Software development methodologies

As we all know, a programmer is a person who writes programs. But have you ever thought how he makes these programs?!

Just try to imagine – everything you see with the help of a computer – is the programmer’s business!
However it is not easy work. Long time ago (somewhere in the 20th century) programming appeared. The code, whose length was up to a kilometer, was written by the smartest people, later called “programmers” and later “developers”.
And nowadays all programs that we see we call software, and a programmer, who writes software programs is a developer.

As a rule, software development represents a bit chaotical activity, which we can characterize as “code and fix”. When the project is not big – it’s ok, but what if the project is growing up from day to day?! As a result –we spend too much time on testing and fixing bugs.

But, as you should know – you always have an alternative methodology to choose from!

A methodology turns the development of a new product into an ordered process with the help of which the work of a developer can be more predicted and efficient.

In last years as opposed to hard methodologies a group of new ones has appeared. They earlier were called “lightweight”. Today they are called “Agile methodologies”.

So, what does the term “Agile methodologies” mean?

The Agile methodology promotes reviewing, contribution and process applicability throughout the life-cycle of the project.

The Agile methodologies help to minimize the risk and allow the project to be adapted to changes more quickly.

Time Management Software

Most software companies have the same difficulties in tracking employee’s time and attendance as other companies do, often dealing with the same concerns and the same technology shortfalls. Most company managers consider that time management is one of the greatest challenges they face, even in high-tech businesses and that’s true.

There is a challenge to make sure that people are working on what they were assigned to work on and tracking the amount of time that is spent on productive versus nonproductive work becomes a necessity in high tech environment. The results of such a study are often quite surprising for companies and managers.

The most critical elements of any project are the ability to inform workers what tasks they have been assigned to, and the ability to track what the time was spent on. Executives tend to estimate on the high side when they are looking at time spent on the job. They express expectations that most of the employee’s working time is productive time. They are generally shocked when they learn that in fact only half or slightly more is productive working time. They are also dismayed to learn that the fault lies within their own project systems, not necessarily in employee’s dishonesty or intent. Corporate infrastructure can simply get in the way of employees spending all their time productively and that seems to be a reality across company types or products that are produced.

One of these keys to help employee’s productivity is to have systems and processes in place that minimize the time that employees will spend on red tape and administrative tasks. One of these is automation, but another important part of this is having productive meetings and reports. Many employees spend their days attending long meetings where little seems to be accomplished. It is up to managers to reduce the number of meetings and to make sure that these meetings are efficient when they take place.

Getting back to and sticking to the basics is the general rule of thumb. Even in software development and management companies, the 80/20 rule applies. Twenty percent of the organization delivers eighty percent of the value and that’s a hard statistic to refute or overcome. For the rest of the organization, this means finding out what the other part of the company is doing correctly and then seeking ways to adopt the successful methodologies and practices.