The development of different types of software and their evolutions throughout the years have revolutionized our ways of living. Software has swooped into our lives and has become an inseparable part of them. If we think about it, there’s software for every little thing to every important thing and for every part of our day. There is software that helps you track your calorie consumption, sleep quality, work management, exercise, and whatnot! On the business front, technology has helped manage massive workloads, have better work management, analyze profits and losses, and mitigate risks. While we are practically living Marc Andreessen’s statement, “software is eating the world,” let’s know more about the process of developing software and its benefits in detail.

What is software development? 

Software development seeks to produce effective, trustworthy, and user-friendly software. The definition of software development is the process of planning, building, testing, and maintaining various software applications. It requires the use of numerous concepts and methods from engineering, computer science, and mathematical analysis. These actions are combined to form a workflow pipeline, a series of procedures that, when followed, result in high-quality software outputs.

Depending on the requirements and the functioning of each one, there are typically three types of software development:

1. System Software: These software products enhance the functioning of the computer system by adding core functions or updating the existing features in the system.
2. Programming Software: They provide tools for programmers, including text editors, debuggers, compilers, linkers, etc.
3. Application Software: These assist consumers in performing tasks. Examples include office productivity suites, data management applications, media players, and security software, web and mobile applications.

Stages in software development 

Developing and successfully deploying any software for customer use requires rigorous planning, a gathering of info, and a team of technically-strong professionals. A development team typically follow this process while designing software:

1. Collecting and categorizing data
2. Selecting a methodology and creating a framework as per the requirements. These include Agile methodology, DevOps, Confluence, RAD, Waterfall, scrum methodology, etc.
3. Planning and gathering requirements
4. Building the architecture
5. Developing the design
6. Constructing a code
7. Testing and QA, using tools like Bitbucket, CI/CD pipelines, etc.
8. Deployment
9. And finally, Review for incident management.

The Importance of Software Development in the Modern Business Landscape 

Since software has emerged as the core of many changes and processes, they have gained more importance in today’s world. It is a crucial component of the information technology sector since it enables companies to develop unique apps that can automate procedures, provide innovative solutions, provide hyper-relevant content, add personalization, and boost productivity. Technology is shaping customer service and experience in countless ways, making software development a competitive space.

The pandemic demanded many businesses shift their approach to all digital, and thus, the need for developing apps increased exponentially in no time. Being able to stay in the market and constantly provide innovative solutions to customers’ every need is now addressed by growing tech and software engineering.

How Software Quality Assurance Works in Practice? 

Quality assurance in software is crucial to maintain software quality and prevent potential risks from playing out. Thus, prevention is the basic goal of quality assurance. Verifying the production processes to ensure they are taking place in compliance with previously established demands is helpful. It takes place prior to quality control and should catch the majority of flaws before the product is finalized and prepared for comprehensive testing. But how to bring QA in practice?

1. Documentation
2. Regular audits
3. Code inspection
4. Design inspection
5. Strategizing manual and automated testing

By following these QA processes and steps, a software engineer can achieve the quality level they desire:

• Planning- Making a plan for each procedure necessary to produce the highest possible quality.
• Choosing tools: Each tool’s use must be supported by the project’s requirements.
• Training: Educating the team on the quality standards they should strive for.
• The inspection involves monitoring a process as it is being carried out and searching for ways to make it better at every stage.

Top 8 Tools for Testing and Quality Assurance in Software Development 

If you are in no plan to compromise with quality and want tools you can completely trust, here are the top 8 (not ranked) testing and QA tools to ease your software development process:

• Testsigma
• Autify
• Bug Bug
• Testim
• TestingWhiz
• QA Wolf
• Kualitee

Conclusion

To obtain the best development process and the best-in-class product, you need to have a strong team and even more robust development and testing tools. Thus, software development is a crucial step while shifting to modernization and digitization. With ESSGEEKS, simplify the process of development and transform digitally.

Need quick assistance? Get in touch with us at: sales@essgeeks.com.