Software Development

Question 1

What is a Waterfall lifecycle?

Answer 1

Derives its name from the cascading effect from one phase to the other, with each phase having clear deliverables and a start/end point. Allows you to move back to a previous stage and forwards shows developers have to reqork stuff because knowledge gained as development progresses.

Question 2

What is Rapid application develpment (RAD)?

Answer 2

Involves producing sucessive prototypes until a final version is rpoduces. These are dsigned coded tested and evaluated qwith the end user.

Question 3

What is the Spiral Model?

Answer 3

Risk driven development methodology. The decisions made on the software develppment are based on the risks identified in development.

Question 4

What is the Agile methodology?

Answer 4

Refers to a group of methodologies that came about in the early 2000s. These methodologies focus on the idea that rwqueirements change during development, producting software in an iterative way.

Developed in a series of iterations called sprints, short time boxed periods when a team has focused gfoals to complete a scertain amount of work, with each sspring taking no longer than one to four weeks.

Question 5

Name two benefits and risks of a Waterfall cycle

Answer 5

Benefits:
. Simplicity, easy to manage.
. Clear deliverables
. Easy to see if a project is on schedule

Risks:
. User doesnt get to see the project for the first time until near the end
. Misunderstanding requeiremnts can lead to difficult problems to fix.

Question 6

Name two benefits and risks of rapid application development

Answer 6

Benefits:
. Requirements dont need to be entirely clear from the start
. Continuous feedback from the client
Risks:
. Regular contact with client must be maintained at all times
. Scales porly for large projects with large teams

Question 7

Name two benefits and risks of the Spiral Methodology

Answer 7

Benefits:
. Risk management
. Very good for projects that contain lots of risk
Risks:
. Complex nature of risk analysis increases costs
. If risk analysis isnt done to good standard, entire project suffers

Question 8

Name two benefits and risks of agile and extreme programming

Answer 8

Benefits:
. Emphasises programming, so quality of end code is likely to be high
. Principles promote collaboration leading to a productive team
Risks:
. Requires a team of programmers to be working in close collaboration
. Some tasks such as paired programming can end up being quite costly.