"Software Development Process Model" Please respond to the following:
The needs for software development along with the organization's business objectives influence the required software development process model for a project. Review the various traditional and iterative software development process models.
Compare and contrast the planning and control mechanisms required by one traditional software development process model with one iterative development process model.
Differentiate between traditional and iterative software process models with respect to project activities and customer interaction. Present example(s) to support your answer.
The needs for software development along with the organization's business objectives influence the required software development process model for a project. Review the various traditional and iterative software development process models. Compare and contrast the planning and control mechanisms required by one traditional software development process model with one iterative development process model.
Waterfall model is the simplest and the traditional life-cycle model, also known as the 'linear-sequential' life cycle model. In a waterfall model, each phase must be completed before moving onto the next. A review process is scheduled at the end of each phase to check that the project is on the right track.
An iterative model does not attempt to start with a full specification of requirements. Instead, development begins by specifying and implementing just part of the software, which can then be reviewed in order to identify further requirements. This process is then repeated, producing a new version of the software for each cycle of the model.
Waterfall has been beat up a lot by those who reject it in favour of iteration, but it is actually a better fit when working with external vendors, since cost-control is often a key issue. Agile can be a great choice internally within organizations that are product focused and which foster an open enough environment to allow for communication and inter-departmental cooperation.
Differentiate between traditional and iterative software process models with respect to project activities and customer interaction. Present example(s) to support your answer.
Customers and stakeholders often don't know what they really want until they've had a chance to play with a working prototype. Since traditional model handles all the requirement gathering upfront, there's a real risk of missing the mark and causing further headaches down the project line.
But in the case of iterative model, it is adaptable and flexible and therefore can change according to the demands. Another advantage is that it is possible to get immediate feedbacks from the customer and make changes according to it.