Software Development involved activities related to computer science whose main focus is on the building, creating the design, releasing, and offering support to the software. But then, what is software? Software is a list of programs or instructions that commands the computer what to do. The software depends on the hardware, and this makes it possible to program computers. There are four types of software which include the following

• Programming Software – It offers programmers tools that help in creating the code. Such tools include linkers, editors, debuggers, compilers, among others.
• Embedded Software – This one is used to control other devices and machines that are not taken as computers. Examples of such devices include cars, telecommunication networks, and industrial robots, among others. The devices are connected with their respective software inform if IoT- the internet of things.
• Application Software – The major purpose of application software is to enable users to achieve a given objective. Examples of application software include data management software, security programs, office productivity, and media players, among many more. Remember, and applications can be mobile or web applications such as Instagram, Amazon, and Facebook.
• System Software – Here, the system function helps in functions like utilities, operating systems, hardware management, and disk management, among many more features.

Software engineers, programmers, and software developers are the skilled personnel who deal with the software development process. All three skills are vital at different stages of the software development process. For example, the work of software engineers is to use the knowledge of engineering to come up with software and systems to solve issues arising. They have vast experience of the use of modeling language along with other useful tools to create solutions that can solve different problems other than solving a problem for one client at a time.

As for the coders or programmers, they play a significant role in writing source codes to direct the computers to perform specified tasks like online order processing, performing searches, merging databases, constant communication, and showing graphics and texts on the screen among others. The programmers can analyze instructions from software engineers and developers. They can then use Java or C++ programming languages to complete the process.

Finally, software developers do not have many tasks as compared to software engineers. They are assigned specific roles such as code writing, controlling the entire process of software development, managing the developmental teams, and performing software maintenance and testing.

Software development is not confined to coders or development team specialists only. Even hardware makers, scientists, and device fabricators can come up with software codes though they are not software developers.

Note: We have custom software development and commercial software development. Custom development involves the process of creating, designing, releasing, and maintaining software for specified organizations, functions, or users. On the other hand, commercial software development is made for an extensive set of needs; thus, it is the packaging and marketing in widely distributed.

The Software Development Phases

The process of software development includes the following stages:

Choosing methods:

This stage involves selecting the best methodology for establishing the framework for software development steps. The methods used here can be DevOps, Scaled Agile Framework, Agile development, waterfall, and rapid app development, among others. The technique selected shows an overall analysis of the project’s process.

Getting the requirements: After selecting the method, you then gather all the necessary tools to be used by other stakeholders and end-user.

Building the architecture structure where the software will operate.

Creating a design concerning the requirements and needs gathered at step two.

Using appropriate programming language to create the code. This step requires a specialized team to eliminate any possible errors early enough and create high-quality codes.

Testing- Performance testing will enable the developers to view how the app will be used by end-users and make the necessary changes.

Controlling configuration to know the design, requirements, test, and code. Here, you create different software versions to get the best quality. You must have a laid up plan when releasing to track any issues that may arise.

Releasing the software for use and giving feedback to user issues.

Data migration to upgraded software for existing data sources.

Measuring and managing the project to ensure quality and delivery are maintained throughout the cycle. You can use the CMM- Capability Maturity Model to analyze the process of development.

Different Types of Software Development

Software development is a growing career field. If you are considering it as an option, then you are on the right track. It is the most demanding job and highly paid in the US. However, as much as the demand is high, the nature of work and requirements is widely spread. One factor is, the more skilled you are, the more you are likely to work in different software development fields. Let us look into different types of software development:

• Mobile Development

Mobile development can as well be referred to us as App development because it involves creating applications that run on mobile devices like Android versions, iPhones, and Windows 10 platform. In most cases, the operating systems are designed with the respective programming languages though traditional languages are still a consideration.

Mobile app development is quite flexible, and you can create different games, the top being candy crush games, among many more. However, game apps are not the only apps to think of. Other apps such as directive app remind you to perform specific tasks daily, ordering meals, reading news, and many more. To be an expert in mobile development, you must know HTML5, Android, Java, C#, Objective, and Swift for iOS.

• Application Development

Application development is advanced programming. It is all about standard applications that perform their tasks on the traditional desktop operating system like Mac, Windows, or Linux. In simple terms, app development is a program commanded by the user to open the interface in the operating system it is running in. You must be skilled in python, Java, C/C++, VB.NET, and C# to create a computer program for daily usage or business purposes.

• Web Development

The main task involved in web development is coding. The process itself is comprehensive and complicated because it includes interconnected files that only the main developer can understand and rearrange. Advanced technology and APIs (application programming interfaces) have made it possible for web development to take new dimensions. APIs allow browsers to connect to other vital features. You must be skilled in Django, Python, HTML, PHP, Ruby, C/C++, JavaScript, and Rails, ASP.NET to create web applications.

• Data Science

Another latest trend in data science. Having a large volume is data is meaningless unless you understand its value. The work of data science is to extract value in the data. However, to extract the values in the data, data scientists must mine, analyze, and manipulate a huge volume of data through analytical strategy. Data science application is effortless because it involves what and how the machines think. For the device to learn and make their own decisions, there must be a large volume of data. It is Data science that ensures the required quantity of data is well-presented in the necessary form. You must know MATLAB, C/C++, and python to be a data scientist.

• Software Tools Development

Software tools development is only used in the software development field. The main activities include building tools for other software developers to utilize when testing codes. Apart from testing, the software tools developments ensure codes from other developers are of high quality, and they are up to the standards required. You need to be skilled in python, Java, and C++ to perform software tools development.

• Back-end Development

Just like the name back end suggest, back-end development involves all the activities taking place behind the scenes to ensure the front-end program keeps moving without affecting the operations of the computer. The back-end is also known as the server’s side of a website. It is at the back-end where the data is stored, and it is made up of three sections; the server, an application, and a database. Any back-end developer must understand the server’s architecture and programming language well to solve issues like when an app keeps crashing, returning errors, or slowing down.

Note: Back-end development’s primary purpose is to manage the data. Any system that holds a large volume of data must have a data management system. You must know Java, python, (mu) SQL, PHP, and .NET for back-end development.

• Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the latest trend in the field of file storage facilities. Cloud computing uses networks of remote servers that are hosted on the internet to store and manage data instead of using a local server or personal computer. GitHub, Amazon web services, Google Cloud, and OneDrive are examples of brands which use cloud computing technique. You must know Google’s Go!, Java, Erlang, XML, and R to achieve cloud computing.

• API Development

Application programming interfaces is the act of creating something extensible. API Developers can come up with programs that operate like puzzles across different operating systems on mobile, desktop, and the web. Here, third party developers can freely interact with API tools.

Note: APIs are created for individual platforms and functions. This implies that each API works with the programming language that supports the device, platform, and services it was meant for.