Introduction
If the 18th and 19th century was all about the industrial revolution, we can say without a tint of doubt that the 21st century has been dictated by the software revolution, and will be so until some other by the software revolution, and will be so until some other alien phenomenon arrives on the planet.(We don’t hope for it, thought)
The Software revolution trajectory is similar to the Industrial Revolution, albeit way faster. George Gilder, a famous American investor, and the author has called today’s software cloud data centers “information factories”.
And millions of people are working in these factories. And millions more are pursing the field of software development. Today, the software is the solution to every new problem that arises-it’s raining outside and you have no food? There’s another app.
Need to group raw data and derive results? Oh, we have Excel. There’s even an app today to wake you up in case you’re unaffected by alarm clocks.(We’re not kidding!)
For people who’re not that familiar with the technology, all of this might seem like magic. But for people who are building this software, it’s a process.
And in this article, we’ll delve deep into that process. How software is developed exactly? What all goes into it? How many people contribute to building software that is used by billions around the world? Can you also develop one?
Let’s get started:
What is Software?
We’ve all studied the definition of a computer may be in our primaries. “A computer is an electronic device that takes input and gives the desired output”
But, what’s this input? Moreover, how does the computer understand this input?
And for that exact reason, we have software. Software is a set of instruction that tells the computer what to do. It’s in the form of binary code 0s and 1s which is an executable file that the computer understands.
Software is a tool that directs a computer’s actions. Technically speaking, “software” refers to a collection of instruction, information, or programs that control computers and carry out particular function. It is the exact opposite of hardware, which refers to the computer system’s physical components. Applications, scripts, and programs that run on a device are all referred to as software.
Google Chrome, Gmail, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Word, Power Point, and many other comparable programs that we frequently use in our daily lives are some typical instances of the software.
It is a non-physical entity that can be stored on a computer hard drive or other storage media. Software can range from simple programs such as a calculator or text editor to complex system like operating systems, databases, and games.
Let’s look at an example to better understand this: Assume you’re generating a document in MS-word; MS-word is the software, and we offer input from the keyboard; the computer accepts data, processes it, and output results, but for this specific operating, writing a paper, we require software such as Microsoft Word.
so, do we have to write the software in a binary language? That would be quite tedious, isn’t it? That’s why various programming languages were developed that you hear of such as java python, JavaScript, C,C++, etc. to write these programs.
The software industry is constantly evolving, producing new and improved programs to meet the changing needs of users. The development and maintenance of software require the expertise of software engineers and developers.
Why do we need to develop software?
Software is developed to solve problems, automate processes, and provide a users-friendly interface for users to interact with computers, drives, and system.
The development of software is driven by the need for innovation and the desire to improve the way people live, work, and communicate.
Companies use software to streamline processes, increase productivity and remain competitive in their respective markets.
The prevalence and use of software in all tasks make it crucial as well. Software stories combines, and centralizes data in the age of digitization so that we may access it. Additionally software innovation take your data’s security and safety into mind.
Today, it’s key factor in the advancement of technology and helps to shape the future.
Now that we’ve gotten a decent idea of what software is, let’s get right into the heart of the subject and future.
Who can profit from the development of software?
Software development, progress, and development teams are not the only people who work on software development projects. Even thought they are not software developers, professional, including scientists, hardware designers, device fabricators, testers and many more, can code.
According to Statista’s most recent reports, 5.8 trillions Us dollar will be spend globally on information and communication technology (ICT) by 2023. With the rise in digital demand, non-ICT spending is also anticipated to increase and might top 4.5 trillion US dollars.
Software development is essential for any firm today, regardless of industry. It makes no difference what industry or size your company falls under. Software can be advantageous in one way or another.
How is software developed?
In a nutshell:
Any program that is written in a human-readable language is termed source code, and this source code is transformed into an executable file using the compilation process. As illustrated in the figure below, it’s an example of a basic C program source code being converted into software.
Now, this was a simple program and might only take one developed a short amount of time to successfully compile it. However, we’re writing this article considering professional software building professional software such as the ones we use in our daily lives is quite complicated and is divided into multiple phases.
Software Development Life Cycle
The time period between the beginning of product development to the deployment of its final version is known as the software development life cycle.
It is used to describe the different stages involved in the creation of software and ensure that software is developed in a systemic and consistent manner and that all stakeholders have a clean understanding of the development process.
The different stage generally include
- Requirement gathering and analysis: Understanding what the software is supposed to do and documenting the requirements.
- Design: creating a plan for how the software will meet the requirements.
- Implementation or coding: writing the actual code for the software.
- Deployment: installing the software on computers or servers for use by end-users.
Maintenance: fixing bugs, making improvement, and providing ongoing support.
Recently, the Masai team build an in-house software called MSAT to conduct admission tests for student. We got into a conversation with Amit Sharan(Director of Technology, Masai) on how the tech and the product team the product team went about the software development life cycle and completed the project.
We incorporated some of his input in this article for you to better understand the process. Stay tuned.
Quality Assurance
Engineers in quality assurance (QA) check the developer’s code for errors. to find out if there are any bugs in the system, they employ several frameworks and testing techniques.
In addition writing test cases and reporting issue to developer for correction, testers also contribute to the most effective way to construct software products.