What Is Agile Software Development?

Agile methodology revolutionizes the software development process by shifting from the rigid and plan-oriented process to flexible and iterative cycles. Focusing on self-organizing team structure, this methodology delivers ready-made products earlier as compared to the traditional methodologies, leading to its faster time-to-market. According to Businessmap, 39% of respondents inform 75.4% growth of their project performance by using Agile. This article discusses what is Agile software development, presenting its lifecycle, frameworks, and future trends. 

Defining Agile Software Development

Agile is a prominent software development methodology that encompasses various frameworks, centered on dividing the process into phases to enhance adaptability in development, not the rigid and fixed plan.

The Role of Iteration, Collaboration, and Continuous Feedback

Agile software development life cycle offers a dynamic approach to software development underpinned by the principal cornerstones: iteration, collaboration, and continuous feedback. These elements matter to deliver efficiency along with the market evolving needs. 

Iteration

Iteration is a process of breaking down comprehensive projects into small and manageable cycles or sprints that last around one to four weeks. Each sprint implements a full development cycle involving planning, designing, coding, and testing. The purpose of iteration is to present a software working increment. Iterations play the foundational role in the Agile because of:

• Promoting Continuous Improvement: each iteration presents a learning curve where each of the involved developers underline strengths and areas of improvement they could include into the next cycle.

• Increased Flexibility: Short development cycles enable change in requirements in a quick fashion, so that the software doesn’t have to be reworked from scratch.

Collaboration

Agile promotes open communication between all the involved parties that facilitates inter-team collaboration and stakeholders’ involvement to reach the maximum understanding of the common goal (especially, when it comes to alterations). Collaboration is vital for:

• Accelerated Problem-Solving: Agile promotes problem-solving through a virtual real-time face-to-face communication, enabling to eliminate misunderstanding quickly and resolve issues in a fast manner. 

• Self-Organized Teams: Agile is about cross-functional team collaboration and self-organization, enabling each team member to take ownership and responsibility of their scope of work, making decisions within a motivating environment. 

• Customer-Centricity: active stakeholders’ engagement and cohesive communication build a trustworthy environment eliminating misunderstandings, and leading to a better development fit per the demands. 

Continuous Feedback

Continuous feedback is the practice of obtaining regular input from the stakeholders within the entire development lifecycle. The dialogue ensures the product development is on track and aligns with the clients’ expectations. Continuous feedback is a must for:

• Real-Time Course Correction: feedback and retrospective meetings promote team’s adaptation of their  development approach within the increments, without needing to alter the product after its completion. 

• Improved Product Quality: the team can prevent cost-demanding alterations by catching defects early to deliver the polished version of the final product. 

• Fostering Learning Culture: regular feedback motivates employees to reconsider their approach to work, enabling them to identify core weaknesses and strengths, which boosts experience and responsibility. 

Pillar of Agile Work: The Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto is a document that defines the key values and principles that underpin the foundation of Agile’s work. 

The 4 Core Values of Agile

There are four Agile values that underpin what this development methodology stands for, since its people-centric focus and aspiration for continuous improvement. 

1. Prioritizing Individuals and Interactions Over Tools

This value underlines the central role of human force within the development and software delivery. Indeed, tools and processes matter, nevertheless, they serve as a pool for problem-solving, skills, enrichment, and team collaboration. 

2. Working Software Over In-Depth Documentation

Although Agile does not diminish the importance of formal documentation, it refrains from it to craft and deliver functional features of the software, which economizes time, and deliver greater strategic value to the business. 

3. Customer Cooperation Over Contract Negotiation 

Agile aims for the active communication and collaboration between the development team and clients, which streamlines development process as it minimizes scope creep, underlines areas of improvement and alterations by bringing strategic value. 

4. Response to Changes Over Following a Plan

Agile promotes continuous product evolution, eradicating resistance to change. Developers embrace the change in requirements as an opportunity for skill growth, not the derails that pull them back. So instead of focusing on the initial requirements, they go in for adaptive planning to bring new requirements into life. 

Finally, there are 12 Agile principles that elucidate the overall philosophy of Agile development.

Agile Software Development Lifecycle

Agile represents an adaptable methodology for software development. While it is flexible in responding to evolving requirements, Agile still operates within a structured software development lifecycle that guides the development process.

Step 1: Concept - Ideation and Opportunity Analysis

The initial phase puts into perspective defining the value of the product. The Agile product owner and stakeholders will define the scope of the project, identifying all the principal requirements, priorities, feature set priorities, and the overall end results. The concept phase will determine the anticipated timing and costs for product development to bring transparency and avoid misunderstandings. 

Note, that if stakeholders need the product with no clearly defined end results, Agile will be an appropriate development methodology. However, if they go for outsourcing, the time & materials model will fulfill stakeholders’ development goals, since it is impossible to calculate the precise finalized budget of the project. 

Step 2: Inception - Team Setup and Initial Planning

The inception phase is about the practical planning of the product development. This includes: 

• Identifying Developers: no rigid role assignment, just stakeholders required for project development. 

• Defining the Minimum Viable Product: to economize financial input before practical coding). 

• Creating Wireframes and Prototypes: to visualize the MVP, clarify user journeys, and gather early feedback.

The inception phase is about setting a development environment for the first few iterations rather than a complete and fixed development process of the whole product. 

Step 3: Iteration/Construction - Building in Sprints

Iteration represents the foundational phase of Agile product engineering, as it breaks down the development process into small cycles. This phase incorporates strategic partnership between designers and developers to analyze the MVP feedback, implement alterations, and evolve the MVP into a fully-featured product.

Collaboration is continuous since the first few iterations will be dedicated to crafting the core app’s functions (which can include alterations). Later iterations will focus on adding the ongoing features. Iterative approach promotes frequent adjustments without derailing the overall product vision.

Step 4: Release - Final Testing and Deployment

Increments enable alterations and adaptations at each development stage, yet the ‘Release’ phase focuses on preparing the product for the final deployment on the mainnet or the blockchain. The phase involves Quality Assurance testing on detecting bugs and inconsistencies to prevent costly reworks once launched. Additionally, the ‘Release’ phase includes the integration of all increments and conducting security audits to make sure the software is stable, functional, and reliable.

Step 5: Production - Ongoing Support and Updates

The production phase refers to the post-deployment activities developers perform to maintain the correct and efficient functionality of the software. These include bug fixing, error handling, adding new features after gathering and analyzing clients’ feedback. The continuous improvements make the product valuable, preserving its competitive edge. 

Step 6: Retirement - Sunset and Migration Strategy

Retirement is the final phase, which occurs as a result of the product retirement or the overall system’s incompatibility with the market changes, compliance, or its overall technical obsolescence.  In the first case, if the new product is developed, the user base will be transitioned as this phase includes data transferring. However, if there is no new product, the developers will notify clients, perform end-to-life product activities, archive, and delete data, and terminate the app. 

Explore more about Agile and its frameworks in our article.

Agile Methodologies: Frameworks That Power Agile Teams

Agile is an extensive philosophy that offers an umbrella of frameworks for developers to guide the development process proactively and effectively.

Scrum - Widely Recognized Agile Framework

As an iterative and incremental Agile framework, Scrum breaks down work in short sprints of the fixed length (1-4 weeks). Scrum’s key purpose is to deliver the functional incremental at each of the iterations. The key roles of this methodology include:

• Product Owner: they define the what of the product. 

• Scrum Master: they decide how the element will be produced. 

• Development Team: employees who build it. 

Scrum involves daily standups, sprint planning, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospectives to analyze and evaluate the progress, roadblocks, and areas of improvement to keep transparency and adaptation within the development. 

Kanban - Visual Workflow for Continuous Delivery

Kanban is a visual workflow management framework that focuses on preventing bottlenecks by minimizing Work-in-Progress (WIP). This approach applies the Kanban board to visualize tasks and move them through the predefined stages (e.g., ‘To Do,’ ‘In Progress,’ ‘Under Review,’ ‘Done’). Work is pull-based, meaning new tasks are only started when capacity becomes available, enabling a continuous flow rather than fixed iterations.

Extreme Programming (XP) - Fast, Feedback-Driven Development

The overall purpose of the Extreme Programming framework is to engineer best practices and conduct frequent releases (in short cycles) all supported by an extreme reliance on the hand-in-hand collaboration with the client. The core XP practices are:

• Pair Programming.

• Test-Driven Development (TDD).

• Continuous Integration.

• Collective Code Ownership.

Discover findings on Agile development lifecycle and frameworks.

Lean Software Development - Efficiency and Waste Reduction

Lean development framework reflects the principles of manufacturing processes, aiming to enhance product efficiency and reduce the development-associated waste. The ultimate goal of this software development approach is to streamline the whole value flow from initial idea to final delivery. Lean software development focuses on seven following principles:

• Waste Elimination.

• Learning Amplification. 

• Late Decision-Making. 

• Fast Delivery.

• Team Empowerment.

• Built-In Integrity. 

• A Complete Perspective. 

Crystal - Tailored Agile Processes for Different Teams

Crystal is an adaptive framework of software development that believes that any project has its unique requirements adapting the practices based on the project characteristics such as team size and overall scope. Then, it assigns lighter processes to the smaller projects while in-depth ones to the complicated products. 

Crystal emphasizes the value of people and team collaboration over rigid processes or tools, believing that the skills, communication, and involvement of the development team have the most significant impact on project success.

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

DSDM delivers functions incrementally, yet it is rigid in control over the scope, time, and budget. The framework prioritizes governance over human force, by imposing clear roles while working with iterative development cycles to deliver business needs and value. 

Feature-Driven Development (FDD)

FDD approach is centered on the ‘build-by-feature’ approach as it prioritizes crafting features within short iterations. The framework underlines five following pillars:

• High-Level Model Development.

• Feature List Completion.

• Planned Work by Feature. 

• Designed by Feature. 

• Each Feature Development. 

Benefits and Challenges of Agile Software Development

As one of the most widely adopted software development methodologies, Agile comes with advantages and limitations that should be carefully thought out to determine whether it will suit the project or not. 

Key Benefits

The Agile methodology of software development provides a wide range of benefits that go far beyond speed, collaboration, and adaptability. That’s a true approach of project engineering that aspires to embracing the altering market demands through its inherent flexibility. 

Enhanced Client Satisfaction 

The continuous cooperation and client involvement are welcome within Agile and its principal frameworks, leading to higher satisfaction level, since all the new requirements or alterations can be integrated within iterations even during the final stages of software development. 

Outstanding Product Quality

Since each iteration encompasses all stages of the software development cycle, the continuous testing is helpful in detecting the minor defects to prevent them from piling up. Early error detection allows faster problem-solving, making development clear and transparent that, consequently, leads to the high product quality. 

Substantial Risk Mitigation

As compared to the traditional methodologies, the active client involvement and regular feedback prevent misconception allowing faster integration of the new features or change implementation, which significantly reduce risks, as all modifications and alterations are integrated within the iterations. The client can review the progress and provide feedback on whether the feature is correct or needs improvement. 

Source: Agilemania.

Common Challenges

Regardless of the plethora of strategic advantages that keep the product at its competitive level, Agile presents a range of drawbacks businesses have to keep in mind prior to developing their software.  

Over-Customization

The key delusion of operating Agile is to fit it to the organizational needs rather than adjusting organizational processes around the methodology. Over-customization is that case as the development team aspires for adding new elements, which can, consequently, undermine Agile’s principles of simplicity and transparency, presenting the following challenges:

• Scalability Complexities: over-customization leads to a different framework adaptation across the teams involved, leading to inconsistencies in documentation and interaction. When scaling, an abundance of features can further hinder smooth cross-team coordination.

• Loss of Agile Core Benefits: over-customization undermines Agile’s simplicity and team’s self-organization, making teams customize elements differently. Later it will cause overhead in cross-team collaboration, leading to the aforementioned scalability issues. 

Stress

Stress in Agile is a considerable challenge (especially for Crystal framework), as rapid alterations, short iterations, and frequent changes require high adaptability skills, which can turn to employee burnout. Here’s what risks stress brings to the Agile software development: 

• Decreased Quality: developers can cut corners to meet deadlines, which leads to an increase in tech debt and overall reduction in the quality of product. 

• Undermined Innovation: again, short iterations can impose the aforementioned ‘deadline’ challenge, as the employees are focused on delivering their work on time instead of searching for innovative solutions. 

Fragmented Delivery

Fragmented delivery is one of the most critical development challenges in Agile, since the team focuses on isolated feature development. Yet still, the workers can provide the working parts of the overall solution. Nevertheless, the integration occurs at the last phase of development leading to the overhead and increased demand in time. Here’s how fragmented delivery undermines business value. 

• Loss of Product Vision: Focusing on crafting isolated features leads to the loss of the overall product goal, which undermines perceiving these separated elements as a part of the wholesome product ecosystem. Consequently, this can lead to the disconnected functionality, rather than a fully-fledged and well-organized solution. 

• High Risk of Rework: Lack of integrations and continuous testing can lead to the prolonged reworks if mismatches and inconsistencies are detected late during the software development process. 

What Makes Agile Different from Traditional Methods like Waterfall?

Both agile and waterfall methodologies are widely used in software development. Nevertheless, each of them operates within different approaches to role definition, work organization, and stakeholder integration. 

Agile 

Agile methodology is about flexibility in the development process, meaning that the teams can be self-organized with emphasized professional self-reliance rather than a complete dependence on the project manager. 

Agile is adaptable to alteration at different stages of product development. Since the project feature development is divided into small iterations, the stakeholders can assess the progress and request any alterations or modifications. 

Agile is a perfect option for businesses that have an interest in outsourcing. The dedicated team model will cover business needs yet preserving Agile’s flexibility:

• Faster Time to Market with Incremental Value: the team enables businesses to release features and drive the value faster based on Agile's short development cycles, as they enable frequent and fast progress delivery. 

• Improved User Satisfaction and Powered Product: due to the continuous testing, regular feedback and Agile’s focus on incremental improvements within each sprint, the team can cover user needs and expectations.

• Optimized Transparency & Predictability: sprint reviews, daily standups, and continuous communication shed light on the project progress, roadblocks, and further upcoming deliverables, promoting well thought-out stakeholders’ decision-making. 

Waterfall

Unlike Agile, Waterfall runs within a rigid requirement set, presenting no alteration during the overall projects. That’s the cause for the longer development process, and a more extensive planning phase. Each requirement has to be broken down to omit even the slightest misinterpretations.

The role-definition is inflexible. Once assigned, the employee will perform the assigned activity. Waterfall lacks inter-department collaboration and stakeholders’ involvement, since it focuses on clarity of scope, defined at the planning phase.

If businesses seek to implement outsourcing - the project-based model will cover Waterfall’s initiatives in full. See, project-based outsourcing benefits within Waterfall:

• Budget and Timeline Predictability: project-based outsourcing works within the fixed-price contractual basis, enabling businesses to estimate the overall delivery schedule and the overall development cost of the project with minimal extra investment. 

• Clear & Set Requirements: project-based outsourced teams work within the comprehensive requirement basis, fulfilling Waterfall’s perspective on consistent, no-altering development process. The team can then focus on the rigid and formal documentation.

• Clear Deliverables at Each Stage: project-based outsourcing team works within a clear set of deliverables, enabling to cover Waterfall development stages (e.g., code module, test reports). 

 Gain insights into the outsourcing models by engagement type, contract, and location.

Agile vs. Waterfall: Which Is Right for Your Product Development?

Summarizing the overall comparison of Waterfall vs Agile product development, Waterfall is about durable and non-altering product development. It suits projects with clearly thought out requirements, timelines, and budgets. Agile seeks adaptability and alterations, making it appropriate for the projects with vague requirements and evolving product visions. Let’s break down the appropriateness of each model in the comparison table. 

The Future of Agile: Trends and Integrations

Agile shifts from serving small projects to covering the needs of large-scale corporations, as with the focus on adaptability, openness to changes, and iterative cycles is promising to software development yet brings debate to the table. 

How DevOps and Agile Intersect

Agile and DevOps engineering are complementary approaches, as Agile is about fast execution of the working features, while DevOps is about streamlining and automating the delivery of the whole software. When intersect, they create an uninterrupted feedback process: 

• Continuous Integration with Minimal Fragmented Delivery: Agile produces features in small portions, while DevOps will automate them through CI/CD pipelines to provide a reliable deployment. 

• Automated Feedback: Agile obtains feedback from key parties involved while DevOps will provide automated feedback on system stability and issues in the live environment. 

Agile in AI and Remote-First Teams

Agile shows efficiency in the continuously evolving domains by optimizing working processes. Although focusing on real-time face-to-face communication and co-location collaboration, Agile proves its effectiveness for the remote-first teams. That’s because daily virtual stand-ups, online Kanban boards, and frequent video conferences help workers keep track of the progress, remaining fully involved in the sprint. 

Is Agile Evolving or Being Diluted?

Regardless of Agile’s wide spread and global recognition, there are the ongoing arguments on whether the methodology is evolving or diluted. 

• The Supporters’ Argument: Agile evolves and can be introduced to the large enterprise-grade solutions, which, however, requires continuous adjustments. Since Agile is adaptive, the development processes have to evolve. Scaling frameworks like SAFe and LeSS are essential to keep up with the complex project development, yet remaining loyal to Agile’s values and principles. 

• The Opponents’ Point: Agile loses its value since the large corporations integrate it for its name only by sacrificing delivering a working software at each sprint for the sake of bureaucratic work and rigid documentation, losing its core value.

Summary

Agile lifecycle brings flexibility and adaptability to software development, focusing on the self-organizing nature of teams. The inclusion of alterations and frequent cooperation with the stakeholders are the true nuggets of Agile’s appropriateness for the products with altering needs. Hence, if you need a continuously evolving software Agile is the right development approach.

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