Designing software is a very complex job, which requires specific but also transversal skills to be able to satisfy specific needs. When you need tailor-made software, capable of supporting and simplifying business management, it is essential to rely on companies with experience and ability. In today's article we will focus on some aspects that concern the development of software and that can help you make the right choice.
Writing the code is only the last step in the path of software development. The starting point, in fact, must focus entirely on the customer's needs. Let's say the latter is a company looking for customized software. Whoever will be in charge of its development will necessarily have to delve into the specific merits of the business processes, grasp their most intimate aspects in order to be able to anticipate the customer's requests and be able to propose solutions suited to their business. In essence, the developer's work, in this phase, consists of investigating the multiple aspects that the software will and will subsequently be able to resolve and manage.
In software development, a particularly effective guideline, useful to also administer to the customer, can be derived from a journalistic approach, which consists in being able to respond effectively to the 5 Ws:
If the developer is able to provide an adequate answer to each of these questions, then it will mean that the investigation phase into the customer's needs and requirements has been carried out effectively. Any unanswered questions may indicate the need for a more in-depth or differently oriented investigation. Let's consider one aspect: software must provide answers and tools to a series of problems. This is its purpose.
Everything explained so far, technically, falls within the concept of feasibility study. We use this expression because it comes lasciata la possibilità, assai remota visto lo technological development today, that there are situations in which the development of a certain product is not feasible software o comunque non come il cliente lo aveva immaginato. Once the problem is understood and the solutions are found, the software development proceeds with the functional analysis.
This is a decidedly more technical phase, during which the customer's responses are important to guide the decisions that the developer will make in terms of infrastructure, programming language e data management.
Thefunctional analysis, infatti, è propedeutica all’analisi tecnica, eseguita autonomamente by the software development company according to the information acquired in the previous phases. E bene ricordare al cliente che il numero di problemi cui la software design must provide an answer is much higher than those highlighted during the analysis. Whoever deals with the design will have to know in advance how and where the data will be stored, understand which data needs to be saved and managed, think about what the graphic interface should be like, i.e. what the end users will be faced with when using the software, and what the customer's future needs could be, so as not to create software that is too anchored to the specific historical moment.
With thetechnical analysis ends ideation phase e reasoning about the management program. At that point, the developer will have all the information necessary for the actual coding of the software. Development will then proceed with writing the code, based on the chosen language. The writing phase is definitely the longest and also involves more professionals. There will be the professional who will work on the graphic design, the programmer dedicated to the actual code, possibly supported by a systems engineer who will take care of the hardware part, the servers and probably the data management. Once the writing of the code has been completed, the debugging phase will begin, i.e. the search for all programming errors that cause the software to malfunction or function differently from expectations.
A customized software, before reaching a state of perfection, needs to be tested and used in a long-term perspective. For this reason, the development of a software does not end with its delivery into the hands of the end customer but must also consider a support and maintenance phase, useful for making those changes and adjustments to functions that are not predictable during the analytical phases.
For all this, it is essential to refer to the skills and experience of companies, such as TreDiPi, which can guarantee valid support during all phases of software development.
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