Development and Production Software Environments

Software development, whether for use by one or more of a company’s internal departments, new or existing customers, or anyone accessing information on the internet and web, should follow a structured and transparent process. Gone are the days when programmers could say something like, “While you go see what they want, I will start programming.” These two processes should never start at the same time.

What a software application needs to do is to provide a benefit to its end user, and that must be the end goal and sole purpose of any software development project. On occasion, the end user must represent other imposed requirements, like those from governments, trade associations, and partners, but even in these cases and virtually all others, the first and most important activity of any project is planning. To paraphrase the many who are credited with some version of an old saying, the lack of planning can quickly be a plan for failing. While the intended audience of this advice was very likely not software developers, its truth still applies.

If the requesting end user or website operator can explain, in detail, just what the finished product is to do, what it should look like, and maybe how it should do it, the objective can be defined and perhaps visualized. So with the objective as the project’s guiding light, the project planning can begin. As you will see, some development methods emphasize the involvement of upper management, stakeholders, and SMEs. Assuming the requesting party has obtained approval of the project’s scope from the appropriate decision-makers, the development project can begin.