Keeping up with the speed of the market, agile development has become an increasingly present approach in modern companies. This is a different reality from that observed when the concept was proposed. In the beginning, agile development practices and mindset were restricted to a set of high-tech companies , which corresponded to a niche market.
Little by little, the model expanded and conquered the information technology and tech consultants in departments of several companies.
As a result, today, managers from all areas are inspired by agile development methodologies and concepts to lead their teams’ projects .
Not because processes are more technological and computerized than ever, but because the dynamics of the current market demand, more than ever, agility and efficiency.
Organizations need to incorporate these characteristics into their culture , and this only happens if actions are taken in this direction in all their sectors, not just in the development of management software and systems.
In this article, we will talk about the following topics:
- What is agile development?
- When did the term agile development first appear?
- Traditional development vs. agile development
- Benefits of Agile Development
- 4 values of agile development
Want to understand what agile development is and how to apply it in your company? Keep reading!
What is agile development?
Agile development is an approach in which software is developed collaboratively , with multidisciplinary teams that have a good level of autonomy in carrying out their work.
Many consider agile development as a set of methods, but this view is somewhat limited.
Because a method is a predefined set of practices, which can lead to a more rigid mindset, something that more closely resembles the traditional software development model.
Methods are important, yes. They are fundamental, as they are already tested models that allow you to put agile development concepts into practice more easily.
Before dedicating yourself to studying these practices in depth, however, it is more important to know the values and principles of agile development, which we will explain in more detail later.
Therefore, agile development is, above all, a mindset , which leads to certain models of structuring software creation projects .
It is a results-oriented approach that enhances creativity, innovation and, above all, flexibility .
Fundamental characteristics in any company that wants to stand out in the Age of Information , connectivity, globalization and Industry 4.0 .
When did the term agile development first appear?
As previously stated, agile development is, above all, a mindset, a set of concepts that are put into practice thanks to certain process management methodologies.
Several of these methodologies, however, already existed before the term agile development became popular. Some examples are DSDM, Scrum, Crystal Clear, XP, UP and FDD, all developed throughout the 1990s. Despite the existence of these methods, which led to quite satisfactory results, there was a set of traditional practices that many technology companies still followed.
It was when a group of developers who had already experienced the benefits of the agile model for managing processes discussed the subject in a workshop held in the city of Snowbird, in the American state of Utah. From this occasion was born the Manifesto for Agile Software Development , also known simply as the Agile Manifesto .The 17 programmers who signed it had experience with agile methodologies and observed that the successful projects they worked on had certain concepts in common. From then on, the term agile development began to be used to refer to this set of methodologies but, before that, as we have already highlighted, to a new type of mentality in conducting projects.
Traditional development vs. agile development
The traditional software development model is executed in a waterfall fashion , that is, for a phase of the project to begin, the previous phase must be completed.
In this approach, linear by definition, there is a very rigid division between roles, marked by the specialization of professionals who carry out certain activities. Size is the degree of linearity, rigidity and specialization that most professionals involved in traditional development do not need to think much about what they are doing, just execute what has already been determined in the previous phases. One of the problems with waterfall development is that, in the technology field, the idea of a project with a beginning, middle and end and well-defined stages is a myth. It’s not that it never ends, but rather that errors normally occur , so that the work of a certain stage, already completed, will have to be repeated, making the waterfall model extremely inefficient.
After all, we are not talking about normal industrial production, but rather about work in the knowledge economy , made up of activities that are less deterministic and repetitive and more creative and prone to errors. In agile software development, it is already known in advance that all stages of the project will be executed more than once during the project. Instead of a waterfall, processes are conducted in a spiral fashion , with small cycles in which the software is tested and approved. Since creating software or a system involves a great deal of detail, it is necessary that the work in progress is constantly tested. Because it is known that errors arise in any project (such as one of those many details being left out in a certain functionality), and noticing them in the last stage is extremely counterproductive.
Benefits of Agile Development
From what we have just discussed, errors found in agile development are corrected organically , within the natural progress of the project.
Hence the word “agile”. In traditional methodologies, rework generates a new cascade of steps, making the project much longer and more costly than it could be. Therefore, the first benefit of agile software development is that it takes less time to complete and consumes fewer resources. After all, it is a more flexible approach, another positive point of this model.
Flexibility makes it easier to change the direction of a project, which can be motivated by countless other reasons besides errors.In the testing stage of a given cycle, for example, it is possible to obtain new insights and information , something that was not available before.
Unexpected external events may also occur, related to the consumer public, competition, the launch of a disruptive technology , etc. If there is flexibility in development, it is possible to adapt the work in progress to the new reality that arises. Agile development also has the great advantage of improving relationships and communication between professionals.
After all, organizational silos (rivalry and lack of collaboration between sectors) are broken down thanks to the formation of multidisciplinary teams. Furthermore, these teams have greater autonomy, which increases their satisfaction, motivation, engagement and productivity.
Ultimately, the customer is more satisfied with the service, as agile development focuses at all times on meeting their needs.
4 values of agile development
The group of developers who signed the Agile Manifesto defined four values for the concept they created.
The idea is to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Collaboration with the client more than contract negotiation
Responding to change rather than following a plan
It’s not that the items on the right aren’t important, that’s good to make clear. It’s just that the items on the left should be a priority over them. In the case of the first sentence, it encourages the understanding that software development is a human activity. Therefore, engagement and good communication between these people is more important than the tools they will use.
As for development documentation, it should not be left aside, but getting the software up and running is always what matters most, as it is what the customer is expecting. The third sentence values collaboration with the client in relation to negotiation, so that a relationship of partners is created, not adversaries. After all, everyone has the same goal.
Finally, the fourth value of agile development comes from the recognition that the software world is an environment with a lot of uncertainty. Instead of drawing up rigid plans and cascading steps, therefore, it is necessary to prepare for the possibility of adapting the project at any time.
Conclusion
As stated at the beginning of this article, agile development is widely known in companies and IT departments, but many methodologies can be applied in several other areas. It is necessary, however, to make a distinction: software development is an intellectual, knowledge- based activity , and not manual, operational work. This makes all the difference, as we are talking about work in which there is a lot of subjectivity often, there is no right or wrong , just assumptions. Of course, the codes themselves can be quite objective, but we are talking here about the client’s desire and the developers’ interpretation of it.
So when considering implementing agile development practices, think about how creative and error-prone your team’s work will be. Agile methodologies make projects more flexible , reducing risks as there are tests and approvals all the time.