Software Development – The Complete Guide

According to a report by Statista, the global software development industry will reach the size of $608 billion by the end of 2022.

Computers are an integral part of our lives. Software is a critical component of every computer. Whether it’s a banking system, a manufacturing system, a scientific or a research system, all industries use some kind of software.

As a business person looking to develop software, you will need some knowledge about the software development process. Unless you have an in-house team of software developers, you will have to outsource your software development project to a professional software development company.

The knowledge about the software development process will help you select the best company from the list of the top software development companies in the market. Software development requires specific skills and experience.

In this software development guide, we will discuss software development in detail. We will see the various types of software, the software development methodologies, the phases and processes involved in software development, and the cost of developing software. Let’s dig in.

What is Software Development?

The process of software development entails performing repeated steps to design, code and deploy software. The software development service providers work on planned stages to build the software. Once the software is built, it is then tested to see whether it meets the user requirements.

Collectively, the planned stages in the software development process are called the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). We will have a look at the various stages of the SDLC later in the blog.

Importance of Software Development

Software happens to be one of the most important components in modern business. Businesses can use custom software development for everything right from marketing to inventory management.

In fact, it has been observed taking into consideration many recent cases wherein developing software proved beneficial for many industries.

The software helps your business in the following ways.

• Improve customer satisfaction
• Help you manage your warehouse
• Market your business
• Achieve efficient communication within your organization

Major types of software

There are many types of software. Some are single-line software, while others run into thousands of lines. We can classify software into the following major types.

System software

System software is software that is built to run the computer’s internal functions. It is also responsible for connecting external devices like printers, hard disks, mouse, and keyboards with the computer.

Application software

End-user software programs are built to help the users complete their intended tasks. Software applications used for banking, designing, shopping, and browsing are examples of application software. Application software is normally built only for a specific purpose.

Programming software

Programming software consists of ready-made software components that help the programmers code in different languages. Examples of programming software are

• Compiler
• Debugger
• Interpreter

Embedded software

When coders write code for a specific set of devices, then it’s known as embedded software. A few examples of such types of software are software built for calculators, smartwatches, navigation systems, and robots.

What are the Different Software Development Models?

A software development model or methodology is a systematic way of developing software. There is a wide range of software development models one can choose from.

When selecting the methodology, ensure to select the most balanced model that would meet the project’s requirements and the comfort of the development team.

The following is a list of the most popular software development models available in the industry today;

• Waterfall
• Validation and Verification
• Agile
• Kanban
• Scrum
• Incremental
• Rapid Action Development
• Iterative
• Big bang
• Spiral
• Rational Unified Process

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

No discussion about software development is complete without discussing SDLC or the software development life cycle.

The SDLC is a clear step-by-step process that helps dedicated developers build software. By following the SDLC, you can ensure that the entire software development process is completed smoothly.

The entire Software Development Life Cycle is divided into the following stages.

• Software development requirements collection
• Study feasibility of the software development project
• Software design and architecture
• Software prototyping
• Software coding
• Software testing and deployment
• Software maintenance

A software development agency that follows the SDLC has better chances of delivering results. Hence you can keep adherence to the SDLC process as one of the selection criterias while choosing your software development company.

Software Outsourcing Models

There are different software outsourcing models through which you can outsource your software development. We have discussed the most popular ones below.

Dedicated team model

Your outsourcing service provider will provide a dedicated team of developers for your software project in the dedicated team model. These dedicated software developers will work only on your project.

The dedicated software development team model is an excellent way to own a team without incurring the costs and hassles of building an in-house team.

Staff Augmentation

Those business owners who already have an in-house development team for software development generally tend to go with the staff augmentation model.

In the staff augmentation model, you will lease top software developers from an outsourcing service provider. These leased workers will augment your internal team. You, as a business owner, will still own the project.

Project-based

In the project-based outsourcing model, you will outsource the complete software development project to the outsourcing service provider. In the project-based model, the entire responsibility of the project relies on the outsourcing service provider.

Cost to Develop Software

The cost to develop a software is one of the most important factors that one needs to assess in a software development project. Like every other project, a software development project also needs a budget. In order to estimate the cost to develop software, you will need to consider a few factors.

There are two main ways to estimate the cost of a software development project.

Based on the Software Size

As the size of the software increases so does its cost. This is because with size, the number of coding lines increases. As the number of coding lines increases, so does the number of developers’ hours invested in building the software. Ultimately this increases the cost of software development.

Based on the Type of Software

One can estimate the cost of developing a software-based on type of the software required to be built. For instance, it will be costlier to build an ecommerce software catering to millions of users as compared to building an internal CRM software intended for limited usage.

The cost to develop software is dynamically varying aspect that depends on various factors like:

• Size
• Complexity
• Software development approach
• Location of the developers
• Number of third-party integrations

How to hire the best software development company?

To build the most efficient software for your business, you will first need to hire a top software development company. Selecting the right software development firm can prove to be a difficult task.

This is because of the fact that there are thousands of software development companies in the industry. Your work becomes easier if you know what factors to look at while selecting the most appropriate software development company.

Having a set of core criteria to select the best software development company will be more useful in selecting a technology partner according to your needs. Here’s a precise list of the aspects that you must consider as an entrepreneur:

• Previous work of the company
• After-sales support
• Experience and technical expertise
• Software development cost

Assess the software development company on the above-mentioned parameters to zero in on your ideal software development company.

Wrap up

We hope that this guide to software development helps you achieve your goals. Software development is a complex process. Even small mistakes in coding and testing can extrapolate and turn into major blunders. That’s why it is important to have the knowledge on how to hire the best software developers who can do the job for you.

We have collated a list of the top software development companies in the world. While preparing the list of the best software development firms, we have taken care to include only the proven performers.

Our list includes software development solution providers that have worked with fortune 500 companies. You can select the software development partner of your choice from this list who follows the software development guide and build efficient software for your business.