Introduction

Software development is the creation or development of applications for computers and the internet.

In addition to programming, software development includes all the processes involved in creating and designing new systems.

The software development industry is growing fast, as shown by some of its various branches.

1. Backend development
2. Software tools development
3. API development
4. Embedded systems development
5. Security software development
6. Cloud computing
7. Mobile development
8. Web development
9. Application development
10. Data science

The main task of software developers is to create the foundations for the operational systems that computer programmers work on.

They do this by designing, writing and testing code for new systems and software. Software developers also confirm the performance of existing projects by running diagnostic programs and quality-assurance checks on them.

Phases

The development process consists of six basic phases.

1. Phase: Requirements analysis

The requirements for the project are defined by project managers and stakeholders — for example, who the future user is and how the application will be operated. The feasibility of the requirements is then assessed.

1. Phase: Design planning

Here, decisions are made about the software requirements, its appearance and the timeframe for developing the software. In addition, the engineers create a data model. Initial mock-ups are produced based on the previously defined requirements.

1. Phase: Implementation/coding

Programming begins here, based on the system-design documents received. The code is written based on the system-design specification document. This is generally the most time-consuming phase of the software development cycle.

1. Phase: Testing

During the development process, the software is tested in order to find issues during the build and fix them right away.

In addition to user testing, unit tests, system tests, acceptance tests and integration tests are also carried out.

1. Phase: Release

Once all the bugs have been found and the software runs reliably, it is released and made available to the end user.

1. Phase: Maintenance

In this phase, the issues that arise during use by customers are resolved.

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