The Guide to Software Development Philosophies

Regarding Software Development, there are quite a few approaches, methodologies, and styles. There is more than one single solution that works perfectly for every team or project! And figuring out which one is the best fit can be tiresome and time-consuming.

This article will explore five popular software development philosophies, briefly explaining what each entails and discussing their benefits. We'll also give you an idea of which projects or teams benefit most from each philosophy. Let's dive in!

Design-Driven Development

A design-driven development strategy revolves around design, experience, and usability. This means the design is an integral aspect from the beginning of the process, helping to test user flow. The result is a product that keeps every type of user in mind from day one. Design-driven development ensures a better final product in less time and less money.?

How does Design-Driven Development work?

Design-driven development works by having your designers and developers work closely together. This ensures that the final product matches the expected User Experience (UX). Moreover, in this approach, the app or site is often user-tested.?

How does it all happen exactly? After defining a customer problem, your team will brainstorm different solutions. A designer or developer will work on creating basic prototypes of the most popular ideas. These will be subjected to user testing to get feedback on what needs to be changed or improved. The final solution will be thoroughly designed and fed continuous user feedback before developing the final product.

What are Design-Driven benefits?

1. Identifies and eliminates issues early. Since design and UI/UX are focal points from the get-go, it's easier to pinpoint any potential problems.

2. Easier to estimate costs. It's not uncommon to start a project with a set budget only to realize that much more money is needed months later. When you create prototypes from the beginning, cost estimation becomes more straightforward and accurate.

3. More efficient joint work. Miscommunication between designers and developers can be not only frustrating but costly. When both the design and development teams work together from day 1, the end product benefits greatly, and you avoid extra costs.

4. Marketing Instruments Availability. When designers are involved from the start, you'll have detailed clickable prototypes, major design elements, and wireframes available early on the project. These are great tools to show potential investors and clients.

A design-driven approach can be beneficial in many cases. However, it is particularly helpful for teams looking for investors as they'll have an MVP to show in the short term. It is also an excellent option for small businesses or startups with limited budgets.

Domain-Driven Development

Domain-driven design (DDD) and development focus on the "mapping of core domain logic to software artifacts." This approach centers around the business requirement the website or app will solve instead of the technology used to solve it.

How does Domain-Driven Development work?

In DDD, the first step is to design the domain or core business logic. The domain is the "predefined field in which the application will be operating," and its logic is the purpose of your software design. You will turn to people working in that domain to design and develop the domain logic.?

You then create a model based on a real-world domain. To succeed in domain-driven design, the domain must be your primary focus, the domain model your project base, and you should ensure cross-team cooperation.

What are Domain-Driven benefits?

1. Aligned Teams. This approach requires the business and development teams to communicate in a common language. Thus, there is more room for clarity and communication.

2. More flexibility. DDD is object-oriented. This means almost everything in the domain model will be modular and encapsulated and, therefore, easy to change and improve.

3. Domain Prioritizing. Domain-driven designs rely on advice from domain experts. This means the result is more likely to be suitable for a representative of that domain and to resonate with its intended audience.

DDD is particularly handy for projects where your business goal is the number one priority. It is also great for projects that entail large systems with complex business logic. There is much more to DDD than we've discussed so far. Check out this article for a more detailed explanation of this software development philosophy.

Test-Driven Development

A test-driven development (TDD) approach means the development team writes tests before thinking about coding. The tests specify and validate what the code will do, leading to more straightforward, bug-free code.

How does Test-Driven Development work?

As mentioned, in TDD, writing tests is step number one. After creating a failing unit test, the developer writes enough code to pass that test. Once the test passes, the programmer can focus on improving the design. Test-driven development follows three rules:

● You can only write code to pass a unit test.

● If a unit test fails, you don't need any more until it passes.

● You can only write as much code as necessary to pass the test.

What are Test-Driven benefits?

1. Earlier Bug Detection. Since you have to create a unit test before you even start coding your software, bugs, and issues are detected right off the bat. You are also making a suite of automated tests you can reuse later.

2. Leads to better code. Early bug detection leads to better-quality code. And, because you only write as much code as you need, the code is simpler to understand and maintain.

3. Improves Teamwork. As the code is simpler to understand, any member of your team can jump in at any time. If someone is out of the office, you won't have to wait until they return to make progress or spend extra time figuring out the code. This benefits teamwork, makes coding more efficient, and prevents delays.

Test-driven development works wonders for teamwork. However, it is also recommended if you are working alone on a project that already has users. TDD is also a good match when writing a pure logic function.?

Data-Driven Development

In data-driven approaches, the development process is based on data analysis and interpretation. When making decisions, you rank data over experience or intuition. This data must be accurate and relevant for a data-driven development approach to succeed.

How does Data-Driven Development work?

To give data-driven development a chance, start by defining your data collection strategies. Another critical aspect is carefully choosing your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). KPIs and OKRs are what guide the development process, and they should be actionable.

What are Data-Driven benefits?

1. Easier Decision-Making. Data-driven development reduces risks, saves costs, and increases proactivity. It also decreases decision bias and is more objective than other approaches. This makes the decision-making process a lot more straightforward.

2. Engagement Improvements. A data-driven approach means the reasons behind what you make and how you make it are clear to everyone involved. This leads to better communication among the entire team. It also means team members have more confidence in the project, leading to better teamwork and higher job satisfaction.

3. Trends Prediction. Collecting data on how users interact with a given piece of software helps to predict trends and detect patterns. This information is crucial to understand user behavior. It also leads to developing viable solutions with higher chances of success.

This development philosophy can benefit projects from various sectors if they have sufficient data to analyze. If you are interested in data-driven development, look at this article for more information.

Behavior-Driven Development

This Agile methodology revolves around user behavior. Here, an app is designed and documented based on users' or clients' expectations and experiences. Behavior-driven development (BDD) forces developers to focus only on the needed features. BDD also encourages collaboration among developers, QA experts, and customer representatives. BDD is derived from test-driven development and domain-driven design and includes ideas from Object-Oriented Development.

How does Behavior-Driven work?

The client and the development team will discuss needs and create requirements together. These requirements are defined within structured scenarios, which will be the basis for automated testing. This philosophy also revolves around the 5 Ws principle to user stories.?

What are Behavior-Driven benefits?

1. Avoids Misunderstandings. BDD is a collaborative approach that requires no particular language or tools. This means all parties involved in the development process use the same plain language. Having a shared language improves communication and helps avoid misunderstandings.

2. High Visibility. Due to its plain language, behavior-driven development makes it easy for everyone involved in the project to keep track of progress.

3. User-Need Focused. In BDD, development revolves around the users' needs. This helps ensure product success.

BDD is great for projects where communication and automation are priorities. This approach is often used for microservices-based applications and systems with a user flow.

Final Thoughts

We recommend that you invest time in researching software development philosophies for your project. As you may know, the wrong fit can become costly and lead to wasted time. However, finding the right approach can take up a lot of time and effort.

We hope this article has helped you understand the basics of these different software development philosophies to make the process easier for you! Which one are you looking forward to trying out?

Written by?Mariel Lettier, Content Copywriter at?Capicua. Are you looking for a partner to take your idea to its next level and turn it into a profitable business??Get in touch, and let's shape the future together!