Basics of Software Development | Simplified

Software Development is the use of a series of processes for developing, deploying and maintaining computer software programs. Software development requires a series of processes and these processes make up the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The Processes Involved In software development include:

• Identification of need: Using ideas from market research like existing and potential customer feedback, polls or third parties to identify the features and services the software should render for the target audience to find beneficial and captivating.

• Requirement analysis: The tasks of the software developers are stated by the stakeholders which include a detailed outline of requirements for the software product to achieve its goal.

• Designing & Development: This software development process involves the write-up of technical specifications or templates needed to build the software according to requirements.

• Testing: This involves assessing the software’s performance before releasing it to the public. Bugs are fixed and the software is checked to ensure it matches requirements.

• Deployment: Putting out the software for use by customers.

• Maintenance: This last step of software development requires a maintenance team to resolve issues customers might have while using the software product.

Types of software in software development

1. Application software:

Applications enable users to perform specific tasks on smartphones or computers. Examples include media players, Internet browsers, social media platforms, anti-virus tools, etc.

2. System software:

This is also referred to as operating system software. It is the program a computer utilizes to interpret instructions into machine language that is readable to the computer, e.g. Windows OS and Mac OS. They provide hardware management, disk management, database management, etc.

3. Programming software

This software provides tools for creating codes to build programs. It renders tools like compilers, text editors, debuggers, linkers, etc, to help in creating programs.

Who is a software developer?

Software developers are responsible for creating, designing, deploying and maintaining software programs. The responsibilities of a software developer include analysing, drawing up designs, developing, testing the programs, bug fixing, deploying, maintaining and developing future software updates.

Software Developers need to understand the use of programming languages among other skills for the development of software programs. The programming language required relies on the field or software they are working on. Examples include PHP, Python, Java, C#, etc.

There are two kinds of software developers. They include Application software developers and system software developers.

To become a software developer you can offer a 4-year course at any accredited university or register for an online course with an accredited certification.

The average Software developer’s salary is NGN 370,000.

Job opportunities in Software Development

There are various jobs available in the software development field. These jobs employ software development in their roles. Some of the jobs include:

1. Database Administrator: They monitor and organize the database of organizations. They install, troubleshoot, secure and back up data and information.
2. Computer programmers: They write codes in different programming languages to create computer applications. They are responsible for creating, testing, debugging and maintaining software.
3. Software Engineer: They design, build, test and maintain software programs or applications for computers.
4. Web Developers: They are responsible for designing and building websites or applications. They assemble the front end (user’s side) and back end (server side) of websites and applications.
5. Systems Analyst: They solve business problems using information technology. They use analysis and design strategies to ensure the performance of software and hardware.
6. Quality Assurance Engineer: They ensure the quality of software development projects before they are released for use to customers. They test the program, ensure it matches the design requirements, make quality assurance statements and fix bugs before deployment.
7. Software Developer: They design and develop computer software or applications. Some of them only design the software for the computer programmers to create with codes while some write the codes and create it themselves.

List of software development courses to enrol for the career

• Web development
• Database Administration
• UI/UX development
• Data Analytics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Mobile App Development
• Software quality testing

Online platforms rendering software development courses and certifications

This helps beginners embarking into the field or people looking for some extra insight besides their formal education.

• Udemy, Udacity, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, etc.

Check out: Top 10 tech jobs to seek to get rich faster