Agile Development

Development Methodologies

There are many development methodologies around today; these are the structures in which a software company chooses to design its software, a road map for the development team.

The traditional way of designing a database system was using the Waterfall Method. This is where everything flowed on from the start to the end with little room for change. The requirements would be gathered, the design created, development carried out; then implementation, verification and finally support (see Fig 1 - Waterfall Method). The main problem with this sort of development is that it left no room for change through the development process.

Why Agile?

At Linear Blue, we understand that visualising your new system can be difficult at the start of a project. Often you are faced with a blank slate and a thousand questions. Understanding all the nuances of how your data will interact in your new system can be impossible. That is why we utilise something called the Agile Development Methodology (see Fig 2 - Agile Method).

Agile came about as an adaptation of various other forms in the mid 1990s, as a reaction against ‘heavyweight’ methods, such as waterfall. Agile allows for a more iterative form of development, which includes the client throughout the development of their system. By breaking the system down into manageable modules and having regular client project meetings, you, the client, can become a part of the development process. This, in turn, leads to a system that is designed around your every need, as opposed to a system that you need to fit around. In its most basic form, it allows you to work with the development team on a screen-by-screen basis to style and flow the screens being created in your new database.