Software development is the process of developing software through successive phases in an orderly way. This process includes not only the actual writing of code but also the preparation of requirements and objectives, the design of what is to be coded, and confirmation that what is developed has met objectives.
Before systems development methods came into being, the development of new systems or products was often carried out by using the experienceand intuition of management and technical personnel. However, the complexityof modern systems and computer products long ago made the need clear forsome kind of orderly development process.
You may hear your IT department talking about implementing an agile approach or DevOps development. Both promise better and faster software development through collaboration. How are they different, and which is better for your business?
Agile software development principles enable developers to deliver new functionality quickly while responding to changing business requirements. Development teams deliver incremental features frequently, perhaps every couple of weeks. Traditional approaches often take months or even years to deliver new systems. In the meantime, business needs have changed and the systems are no longer good fits. The agile approach helps address this problem.
DevOps addresses a different part of the software development lifecycle. It focuses on reducing handoffs between developers and the operations teams running and supporting the systems. It aims to reduce the time to test and deploy code to users as well as reduce errors and downtime of the operational systems.
