General Question about programming steps

[joyfullboy29973]

Dear all, I am rather new to the exciting world of software development (i do not consider myself a developer but merely a visitor in the field) and have some fundamental questions to express in order to make things strait in my mind. I would like someone to answer the general steps in developing an application. In my mind the steps would go something like: 1. Analyzing the needs of the solution and prepare any relevant documentation on the to-do stuff. 2. Recognize the new classes that has to be developed (based on the previous analysis) in order to achieve the required functionality 3. Develop the code & tight the variables and relevant documentation (help docs etc) 4. Test the code for possible errors (internal test) and return to step 3 for any changes 5. Issue the final release Questions: 1. Are these steps correct? 2. Is it a necessity to develop new classes? Couldn't one use already developed classes or just subs and functions reside in some modules? 3. What percentage of total-time would each one of the development phases take? Best Regards

[Pravin Patil Mumbai]

Hi, You are correct to some extent. You can move on to develop a software following the steps : 1. Analyzing the needs of the solution and prepare any relevant documentation on the to-do stuff. (Requirement Gathering) 2. Identify the Design Pattern, Technology etc. to be used for the development considering the scenario, requirements. 3. Once you are done with this, you can move on to prepare the prototype of the application. i.e. The general skeleton of the working model of the software. 4. Develop the code with OOP concepts. i.e. Modularity, Re-usability etc. 5. Test the code as you develope. It is a good habit to test the code at every level. 6. Give the first release to the client. (User Acceptance Testing) 7. Let client evaluate your software. If they are ok with the functionality and everything, Prepare the final release (GO Live!!!!) For more info refer : http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/programming-concepts/software-development-life-cycle.html[^] Is it a necessity to develop new classes? Couldn't one use already developed classes or just subs and functions reside in some modules? Ans : Software Developers follow the principle of Re-usability. i.e. You develop the modules in such a way that they can be used from some other applications also. It reduces the time needed to develop the softwares. You should not start from scratch always. Always look for the pre-developed components and make use of them. What percentage of total-time would each one of the development phases take? Ans : There is no clear answer to this question. It totally depends on the size of the software. Sometimes it is task of month, sometimes even the years are less to complete the development.

[Manfred Rudolf Bihy]

Since Pravin has already set some things straight I'll just tell you this, with your 5 point plan you've already shown me to be a candidate to be a good developer someday. I deal with people that think they are developers on almost a daily basis and they still haven't grasped the concepts you roughly outlined. My advice to you: Never stop learning, never stop improving on your skills! :thumbsup:

[T2102]

It is not always necessary to develop new classes, but that is better than creating slow bulky classes that are very general. This depends on your role and the organization. In general (assuming you are not doing complicated multi-threading), you are NOT going to spend as much time on documentation unless you are a low level grunt or you are a system architect giving high level instructions to your subordinates. Your code should be self-documenting with variable names that make sense unless your aim is to try to increase job security by writing code that no one else understands or wants to use.

[joyfullboy29973]

hahaha I have never thought of that side effect concerning the use of the variables...! :) Thank you all for your enlightening opinions.