learning to code takes practice and experience in addition to the traditional knowledge one can obtain from manual research and reading to be familiar with the subject matter.

There are a host of trusted online resources that can help you learn the basics through trying, such as Khan Academy and Codeschool.

What is agile development?

Agile is a project management and software development methodology with a core set of driving principles based around people, communication, collaboration, single cross-functional teams and lightweight documentation.

Agile is a project management

The goal of Agile is to add value by spending time on the creation of software, rather than the creation of documentation. While the waterfall approach prescribes breaking a project lifecycle into distinct phases of work completed in turn (often by different teams working from heavy specifications), Agile advocates doing ‘just enough’ upfront documentation and planning before breaking work up into timeboxed iterations (typically between one and four weeks) where multiple activities are carried out in parallel.

An important mindset change in Agile is that the direction of development is steered by market needs, as opposed to working against documentation created at the start of the project, which often quickly becomes out of date. While waterfall has heavy, slow change control procedures (which incur additional costs), in Agile new or modified tasks are effectively handled through continual prioritisation and re-prioritisation of requirements.

This fast and reliable delivery method allows for greater creativity and flexibility within the production team – essential attributes when creating high performance software products in uncertain environments andconstantly changing marketplaces – and ultimately results in higher returns.

The information in this article was provided by the experts at Box UK.

At Box UK our team of intuitive thinkers, consultants and application developers never cease to find simply brilliant solutions to the industry’s toughest web and software projects.

It’s why large corporations around the world, from airlines to car manufacturers, international banks to global charities, place their trust with the execution of their digital strategies, from the development of enterprise-level custom software platforms to the delivery of award-winning multi-channel experiences.

So if you want a trustworthy and outstanding software solution, view the services on the Box UK website today.