What to Consider When Developing Software

Are you looking for a way to build a cool piece of software and show it to your friends, colleagues, and anyone else who might give you a little recognition for the piece of work you have done? A simple Google search will turn up at least a few articles about how to get started and what to do once you have written the software. If you are just starting out, this may seem like a lot of info. You might think, “I do not need this; I can just wing it, write code and make it work.” You might think this way, but there is a lot to learn, and it is worth spending some time preparing and planning ahead.

There is good chance that you have written at least one piece of software that just did not work as expected. In order to develop a piece of software that works, you have to understand how the code interacts with the environment. Of course, you can hire the Yellow Systems custom software development company. But what if you want to know all the dev specs?

The Art of Software Development

It is true that writing a bit of code to solve a problem is fun and can even be rewarding, but that is the extent of it. In order for your software to run flawlessly, you need to know what to expect in every possible case. Here are a few things to consider when developing software.

#1 – Environment

It is hard to ignore the fact that we live in a world where everyone is becoming increasingly connected, especially with the rise of smartphones. Most computers these days have Internet access built-in, and a lot of people have access. Even if you are completely offline, your computer will still have a connection to the Internet. That is one of the reasons you can search the web at home, at school, in the library, at the store, or any other place.

If your program will work in these environments and will likely need to work in different environments in the future, then you need to plan ahead. Think of how your program will handle different connections and how you will cope with the fact that there are more and more devices connected to the Internet. You can never predict what connections might be available or how they might be used.

#2 – Device/OS

Your program might be working just fine on a Windows or Linux PC, but what if a user will try to run it on an iPad? What if they are on a Mac? They may not be able to see all the options your program uses, so maybe your program will not work the way it does on a PC. You may need to think about how you will use the input and output devices your users might have access to and then write code that takes advantage of those devices.

#3 – Security

Is your program going to store data? That is a really great question. A computer is a lot more than a calculator. Think about all the data that is stored on your PC. Credit card numbers, passwords, social security numbers, and everything else you might store in your program. Where are you going to store that info? Is it on the server or on your users’ computers? How can your program handle various types of security threats?

#4 – Performance

How long does it take for your program to work? Do you have room to improve on that? If it takes a long time to load, are you going to have many options for the user to skip the wait time? Are you going to take advantage of the hardware in a PC or mobile device to improve the performance of your software? How much RAM do your users have? How much disk space do they have available? These are just some of the questions that you need to answer before initiating the development process. At this stage, it is also good to write different test cases to cover all the app use scenarios and ensure the solution works flawlessly.

Do the Things Right!

The world is constantly changing and the way that we build software has become a little more complex over the years. However, it is not as complicated as it may seem, and there are a few tips to help simplify the process of programming. The above list will make the software development task easier for you if you address it at an early stage of software development.