Iterative Development

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Iterative Development – A Complete Guide on its Process and Model

Iterative development deals with the simplification of software development procedures by dividing them into smaller parts. The coding, development, and testing are done in repeated iterations which means the development can add new features in every cycle. All changes made are tested until the software is complete and ready to be handed over to the end-user.

What is an Iteration?

A shorter development cycle is referred to as an iteration or sprint and it is fixed by time. This means the developer is given a deadline to complete the current cycle and deliver the working code at the end of the iteration. Working in sprints gives the developer enough flexibility to make changes whenever required. With traditional development models, problems might arise in the code once the complete design process is complete causing significant delays.

Working in iterations can help avoid unexpected errors because the project is broken down into parts. Teams can monitor progress and make changes where necessary before they move on to the next step of iterative and incremental development.

Why Do Projects Need an Iterative Development Model?

When a development team is working on a project they are very likely to run into errors. Most of the time, the problems are detected too late in the cycle and lead to substantial additional costs. In some cases, the errors might be significant enough to terminate development. When developers follow a waterfall model during the initial development period, they lose any foresight for preventing risks. Iterative development creates the executed product in stages and tests the code repeatedly. With this approach detecting any risks is quick and easy which means they can easily eliminate these issues before project completion.

The Step-by-step Iterative Development Process

The Step-by-step Iterative Development Process and model

Step 1: Research and Planning

Developers and clients identify all software requirements during the planning stage. They keep the business owner and stakeholder’s criteria in mind and come up with all the necessary features and possible risks. Since each step will be repeated in the next iteration, it is not necessary to have a complete list during the first cycle. Once the team has understood the requirements they can begin researching how to streamline their workflow with the iterative development process.

Step 2: Design

Design is not as important for the iterative development model but it is still a necessary part of the project. Following the steps helps the developer establish an architecture for the software. The team establishes all technical services required such as the language, data structures, layers, and stacks needed for the project.

Step 3: Implementation

This is the stage during which the development team will start writing code and build the first iteration of the product. The developers follow all coding guidelines and build the technical architecture, establish a database and create the basic program structure. The first cycle will result in the initial version of the software.

Step 4: Testing

The testing stage is where the team identifies any bugs or evaluates potential risks. They perform unit testing and carry out the analysis of each unit. The integration testing makes sure each unit functions well together and the final user acceptance test ensures that the program fulfills user requirements defined during the first step of the iteration.

During the testing stage of the iterative and incremental development, the security of the program against external attackers is also checked. There are different methodologies for evaluating the code and they depend on the access to the source code.

Step 5: Evaluation

The testing stage is where the team identifies any bugs or evaluates potential risks. They perform unit testing and carry out the analysis of each unit. The integration testing makes sure each unit functions well together and the final user acceptance test ensures that the program fulfills user requirements defined during the first step of the iteration.

During the testing stage of the iterative and incremental development, the security of the program against external attackers is also checked. There are different methodologies for evaluating the code and they depend on the access to the source code.

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Advantages of the Iterative Development Model

Build Versions

The development life cycle results in several versions of the software and it indicates the release stage for all particular sprints. It is easier with an iterative development process because each new cycle results in a much-improved version than the previous one. In case, the recent iteration breaks down completely, the previous version can come to the rescue. Developers can roll back to the last build and minimize their losses. This is a great advantage of iterative development for web applications especially in terms of their post-release maintenance.

Quick Turnaround

Every stage in an iterative development model follows the same procedure as the traditional development model. The process takes a long time however with iterations, each stage is effectively much shorter because it is broken down into smaller timeframes. It includes whatever is necessary to the project at that point. The initial run-through might take longer but the model shaves off times with each subsequent iteration. The development will be agile and help make things much faster. In the end, the development life cycle is trimmed down to a mere few days or even hours in some cases.

Agile Integration

The waterfall model is a step-by-step process and only works well for larger organizations where there are hundreds of employees. The iterative development process is much more suited to a smaller company where agile teams can work together. When the model is combined the capabilities of modern control systems, the complete benefits of iterative development come into effect. Individual team members can combine their efforts and perform the planning, designing, implementation, and testing steps. They do not require feedback or assistance from external sources.

Easy Adaptability

The core strength when it comes to frequent iterations is that the deliverables are provided regularly. There is another great advantage when it comes to the iterative development model and it is the software’s rapid ability to adapt to the changing needs of a project. They can add or subtract on the client’s whim. It allows for fundamental changes to be made to the code such as the database or service implementation. All changes can be applied over a short period at minima costs because the system recognizes detrimental changes earlier and reverts to the previous iteration without losing anything.

Disadvantages of the Iterative Development Model

Expensive Issues Late in the Cycle

While it might not be a problem in every project, the limited initial planning and coding before implementation in the iterative model might lead to unforeseen issues in the design of system architecture. These come up at a later stage in the iterative and incremental development and could have disastrous consequences because resolving them might be difficult in terms of money and time. The team will have to add more iterations to take care of one issue.

Mounting Pressure from Users

The traditional development model emphasizes all types of user engagement during the initial phases. There is a brief period during the beginning of the project in an iterative model but it usually requires user engagement for every step in development. It is an unpleasant obligation because with every additional cycle, testing is required and developers need user feedback to accurately evaluate changes.

Feature Requests

Not only does the iterative and incremental development require continuous user feedback, but it also means the project team may get feature requests. As users experience the changes made with each cycle they will be likely to make new requests in their feedback. They can ask for more features in the next version which will put more pressure on the team.

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