Agile And Waterfall Methodologies

By Author: Sherry Roberts
Total Articles: 150
Comment this article

Introduction
System developing is a matter of interest because it affects many operations of a company. Developing the best system that will be efficient for the operations depends on the methodologies used. A methodology is a framework that helps in structuring, planning, and control process of software development. A team of developers has compelling views on the best methodology to use. Among the many that exist, there are two main ones. They are the agile and waterfall methods. The methods are different, but they produce similar results depending on the needs of the developers.
Waterfall methodology
A waterfall methodology is a system development methodology that has product’s lifecycle phases take place in a sequence. The order of progress flows steadily from the top through the phases like a waterfall. Waterfall is not an invention of anyone. It is an inheritance by developers from other industries, particularly where a stage of production is complete; it becomes expensive to go back and make any changes. It is worth noting that this methodology is a primitive, but the drawbacks have been rectified by forming other models of development (Davis, 2012)
Agile methodology
Agile development methodology draws a linear sequential approach incrementally. Agile development model allows the developers to change requirements over time. This allowance for change prevents extensive planning and design upfront. The model came as a solution to the disadvantages that waterfall method has. Developers start with simple project design and work on small modules. The modules receive operation on timely basis such as weekly or monthly (Shore, 2008)
Agile vs. Waterfall methodology
Fujita & Marik (2009) point out that agile has a backward scalability. Backward scalability means that decisions and implementations made before can quickly change. Under the waterfall approach, it is hard to make any corrections. Conclusions and applications remain binding. If there is a change that is needed, the system will need to be built from scratch
Roeback (2011) shows that agile has flexibility to error check under any phase of development. This feature makes agile more free of errors and erroneous. Waterfall is different in that, it is not possible to test for errors and bugs during development phases. Errors and bugs can only undergo a test at the end of each development module.
We have seen that Agile is flexible enough to allow changes and modifications as per the client’s needs. It is, therefore, more inclined towards satisfying the needs of the customers. Waterfall is rigid. It does not allow any modifications and changes before completion of modules in each phase. This feature is a real set back to the developers since it has no inclination towards satisfying needs of the clients
Modular partitioning of the software can be efficiently carried out under agile development model. Although both development models allow segregation, waterfall development model cannot be modified at the implementation stage. It sets out rules before the project takes off. It prohibits more breakdown of the logical module.

Conclusion
Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses choice about which is right for one should come down to the context of the project. Such questions as to whether it is going to be changing rapidly should be in the mind of the developer. If the system has rapid changes, the developer should consider agile. If the developer does not know what they need, a waterfall is the best choice. If needs be, the developer should consider taking aspects of both methodologies and combine them to make the development process.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in 24 hour college papers services. If you need a similar paper you can place your order for a custom research paper from custom nursing essay services.