Software developers must sacrifice product quality periodically for shorter development times to keep up with consumer demand. However, the main task of Gitlab professional services is to find a middle ground in this process, develop high-quality software, and enter the consumer market with the finished product in time. Below we present recommendations for creating and releasing software within the required timeframe but maintaining quality indicators.
Purpose of Production Speed and Quality
In today’s world of software development, timing is a critical market factor. After all, products released on time will be competitive, and there will be a significant advantage in generating income over organizations that will release an analog later. However, there are risks when the speed of software development is more important than quality.
What is a quality product? It is a set of indicators that includes the following characteristics:
- accuracy;
- efficiency;
- reliability and safety;
- provide functionality.
And when program producers prioritize deadlines, one or more of these characteristics will be lost. The more limited terms are given to developers (creation, testing, adjustments), the less quality the product will be at the output. Products that do not pay enough attention to quality control provide short-term income. But in the future, low-quality products will affect the additional costs associated with correcting errors, dissatisfied consumers, and the company’s low reputation.
Therefore, it is imperative to find that golden mean between the timely release of products and high quality.
Best Practices for Timely Release of High-Quality Software
There are many methods to reduce the release time without affecting the quality of the software.
1. Analyze the Raw Data
Before your company decides to develop a particular program, you should evaluate all the factors that affect the course of development. Evaluate your real possibilities, and consult with the development team and other persons interested in this project. It is theoretically necessary to go through the entire development process – from beginning to end. You should pay attention to the following:
- area of testing;
- release date and possible obstacles that may prevent a timely start;
- development structure;
- availability of necessary documentation;
- methods of automation.
It is also essential to control the course of the development process and be able to manage it, delving into all the details. By understanding the big picture from start to finish, you’ll understand what it takes to meet deadlines and maintain quality while building an effective strategy.
2. Software Company Goals and the Result
What result do you want to get in the end? How long does it take for the quality not to suffer? It is essential to prioritize and choose a strategy for the development team. Then communication with specialists will be effective. All this is necessary to incentivize your company’s specialists, who must work as a single organism. Developers must be aware of the constraints they will face to deliver on time while ensuring product quality.
3. Document Your Development Plan
To ensure an optimized workflow, you need to have a clear and understandable plan that will present in an expanded form all the tasks and the course of the process – create a development structure. The specialists must follow this plan for coherent and organized work.
4. Processes Should Be Automated
Automation is the fastest and most efficient method to improve speed and quality. This method greatly facilitates the solution of many tasks and reduces the time for their implementation, thereby saving human resources. In addition, automation minimizes the number of errors.
5. Secure Funding For Continuous Delivery
Continuous delivery is an essential factor for getting code into development quickly. An example of continuous delivery would be automated testing of all features, bugs, or fixes. With continuous delivery, a code correction is generated automatically. It allows you to optimize development, rationalize all processes, and release products on time.
6. Know the Essence of Quality for Software
Ensuring high-quality software is one of the most critical factors for the successful implementation of products. But often, a short development period can significantly affect the decline in quality indicators.
Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize, taking into account the following recommendations:
- Select a priority for correcting errors depending on their application. The most used-coded (with a lot of traffic) should be prioritized for quality checking.
- Pay attention to those sections with major corrections related to the code. Spending time on low-risk areas tested in previous iterations is unnecessary. Let the automated process do it.
- Communicate with the development team and other stakeholders to establish criteria for meeting quality standards.
By addressing these questions, you will understand the role of quality in your software.
7. Re-test
It is recommended that upon completion of development and start for release, re-test the created software in its entirety and individual parts. It will eliminate errors as much as possible. It will not allow the disclaimer of low-quality products to consumers and will also protect the organization from additional costs for adjusting the created products.
In The End
When creating software, speed, and quality will always be rivals. If the management of the development team is correct, then these rivals will not have to be put on the scales. Today, there are a large number of techniques that help various projects create high-quality software in the shortest possible time.
