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AGILE VS WATERFALL
Hello everyone and welcome back to yet another edition of how to make life easier on a daily basis by choosing your tools rightly.
Today, I will be sharing with you an interesting topic on which software development system should be adopted for your project among the two widely known software developing approaches.
Though these two approaches; agile and waterfall are great tools in developing software products, greater attention must be paid to details in order not to get the whole project messed up.
So, I will be revealing to you the secret behind how each approach functions and the better option for your project in order to get the best result.
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What is Agile?
Agile methodology is a simple design that is used in software development and project management systems that expects change.
The focus is on not doing alot of upfront planning too far in advance but follows some series of steps guided by the principles and set goals for the project which is iterative in nature.
Though the system is more recent, it has gained so many companies’ confidence as many people find it a better option to manage their projects.
There are a couple of frameworks running under the same principles of agile-iterative approach and examples include;
Kanban, Scrum, Crystal, Dynamic Systems Development Method, Feature-Driven Development, etc.
The very key feature of this model which has given it upper hand over its worldwide known competitor, agile, is its ability to adjust to changes.
Agile operates under 4 Values and 12 principles which have been discussed at length in one of my previous posts What is a Scrum Master? .
What is Waterfall?
Waterfall is a traditional means of managing a software project with well laid down plans; fixed budget, fixed scope, fixed time with good quality, right from the initial stage of the whole process.
Scope of the software development is known and well outlined before starting at all.
Changes to the original plan in this model is very difficult as they have to be addressed properly in order not to alter the whole project as one step is directly dependent on the next.
Waterfall methodology is the first to be used in project managing systems and has been in existence for a very long time, well-known and equally used by many companies that are into software production.
The methodology employs a more systematic approach in handling all their activities – one step should be completed and implemented before moving to the next.
Is Agile different from Waterfall?
Theoretically, Agile and Waterfall are two different methodologies used in software development with their distinct features and manner of approach.
Example; Agile is iterative/cyclic in nature while Waterfall is sequential/linear.
But deep beneath all these superficial feature differences lies the same manner of approach.
Therefore, when it comes to the practical approach of how things are done, these two methodologies follow the same pattern.
There are five main phases involved in software development using either Waterfall model or Agile.
They include;
- Plan: It is at this phase understanding of the software development is gathered by asking necessary questions on meeting customers’ demand and finding appropriate ways to meet it.
- This phase is the most crucial stage of development even though no action is taken but decisions taken here will cut across all the phases.
- Product management team is the one involved with the analysis.
- Design: Software developer team works in this phase by determining the best technology.
- They then draw out the architectural layout of project execution plans that are used in tackling problems identified by the product management team- which is customers’ need.
- This phase is characterized by proper documentation of customers’ needs and solutions provided by the team which is then compared for approval by other team members.
- Develop: Based on the approved design, a code/program is created at this phase and implemented.
- Testing: It is at this phase that code generated is implemented in executing the software development.
- It is also tested to ensure the goal has been achieved before sending the product out to the customers.
- Deploy: This involves dispatching the final product to the environment which it was required.
Advantages and disadvantages of using Agile methodology
Advantages
- Incremental work goes through design, develop, deploy & test and received feedback from customer:
- Improvement upon the quality of the final product is possible because of active involvement in the project by giving feedback as at when due.
- Changes are welcome which helps in keeping up with user needs that usually evolve with the world:
- Agile methodology is a constantly evolving software developing system that encourages changes which enable the team to eventually produce what will satisfy customers’ needs.
- Minimum viable product and feedback benefit: Agile produces the first product with sufficient features to be improved upon by their customers which will assist in general acceptance of the product.
Disadvantages
- Highly unpredictable: The final product of agile can’t be predicted as any changes that can alter the whole process can be implemented at any of the phases.
- Customers are carried along in all the project’s phases which some of them may not really appreciate as they consider it time consuming and stressful.
- Additional cost is oftentimes involved as change in plan can attract more money outside the original budget.
Advantages and disadvantages of using Waterfall
Advantages
- More than one project can be handled at a time: It doesn’t involve too many people at the same time depending on which phase of production they are.
- This implies that the team can be working on more than one project at a time.
- Code generated can be reused: since there is no changes to the requirement, same code generated can be used over and over again for the exact product.
- This makes the work smooth and a lot easier.
- Production of a more accurate budget for the project: this feature of Waterfall is well appreciated by the customers as the total cost of the whole project can be accurately predicted before starting.
- This gives them an idea of how much will be invested into the product production.
Disadvantages
- Needs of customers are often not met: As humans, our choice of what we want is oftentimes influenced by what we see.
- Since the customers are not part of the production process and also not going back on whatever has been done, the end product most times does not meet customers’ satisfaction.
- Challenges or changes in the middle are hard to execute: Perfect plan is expected to be produced as there is no going back.
- Once plans have been made and the project has started, change is never an option as this can cost so much if the whole doesn’t get distorted.
- Therefore, in order to avoid this, the planning has to be extra careful which puts a lot of pressure on them.
- Feedback has no impact on product’s quality: feedback from customers does not add any value to the product produced because it is usually gotten after the project has been completed.
- Deadline creep: since all activities are sequential, a delay in one activity generally affects the remaining which can result in the inability to meet up with the project deadline.
- Heavy on Documentation: Waterfall is known for too much documentation as it is an integral part of the project execution which can be tiring at times.
Difference between Agile and Waterfall?
Flexibility
Waterfall process is not flexible as a single change can destabilize the whole process while Agile is a more flexible and frequently evolving model that changes at almost every stage is possible and allowed.
Handling of challenges
Problems not envisaged at the planning stage and have an appropriate solution can easily interrupt activities of the waterfall project.
Whilst within
Agile is ever ready for any obstacle that may occur. Quick change of original plan to suit present situation is common with Agile
Prior knowledge of what final product will be like
With the waterfall model, the team already knows what they are expecting as it has been predetermined even before the onset of the process.
In contrast the final product in Agile can never be predicted as so many changes may occur leading to production of something entirely different from the start off requirement.
Quality of product
Most times, Agile is more concerned about meeting up with the project’s deadline thereby resulting in production of product with lesser quality.
But in the case of waterfall, the end product is more important than just meeting up with the deadline.
Features are added as needed
Products with better features are produced as changes are incorporated whenever necessary in Agile whereas Waterfall does not temper with the original feature documented.
Human resources challenge
In waterfall, since all the activities that will take place throughout the production process have been well spelt out.
If an individual occupying a key position pulls out from the team, the production process can still continue with another person carrying his/her responsibility.
This same scenario can put a halt to all activities going on with Agile especially if it is the product owner that pulled out.
Which Software Development Approach is better?
Basically, the type of project to be carried influences the choice of which approach to adopt.
When dealing with software projects- website design, software development, more complex projects that often require change, time bound projects and the likes.
Agile is always the best method to use because the software is prone to frequent change and waterfall is not suited for that purpose since it’s not structured to adapt to change.
On the other hand, waterfall model would be a better option for simple projects with well-defined, precise and specific requirements from the customers because there won’t be any need for change.
It is always so difficult getting people to know exactly what they want even without a prototype.
Therefore, you find out companies prefer to use agile at the long run as it is not too strict with its planning process and if a problem is encountered, they can easily go back to the drawing board to make adjustments.
