Bsa 375 Week 1 Dqs

Week 1 DQs 200 – 300 word responses

DQ 1

Review the agile and systems development life cycle (SDLC) software development methodologies in your readings and in the podcast for this week.

* Explain the main differences between the agile and SDLC (waterfall) methodologies.

* What types of software application development projects would be better suited for each methodology and why?

The main differences between the agile and SDLC (waterfall) methodologies is agile methodology focuses on adaptability and response time to changing requirements, whereas, the SDLC (waterfall) methodology is based in predictability and processes (Tutor, 2012). Agile methodology allows backward scalability and modifications to a completed stage, and in the SDLC (waterfall) methodology changes cannot be made to a previous stage without starting over (Tutor, 2012). Another difference between agile and SDLC (waterfall) is that agile allows error checking to be done during any part of the development stage and the SDLC (waterfall) only allows error checking to be completed at the end of the development module (Tutor, 2012). Agile also allows different modules to be developed at the same time, and SDLC (waterfall) has to follow the step-by-step process laid out before the project begins (Tutor, 2012).

Agile methodology would be better suited for projects that are on a time constraint, have a high degree of change, and the product without fully developing the idea up front (Gutierrez, (2010). This type of project would be commercial applications where it is important to produce the product before a competitor does (Gutierrez, (2010). SDLC (waterfall) methodology would be better suited for projects that are contract based, require analysis first, and require the product plus the manual and architecture all at the same time (Gutierrez, (2010). These types of projects may range from engineering projects to software with strict regulations because these projects have to ensure that...