Software development best practices are always evolving and improving\u2014however, 2021 marks a moment where we\u2019re rethinking industry guidelines, workflows, and embracing a wide range of new tech solutions\u2014much smarter than the stuff we\u2019ve been working within recent years.<\/p>\n
Amid all the uncertainty, it can be difficult to know which software development guidelines still stand and which new ones you\u2019ll need to incorporate into your strategy ASAP.<\/p>\n
In this article, we\u2019ll share some best practices for overcoming challenges and building better software faster.<\/p>\n
3Pillar Director of Software Delivery, Angel Almada recommends that organizations \u201ccome up with a systemic vision of the product they\u2019re developing. This vision includes deepening their understanding of market conditions, trends, and the industry they serve, implementing Agile at scale, and prioritizing features to maximize income while minimizing time-to-market.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds that success hinges on having the \u201cproper technology and best practices in place to develop the product and share knowledge between all team members\u2014critical for generating awareness and a sense of ownership over the process\/focusing on outcomes over outputs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Define what you hope to achieve:<\/p>\n
In other words: what do you hope to accomplish immediately, and how will you build on that success moving forward?<\/p>\n
These days, architecture and design still matter a great deal\u2014and defining your roadmap early in the process is still a software development best practice you\u2019ll want to stick to for achieving the desired outcome.<\/p>\n
According to 3Pillar\u2019s Javier Trevino, \u201cit\u2019s crucial to first define the system architecture in detail, often in the form of a minimum viable product (MVP)<\/a>\u2014and to define an architecture roadmap. The benefit is twofold. Stakeholders gain complete visibility into where the project stands, while development teams always know what steps to take next.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds, \u201cyour architecture should include both high-level and low-level diagrams\u2014ideally using C4 or UML. The level of detail you\u2019ll include here depends on the current understanding of the MVP definition\u2014though, you can always add more detail as the project progresses and goals become more clear.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the architecture, you\u2019ll define your technology stack at this stage, as well as determine the skills you\u2019ll need to cover across the development, QA, and DevOps teams.<\/p>\n Pre-Sales Engineer Denisse Vega says companies need to \u201ccreate a roadmap with milestones and pertinent goals\u201d is key in helping organizations get an unobstructed view of future solutions.<\/p>\n While you\u2019ll want to have a clear picture of your business strategy and what you want to achieve before bringing it to developers, you\u2019ll want to develop the strategy with your development team\u2014though, as Javier Trevino points out, it\u2019s better to think of your strategy in terms of several strategies working together: Quality Assurance (QA), DevOps, and Repository Management.\u201d<\/p>\n Stakeholders also need to work closely with development teams to develop a release schedule, set standing meetings, and come up with a plan for measuring the impact of completed work on milestones\/goals.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re working with an outsourcing partner, it\u2019s a good idea to find out more about how they can help you put together a strategy that aligns with your core business goals.<\/p>\n For example, 3Pillar\u2019s Jorge Millan says he likes to walk clients through the process. \u201cI try to tick boxes with them. The client may have really done their homework and is ready to kick-off the project, but reviewing different scenarios\/possible problems\/competitors, etc., is a good place to start. In the end, it helps us establish a sense of ownership over the project and a deeper understanding of what the client is trying to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Angel Almada says that validating client ideas in the market is key to ensuring that the end-product is a success.<\/p>\n He says, \u201cmy advice is to start by defining user personas, executing interviews with real people within those personas, and identifying pervasive issues and pain points within that feedback. From there, you can translate those to solutions in the form of a product feature. In other words, generate a product roadmap based on what they hear and learn on the industry\/market.\u201d<\/p>\n Jorge Millan also emphasizes the importance of talking to your customers. He recommends that companies \u201cconduct robust persona interviews to define an MVP that can start producing value from early stages while the rest of the functionality is iterated over time.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to capturing direct feedback from your customers, you\u2019ll also want to look at other sources of feedback\u2014bringing in as much data as possible.<\/p>\n Combined with individual insights and anecdotes, digging into the data helps you understand the factors influencing customer actions and decisions.<\/p>\n Feedback sources may include:<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re focusing on improving your sales strategy, getting to know your customers, or looking for trouble in the supply chain, you need an integrated data ecosystem.<\/p>\n Business decisions require total visibility into what\u2019s happening both inside the business and what external factors could change things\u2014for better or worse.<\/p>\n 3Pillar\u2019s Juan Carlos Mena Osorio says that one of the biggest mistakes he sees when working with clients is \u201ctoo much isolated development happening simultaneously. Although I\u2019m not a fan of too much bureaucracy, companies do need to make sure they implement policies and governance that ensures smooth cooperation and communication between departments.\u201d<\/p>\n Facilitating easy collaboration and knowledge sharing means you\u2019ll need to make sure that everyone is working from the same data, even if they\u2019re using it in different ways\u2014and that information flows freely from one place to the next. Software development now focuses on delivering small pieces that perform single operations\u2014this allows them to bring solutions to market faster and continuously make improvements.<\/p>\n Cesar Gutierrez says, \u201cthe evolution of the software development space has led to more organizations embracing Agile methodologies to organize their work. It\u2019s become standard, and companies that don’t follow Agile best practices are being left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n But simply embracing Agile best practices is no longer enough. Organizations also need to embrace DevOps<\/a>, continuous testing, DevSecOps<\/a>, and automations if they\u2019re serious about gaining a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n Building on our last point, code reviews are another software engineering best practice essential for delivering high-quality, error-free code. Use industry coding standards to help teams produce quality code, streamlines the peer review process, and shortens ramp-up time.<\/p>\n Paul Estrada recommends that organizations \u201cuse verification tools to ensure all team members follow the same coding standards and do code reviews. The idea is, if all engineers follow the same coding constructs and conventions, it’s easier for any engineer to look into the code and understand it quicker with a familiar format. It also helps to identify code that can be improved and to reduce the number of changes needed when updating code.\u201d<\/p>\nWork with Developers to Create the Strategy<\/h2>\n
Incorporate the Voice of the Customer<\/h2>\n
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Aim for Visibility<\/h2>\n
\n[adinserter name=”Software-Development-eBook-Offer”]<\/p>\nMethodologies Matter<\/h2>\n
Make Code Reviews a Priority<\/h2>\n
Test Everything<\/h2>\n