Software Development Best Practices That Will Make You More Efficient

From ideation and requirement analysis to design, coding, and maintenance, it’s imperative to know and apply the software development best practices to ensure success.

Software development or software engineering is not an easy feat. It involves complex tasks and processes.

In this post, we will cover five software development best practices that will help you with your future projects. Feel free to use the following guidelines on software developments below:

Top 5 Software Development best practices

1. Use The Right Software

2. Development Process

3. Keep Documenting Your Progress

4. Keep The Development Team On The Same Page

5. Adapt Software Development Standards

Practice #1: Use The Right Software Development Process

Having a systematized software development process is vital to any project. Also known as the software development life cycle (SDLC), this requires data-driven methodologies.

It is a detailed flowchart divided into different stages. Each state has specific goals and actionable items. The same thing applies to software engineering projects.

Using SDLC will help your team, and your clients set the right expectations. This strategy also ensures your methodologies are aligned with the overall objectives. Make sure to emphasize the value of each role to your members.

Choosing the right process for developing software depends on your specific requirements, client demands, specifications, and timeframe. Here are some of the most useful SDLC that you can use for developing software.

Agile Development

As the name implies, agile development is ideal for dynamic and fast environments.

• In this process, you need multiple teams that work hand-in-hand to hit your goals. These collaborative efforts by multiple teams quickly enable the organization to point out problems and streamline the process.

• This approach is usually used by large organization developers working in a fast-paced and demanding environment.

Examples of companies that use the Agile approach are Apple, Microsoft, and IBM.

So, if you have a large organization with projects that demands flexibility and fast responses and a small time frame, then the agile method is suited for you.

Waterfall Development

The waterfall approach is one of the oldest methodologies when it comes to development.

• It is a methodology that focuses on a logical and careful approach when creating and developing programs.

• A waterfall approach is a step-by-step approach to project making. Meaning the developer team will not proceed unto the next stage without the output from the previous phase.

The waterfall approach had been losing popularity since it’s structure can’t adapt to sudden changes or demands. But it is still used by new or beginner software developers to create their programs since it won’t be subjected to any sudden change.

It also instills in them the basics of developing a program and improves their attention to detail. So if you are a new or beginner developer that aims to create your program, then the waterfall approach is for you.

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Practice #2: Keep Your Code Simple

Our second piece of advice is one of the best coding practices that you can do. And that is “to keep your code simple.”

• First, a program with a simple code will make it easy to keep your other codes simple.

This will be beneficial in maintaining coherency as you progress in your development. Because a complex code is like a domino effect, one wrong input and everything may become messy.

• Second, a simple code will make it easy to be repurposed.

Changes and revisions of the code are common in developing a program. So keeping your code simple is being kind to yourself.

How to know if your code is simple? There are three simple work checks that you can do to tell if your code is straightforward:

Practice #3: Keep Documenting Your Progress

Our next advice is, always document.

Documentation is one of the many things that you should've done when you started the project.
Your documentation will help you be reminded of what your core values and goals are.
This will also help you always be in sync with your clients' needs.
Aside from the project as a whole, documentation should also be done on your code.

Best practices are the ones that are the most tedious but will result in more benefits in the long run. We know that documenting your code is very troublesome, but it will help you troubleshoot one of the many problems you may encounter on your software project.

Practice #4: Keep The Development Team On The Same Page

Our fourth piece of the best practice is to keep everyone on the same page. You can do this by:

1. Conducting short regular meetings with your team and clients.

2. Doing an upfront code review as part of your software engineering practices will also help everyone remain on the same page. It will remind them of the many coding standards and your advice can reduce the time to get their job done.

3. Regularly doing a code check will help keep up the quality, but it will also improve the team’s coordination and teamwork.

Practice #5: Adapt Software Development Standards

Receiving an ISO certificate for your program development has several benefits.

First, it improves your projects, since using ISO standards have been proven to increase productivity and maintain a high-quality working environment. Thus, making your finished projects better.
Second, is that it makes you an international presence, and that would enable you to work with clients all across the globe. Thus, making your value higher as a developer. A higher value would mean more projects and more possible profits from it.

Keep in mind, however, to choose a reputable institution. Always check the curriculum they offer and choose the best one that suits your needs.

Closing

Developing software may not be easy, but when done with the right practices and the right mindset, it will become less burdensome, less time-consuming, and more efficient.

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