Software Engineering Methods

“Sprint Review focuses on the product and Sprint Retrospective on the process.”

Waterfall

• Requirements → design → code → integrate & test → operations

• The problem with the waterfall method is that it delays critical risk resolution and discovery of defects, which can become expensive to fix later on.

  

Iterative & Incremental Approach

• Iterative - project is divided into iterations
• Incremental - Functionality is added incrementally
• Work is prioritized based on risk. The higher the risk for a task, the earlier the iteration. For instance, if you are introducing a new technology, you should do it in iteration 1. By doing so, you mitigate the highest project risk early in the project.
• Examples - Spiral, RUP

Agile

• Similar to iterative & incremental approach, but the work prioritized is based on value. The goal is to deliver value to the customers ASAP, so the functionality the customer wants the most.

• Examples - XP Extreme Programming (which focuses on powerful technical practices), Scrum (which focuses on project management)

  

Lean

• Focus on optimizing the end-to-end workflow by reducing waste.

  

  Lean Principles

• Lower waste: waste is anything that does not add customer value. If a new feature ends up in the testing queue for weeks, then it’s considered “waste”

• Examples - Lean software development, Kanban