Outline of software development

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to software development:

Software development – development of a software product, which entails computer programming (process of writing and maintaining the source code), but also encompasses a planned and structured process from the conception of the desired software to its final manifestation. Therefore, software development may include research, new development, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products.

What type of thing is software development?

Software development can be described as all of the following:

• Research and development –
• Vocation –
  • Profession –

Branches of software development

• Video game development
• Web application development

History of software development

History of software development

Software development participants

• Software developer
• Software engineer
• Consulting software engineer
• Computer programmer
• Software publisher

Software development problems

• Shovelware
• Software bloat
• Software bug

Software project management

• Software project management – art and science of planning and leading software projects. It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are planned, monitored and controlled.
  • Software configuration management

Software development strategies

• Offshore software R&D – provision of software development services by an external supplier positioned in a country that is geographically remote from the client enterprise; a type of offshore outsourcing.

Software development process

• Software development process
  • Software release life cycle
    • Stages of development
      • Pre-alpha
      • Alpha release
      • Beta release
        • Open beta
        • Closed beta
      • Release candidate
    • Release
      • Release to manufacturing (RTM)
      • General availability release (GA)
      • Web release (RTW)
    • Technical support
      • End-of-life – termination of support for the product

Activities and steps

• Requirements analysis
  • Software development effort estimation
• Functional specification
• Software architecture
• Software design
• Computer programming
• Software testing
• Software deployment
  • Software release
  • Product installation
  • Product activation
  • Deactivation
  • Adaptation
  • Software update
  • Uninstallation
    • Uninstaller
  • Product retirement
• Software maintenance

Software development methodologies

• Software development methodology
  • Agile software development
  • Aspect-oriented software development
  • Cleanroom Software Engineering
  • Iterative and incremental development
  • Incremental funding methodology
  • Rapid application development
  • IBM Rational Unified Process
  • Spiral model
  • Waterfall model
  • Extreme programming
  • Lean software development
  • Scrum
  • V-Model
  • Test-driven development (TDD)

Supporting disciplines

• Computer programming –
• Software documentation –
• Software engineering –
• Software quality assurance (SQA) –
• User experience design –

Software development tools

• Programming tool
  • Compiler
  • Debugger
  • Performance analysis
  • Graphical user interface builder
  • Integrated development environment

Education relevant to software development

• Bachelor of Computer Science – type of bachelor's degree awarded for study of computer science, emphasizing the mathematical and theoretical foundations of computing, rather than teaching specific technologies that may quickly become outdated. A Bachelor of Computer Science degree is normally required in order to work in the field of software development. Abbreviated "BCompSc" or "BCS".

See also

• Product activation
• Software blueprint
• Software design
• Software development effort estimation