As a business, if you are about to get an application developed with a vision that it would enhance your operations, managing productivity, and your workflows. The very first thing you will encounter will be to plan out your approach for development. It needs a lot of discussions, often a heated debate that you should follow Waterfall or Agile. If you have no idea where to begin, It is best for you to think about the project as a whole and then choose the right development methodology.
What is the Waterfall methodology?
Waterfall Model methodology is also termed as Liner Sequential Life Cycle Model which is followed in sequential order. In this model, the development team only proceeds to the succeeding phase of development or testing after the previous one is completed successfully.
What is an agile methodology?
The agile development methodology is the practice that helps constant iteration of development and testing in the development process. Under this model, development and testing activities are simultaneous; also, the process lets better communication among clients, mobile app developers, managers, and the testers.
Moving onto which is better for mobile application development; let us find out their advantages and limitations to recognize readily, which development methodology is better.
Advantages of the Waterfall Model:
- It is the most accessible model to manage because of its nature. Each phase has specific deliverables and review process
- Works adequately for small projects where demands are merely understandable
- Faster delivery
- Process and results are well documented
- Adaptable method for shifting teams
- Beneficial in managing dependencies
Advantages of the Agile Model:
- It is a client-focused process, ensuring the client is involved throughout every stage
- Likely to provide a better result from the development projects
- Agile software development method assures the quality of the development is controlled
- The entire process is based on incremental progress
- Reduced risk in the development process
Limitations of the Waterfall Model:
- Not an ideal model for big projects
- It is a less effective method if your requirements are not predefined at the beginning
- Very complicated to makes changes in the previous phases
- Testing process starts once development is over
- Higher possibilities of bugs to be discovered later in development where they are costly to fix
Limitations of the Agile Model
- Not a beneficial method for small development projects
- A requirement of experts to make all essential decisions in the meeting
- Cost of implementation is more compared to other development methodologies.
- The project can evenly go mistaken if the project manager is not able to get what outcomes the client wants
Making a Choice Between Agile and Waterfall:
We consider the below-written factors when considering which development methodology to use:
| Agile Methodology | Waterfall Methodology |
| It divides the project development lifecycle into sprints. | The development process is divided into distinct phases. |
| An Agile methodology is an incremental approach. | Waterfall methodology is a sequential design process. |
| Agile methodology is known for its flexibility. | The waterfall is a structured app development methodology; that is why it can be quite rigid most of the times. |
| Agile can be regarded as a combination of different projects. | Application development will be accomplished as one single project. |
| Agile is a flexible method that allows modifications in the development requirements, even if the initial planning has been completed. | There is no room for modifications in the requirements once the project development commences. |
| It follows an iterative development approach because all development phases may appear more than once. | All the project development phases like designing, development, testing, etc. are performed earlier in the Waterfall model. |
| The test plan is examined after each sprint. | The test plan is considered rarely during the test phase. |
| Ideal for projects in which the requirements are expected to change and evolve. | The method is ideal for projects having definite needs, and changes are not at all expected. |
| In Agile methodology, testing is performed simultaneously with app development. | In this methodology, the Testing phase comes next to the Build phase. |
| It works exceptionally well with Time & Materials or non-fixed funding and may increase stress in fixed-price scenarios. | Reduces risk in the fixed-price contracts by accepting risk agreement at the commencement of the process. |
| A dedicated team with a high degree of coordination and synchronization. | Team coordination/synchronization is minimal. |
| Test team can take a role in the requirements to change without hassle. | It is challenging for the test team to initiate any variation in conditions. |
| The project details can be modified anytime during the SDLC process. | No scope for the change in the needs of the project details. |
| The Agile Team members are interchangeable; as a result, they work quicker. There emerges no need for project managers as the entire team manages the projects. | In the waterfall method, the process is straightforward; therefore, project manager plays a fundamental role during every stage of SDLC. |
Final Thoughts:
Well, agile and waterfall are different application development methodologies and are useful in their particular way. However, there are significant differences highlighted above that define which is best for application development. Most of the digital projects and entrepreneurs opt agile methodology; on the other hand, if you are scaling up and have stable project requirements & management, you may consider the waterfall approach. Regardless of the approach you take, it is imperative to be flexible and ready to adapt on the go as neither methodology guarantees project success. Right methodology matters in delivering the sustainable product that meets your customers’ expectations.