Software development is defined as the process of ideating, designing, developing, deploying, and maintaining software or its components. Building a software involves a number of planned activities which are properly structured and performed in phases called Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
When one talks about software development, it doesn’t necessarily mean writing codes. It means being part of any activity from ideation to final deployment of the software, as the software development process also includes research, prototyping, updation, modification, optimization, maintenance, or associated activities that result in the envisioned software.
Having discussed software development, now let’s move to understanding various types of software. Software applications are constantly evolving and so are their types. Majorly, we have 5 types of software applications, which we are going to discuss in detail below. Remember, each type is built for a specific purpose and so, you need different types of software developers who are expert in given niches of software.
System software refers to software type that supports the core functions of computer hardware and software programs. System Software acts as the bridge between application software and hardware.
These types of software tell the application software and the hardware peripheral device what functions it needs to perform when the user interacts with the application software installed on operating systems such as Android, iOS, Windows, or Linux.
Interestingly, an operating system in itself is a system software. Besides, middleware which lies between the operating system and the application, namely application server, database, and transaction processing monitors, and utilities software, for example, disk management tools, antivirus software, and compression tools belong to the category of system software.
Middleware is a kind of software application that acts as an interface between distributed applications and the operating system. So apart from those applications that the operating system provides, middleware applications create a link between the two diverse components. Middleware applications have played a major role in the evolution of distributed environments like cloud computing.
There are various types of middleware applications such as transaction middleware, database middleware, and message oriented middleware. Each of these middleware applications perform a special function. For instance, transaction middleware manages client-server transactions. Database middleware ensures communication with the database, while message-oriented middleware handles asynchronous communication.
Application software is a complete package of software for end users or other users. Application software is generally task or domain specific. For instance, ecommerce applications for shopping, game apps for entertainment, networking sites for connecting and sharing with people, and productivity suites for monitoring and tracking.
Uber, QuickBooks, Zoom, Snapchat, Twitter, Amazon, and several other similar applications that you come across in your daily life are examples of application software.
Programming software includes a set of computer programs designed to enable software developers to write, develop, debug, and maintain software. A few examples of programming software are source code editors, assemblers, compilers, and interpreters.
Software developers usually refer to these programming software as software development tools. There are tools for mobile app development as well that we have covered separately. The reference represents the use of software to accomplish specific tasks and is used on an ad-hoc basis and not because of any distinguished feature of the tool, as the tools are also computer programs and thus software.
For example, IDE is a programming software that consists of a code editor and debugger, often referred to as tools. The code editor or debuggers are also available as standalone applications, which means they are not just a part of a large programming software but are programming software in themselves.
Driver software provides a programming interface to let devices and operating systems interact with each other. It enables the user to utilize the functionality of the peripherals properly in every respective way. Driver software is designed to call the operating system and introduce the user to the properties and user interface, through which the peripherals can be used.
Nowadays, there are many devices work-on plug-n-play feature, which enables the user to directly use the device without installing the driver(for that dedicated device) manually. But in earlier days, even USB Flash Drives needed the CD to install the drivers for them. The two examples of driver software: one having P-n-P and the other without it are:
Example1: suppose a USB Flash Drive is inserted into the USB Port in the computer. Now what’s happening inside the system is that on inserting the USB, it sends the interrupt signal to the CPU, to tell it that it needs attention. Then, the CPU will send the data signal through the data bus to search for any interface that might be useful for it to interact with the Operating System. This interface that the CPU searches for, is called Driver. In today’s USB(s) these drivers are already stored in their Read Only memory(ROM), which gets installed automatically just after the CPU finds out that there is an interface present, and it executes and installs the driver successfully.
Example2: Printers are the best example for non P-n-P devices because they need Drivers to be installed manually. These drivers can be downloaded from the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). Sometimes the OEM drivers don’t work due to incompatibility with Hardware/OS, then third party Drivers come into play, which can be downloaded from particular websites.
Although it is a type of System Software, we have mentioned it separately because it facilitates communication between a computer and an external device.
Embedded system software is a set of computer programs written only to be run on specific hardware to help it control and manage certain functions. Embedded Software could be essayed as a software that when embedded with particular hardware, performs a certain function. Although Embedded software is a wide branch in itself, on a cell level, it is known as Firmware, which is designed for a specific purpose only.
Software Development Company In BangladeshThese Firmware programs are boiled down to a hardware called Integrated Circuit (IC) which then gets mounted on the Board with engraved circuits, which is commonly known as the Motherboard. All these parts (i.e. Motherboard, IC, Firmware, and other electronic components) when functioning together, produce a favorable result.
There are various programming languages used for the development of Embedded Systems. Some of them are C language (known as Embedded C), C++, Embedded C++, Python, mPython (also known as Micro Python), Java, Rust, and others which can be embedded with hardware to attain output.
Nowadays, System On Chip (SOC) is also very popular among developers. SOCs are actually mini motherboards with mounted hardwares and having the functionality of a computer. Popularly used SOC(s) are Arduino, RaspberryPi, BananaPi, and other similar variants, which are available in various specifications.
These 5 types of software applications mostly contribute to the entire IT infrastructure around us. While software applications make our life easier, building these applications is hard in the sense that the process of software development demands more than just technical skills.
As it is not just the process but also the approach to the software development process which plays an important role in successful development. And directly jumping into the SLDC definitely is not the right approach. There are several undocumented stages to ensure better preparation, of which the first is to identify the objective of the software, to be specific—why is it important to develop software? Though the obvious answer is yes to meet your needs; however, you need to zero in on the specific requirements to develop the best software application. Moreover, different kinds of software development strategies exist, and you need to carefully analyze multiple factors to choose the one that would be apt for your project.
It is software development project types that dictate objectives in software development. Identifying the objective of software development is necessary to remain focused and avoid ambiguity throughout the development process. Why is the software being built? What would the software look like when developed? What problem does the software solve? You must consider all these questions surrounding your objectives to successfully accomplish your software development projects.
These and several other follow-up questions would help bring clarity to the software development goals. A definite answer to these questions would keep everyone in the software development team on the same page and help the team sort out differences or miscommunications quickly.
These and several other follow-up questions would help bring clarity to the software development goals. A definite answer to these questions would keep everyone in the software development team on the same page and help the team sort out differences or miscommunications quickly.
Clearly-defined objectives offer a clear idea of the resources needed in software development projects. Objectives thus play an important role in project planning.
As there are multiple categories of software development projects, objectives will be affected by the category to which your project would belong. So, the objectives of custom software development will differ from those of COTS and will be a decisive factor in what type of custom software development services you need. Anyway, in general, software development objectives are characterized by the following features.
Attainable: How the goal of software development would be achieved? Who will be doing what? Is everyone involved fully informed about their role in the development process?
Realistic: Is the goal realistic? Does the envisioned software have a sustainable future? Are the time and budget dedicated to the software development project relevant?
The answer to these questions must be straightforward and explainable. Ambiguous components must not be left in the hope of getting resolved on their own with time or to be addressed at a later stage to save time today. Besides, everyone in the software development team should have the same layout of the objectives to mitigate the risk of any team member going off track at any point during development.
The first thing that comes to mind when talking about a software development team is software developers. Mostly they are associated with writing codes, but coding is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the tasks performed by software developers.
In the software development process, there are various types of tasks associated with coding, similar in nature and highly critical, based on which roles are determined. Here, we discuss 5 types of roles that a software developer team would have. However, different types of software development teams assume different structures, and so, the team composition may vary from context to context. Let’s get an insight into these main 5 types of roles associated with core development:
As core team members, software developers work in a cross-functional environment to perform and be a part of a broad range of activities—including designing, developing, building, deploying, and maintaining software.
Software developers drive the software development lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring that the requirements of each stage are fulfilled before the software is advanced to the next stage. They carry the responsibility of translating planning and requirements into a functional software.
