Agile software development is the ability to develop a software solution under specific requirements, timelines, and specifications through collaborative effort.
To be even more specific, Agile software development is simply a relatively new approach to software development that focuses on working on specific requirements through collaborative effort, organization, and cross-functional teams between the business and customers or users.
You could think of it as a methodology that contains other different methods, practices, and approaches to software development through which software engineers can successfully create and finish any given project.
In short, agile software development is based on the idea of working together with stakeholder requirements, advocating for rapid and evolutionary development processes that enable adaptive planning and constant improvement throughout the entire project.
Basic concepts and pillars of agile software development
In order to carry out agile software development in an appropriate way, it is necessary to follow a series of concepts, pillars if you will, in a rigorous way. Let's review each of these:
Respect
The most important pillar, and the first one we are going to discuss, is respect. For software development to be agile and as a team, there must be great respect among its members. A culture should be fostered where everyone on the team has a voice, who doesn't feel like they're going to be punished if they speak up or offer a different point of view.
Optimized and sustainable flow
An article published on the Atlassian website explains “A streamlined workflow is about implementing incremental delivery, reduced batch sizes, and continuous improvement. The agile mindset builds on quality by enabling teams to maximize value and minimize waste. It's much easier to fix a problem when it occurs than at the end of the workflow. For example, think of flow like painting a house. If you paint a wall the wrong color, it won't take long to repaint and fix the problem. But if you paint the whole house the wrong color, the problem escalates dramatically and results in a lot of wasted time and energy.”
Motivate team innovation
One of the drivers of agile software development is a motivated team, a group of developers that feels appreciated and that their ideas are taken into account. The team leader or the Project manager must keep an eye on this concept, reward innovative ideas, not only listen to them but apply them, so that the person sees that their ideas do not just stop there: an idea.
Focus on relentless improvement
Atlassian comments, “The agile mindset is not something that teams achieve, but something that is continually cultivated. Teams should strive to find ways to optimize, problem solve, reflect, and continually improve on the process. In addition to collaborating, optimizing workflow, and fostering innovation, teams should implement retrospectives or cooling off periods to improve future processes."
Rootstack encourages an agile software development mentality in its teams so that our clients feel that they made the right decision by entrusting us with their technological project. Do not hesitate to contact us and start working with us.
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