The global pandemic that has hit the whole world has left a devastating impact on many industries. On the other hand, some industries have not suffered that much and have become even more important. IT is definitely one of those industries that has continued to grow.
Software is now pretty much everywhere and the demand for new software packages has also increased. Consequently, the demand should be followed by appropriate supply, which is why software developers have been working round the clock.
That is exactly the reason why we’d like to point out the best practices in software development, as they can help you reduce costs and speed up the development processes. This can prove to be invaluable when it comes to achieving positive business results. Another reason why highlighting best practices is useful is the fact that developers need to be reminded of them, so that they are ready for various challenges that can come up.
Keeping it Simple
It’s widely accepted that any piece of software should be designed in the most efficient way, in other words, without unnecessary complexity. In most cases, simpler answers are more correct and that is something developers should always bear in mind. After all, coding principles such as Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) and You Aren’t Gonna Need It have this philosophy deeply rooted in their respective practices.
Coherence
No big project can be a success without a team of people working on it, but it’s vital that they achieve a high level of consistency. Essentially, all employees who develop software should adhere to a common writing style, which is the foundation of code coherence. This consistency is also useful when it comes to software testing, editing, and continuing the work of each other.
Testing
Just like all products should be tested before being offered to the global market, software packages need to undergo rigorous and meticulous testing. However, creating a testing environment, testing, sending feedback, and then tweaking the code can be a very time-consuming process.
Luckily, outsourcing DevOps as a service can help you bridge the gap between development and operations. That way you can automate testing and solve problems faster, which can help you shorten the systems development life cycle and provide continuous delivery.
Maintenance
While products such as clothes, footwear, and appliances can’t last forever, software packages might be immortal. However, this is only possible with good maintenance, which includes regular updates, tests, and analysis.
Opinions are divided when it comes to working on product compatibility. Namely, some developers don’t want to waste time on product compatibility with everything and would rather create a new product. Still, maintaining fresh code to allow your software to work on new devices is still regarded as good practice, because that ensures that your product meets the needs of more customers and helps old apps remain useful.
Analysis
While we’ve already discussed the importance of testing and pre-launch evaluation, we shouldn’t forget performance analysis post-launch. No matter how elaborate a code is, it’s still not a guarantee that it will work properly, since a many factors can affect these results.
This is why every decent software development company has an analytics department, whose task is to evaluate post-launch data. If that is not the case, such companies don’t shy from outsourcing specialists who can perform such analyses.
Other Practices
There are also other great practices to consider to ensure a successful deployment. One of them is agility, which can help you optimize your work, since it involves constant testing and result evaluation.
Next, there is the “accuracy over speed” approach, which focuses on correct code instead of fast code. The rationale behind it is that it’s easier to speed up processes once all codes are written properly than to rewrite everything during a later editing phase.
Finally, a lot can depend on experience sharing, where ideas and results are shared with other developers to get external reviews. Needless to say, this approach can only be applied if the project is not confidential.
These are examples of best practices when it comes to the IT industry. Since it relies on game-changing apps and innovative projects, it’s vital to adhere to the described principles and approaches, so that the result can justify the idea and effort invested in developing it.
short url:
