What is an Agile Model?
The Agile Model is an incremental and iterative process of software
development. It defines each iteration’s number, duration, and
scope in advance. Every iteration is considered a short “frame” in
the Agile process model, which mostly lasts from two to four weeks.
Agile Model divides tasks into time boxes to provide specific
functionality for the release. Each build is incremental in terms of
functionality, with the final build containing all the attributes. The
division of the entire project into small parts helps minimize the
project risk and the overall project delivery time.
Important principles of the Agile Manifesto:
1. People over Processes: Value individuals and interactions
more than tools or processes.
2. Working Software: Deliver functional software instead of
excessive documentation.
3. Customer Collaboration: Focus on working closely with
customers, not rigid contracts.
4. Flexibility: Embrace changes, even late in the project.
5. Frequent Delivery: Deliver valuable software early and
regularly.
6. Teamwork: Encourage daily collaboration between developers
and business people.
7. Face-to-Face Communication: Prioritize direct conversations.
8. Progress Measure: Working software is the best measure of
success.
9. Sustainable Pace: Ensure consistent and manageable
workloads.
10. Excellence in Design: Maintain technical quality and good
design.
11. Self-Improvement: Regularly review and improve team
processes.
Phases of Agile Model
Here are the different phases of Agile:
Stages involved in the Agile Model process in the SDLC life cycle:
Requirements Gathering: In this Agile model phase, you
must define the requirements. The business opportunities and
the time and effort required for the project should also be
discussed. By analyzing this information, you can determine a
system’s economic and technical feasibility.
Design the Requirements: Following the feasibility study,
you can work with stakeholders to define requirements. Using
the UFD diagram or high-level UML diagram, you can
determine how the new system will be incorporated into your
existing software system.
Develop/Iteration: The real work begins at this stage after the
software development team defines and designs the
requirements. Product, design, and development teams start
working, and the product will undergo different stages of
improvement using simple and minimal functionality.
Test: This phase of the Agile Model involves the testing team.
For example, the Quality Assurance team checks the system’s
performance and reports bugs during this phase.
Deployment: In this phase, the initial product is released to
the user.
Feedback: After releasing the product, the last step of the
Agile Model is feedback. In this phase, the team receives
feedback about the product and works on correcting bugs
based on the received feedback.
Compared to Waterfall, Agile cycles are short. There may be many
such cycles in a project. The phases are repeated until the product
is delivered.
When to use the Agile Model?
Here are the common scenarios where the Agile method is used:
It is used when there are frequent changes that need to be
implemented.
Low-regulatory-requirement projects
Projects with not very strict existing process
Projects where the product owner is highly accessible
Projects with flexible timelines and budget
Advantages of the Agile Model
Here are some common pros/benefits of the Agile Model:
Communication with clients is on a one-on-one basis.
Provides a very realistic approach to software development
Agile Model in software engineering enables you to draft
efficient designs and meet the company’s needs.
Updated versions of functioning software are released every
week.
It delivers early partial working solutions.
Changes are acceptable at any time.
You can reduce the overall development time by utilizing this
Agile Model.
It allows concurrent development and delivery within an
overall planned context.
The final product is developed and available for use within a
few weeks.
Disadvantages of Agile Model
Here are some common cons/drawbacks of the Agile Model:
There is a higher risk of sustainability, maintainability, and
extensibility.
In some corporations, self-organization and intensive
collaboration may not be compatible with their corporate
culture.
Documentation and design are not given much attention.
Without clear information from the customer, the development
team can be misled.
Not a suitable method for handling complex dependencies.
