Time: 30 minutes to research + 5 - 10 minutes writing
Introduction:In this lesson we’ve introduced you to the general concept of software development by exploring both what software development is and why we develop software. In this activity, you are going to build on that foundation knowledge with research to develop your own definition of what software development is.
Purpose: Completion of this activity has two benefits:
Gathering different perspectives and definitions of what software development is will help broaden your understanding of this complex subject.
Developing your own definition will help solidify your own understanding and interpretation of what software development is and help you communicate this to others. This is useful because, as testers, we need to always be thinking about why we are developing something and being an advocate for whoever is going to use the software.
Activity:
Research different definitions and descriptions of “software development”. Below are some research suggestions:
Speak to others on The Club or on our Slack groups
Search for articles, blogs posts or videos on the subject
From your research, create your own definition or brief description of what software development is and post it as a reply to this thread. We’d love to read your thoughts and it’ll help other learners on this course with their research too.
Software development is the process of creating software products, which enhance our lives in several areas, for instance transport logistic, medicine, communication, etc.
Really like your definition and thanks for being the first to post one (Super brave!).
I really like your point of ‘enhance our lives’ as enhancing things has a knock on effect in the wider world and on the individual. Software can both enhance the good things and bad things in the world for example social media connecting people but sharing misinformation.
As testers we have to consider all these outputs, so I think that’s a great part to have in your definition.
I like that your definition describes the high level activities/goals within Software development as it helps demonstrate the complexity of delivering software beyond just writing code.
One question I would like to ask is: Could it be expanded though to consider the ‘why’ in your definition? Why do we identify, gather, build and maintain software? Is it to make money, to help an end user or to make a business more efficient?
Software development is combined processes of creating, designing, documenting, programming, supporting, deploying, and testing of applications, programs, systems, or other software components.
Software development is a holistic approach that isn’t focussed solely on one thing. The process encompasses planning, designing, developing, testing, deployment, and maintenance phases of the software development cycle. Ultimately, software is developed to improve efficiency and make more tedious tasks easier, giving us the time to do the things we really enjoy.
Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, testing and maintaining software components and applications.
Software can be developed to meet the private needs of a specific client/business, to meet the need of some set of potential users(open source) or for personal use.
Hi Alan.
Love that you’ve included the word “conceiving” in there! Ideation is a big first step in software development, and it’s hard!
Also really like the fact you’ve included “personal use” too. You’ve mentioned that software can be developed for private needs too - what about public needs too?
Software Development is the process of creating a new software product by analyzing the idea, designing how it will work, coding the devised solution, maintaining the final product and creating new ideas for improvements.
Let’s give it a try: Software Development is the entire process (e.g. conception, design, building, testing, maintenance) of creating (part of) a software product that tries to serve a certain need.
Software development is the overall process it takes for a software idea (prototype) to turn into a deliverable product. The process continues as the product is maintained and new ideas are added to further add to the value of the product.
Hopefully not too confusing, but here we go: Software Testing is the combination of several stages from initial idea, to creation, deliverance, testing, amongst others to develop a new product, generally thought to make our lives easier and better.
Software Development is the process of coming up with ideas and creating software products in order to solve problems, make things more convenient or faster and to enhance our lives. It takes an holistic approach that covers the process from the initial concept to the finished product, which includes researching, designing, testing, implementing and supporting the software.
Software development is the conception of an idea then planning out that idea and designing and developing the software to releasing the software and maintaining that software.
Software development is the process of creating software from conception, to planning, to testing, to release, and finally the maintenance of the product.
Software development is planning of and executing the creation of software solutions with the purpose of creating useful software that solves a problem or enhances everyday life in some manner. The development process consists of planning, designing of UI/UX and underlying architecture for the software, programming the software, releasing it to the users and maintaining/supporting that software, with testing being performed throughout the process.