Software Engineering Fundamentals

Running Head: SOFTWARE ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTALS 1
Software Engineering Fundamentals
Name
Institution Affiliation
Table of Contents
Executive Summary............................................................................................. 2

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTALS 2
Introduction.................................................................................................................. 3
Discussions................................................................................................................. 4
DevOps........................................................................................................................ 4
DevOps life cycle............................................................................................................ 5
Advantages of DevOps................................................................................................. 6
Disadvantages of DevOps.............................................................................................. 6
Rapid Application Development (RAD)...........................................................................7
Stages of RAD model methodology (Chandra, V., 2015)........................................................7
When to use RAD Methodology?.................................................................................... 8
Comparison between DevOps and Rapid Application Development (RAD)...........................10
Automation is the chief goal of DevOps (Soni, D., & Kohli, P. J., 2017)....................................11
Recommendations........................................................................................................ 12
Website summary...................................................................................................... 14
Executive Summary
This report discusses two of main approaches of system development that are used today
DevOps and Rapid Application Development (RAD). The conclusion of this report is based on
the data that was collected using various ways that were available to the team. The data was
obtained from reliable sources .The judgement of the decision of which approach to take is
subject to different views and personal understanding. Therefore, different developers might
have a different view depending on the availability of skills, resources, objectives and the task at
hand among other factors. The method suggested was the best according to the parameters in
place.
Introduction
This is defined as the whole inclusive process of describing, designing and planning,
analysis and employing a new software application or program into a system (Abrahamsson, P.,
Salo, O., Ronkainen, J., & Warsta, J., 2017).

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTALS 3
The process can entail, Advancement of customized systems. In this case, an already
developed application will be improved accordingly, creating database systems and Acquiring
third party developed software.
The process of creating a software is accomplished after a series of procedures and phases.
All this activities involved in software development makes up the software development life
cycle. (SDLC). The SDLC can be accomplished using different methods. However, all the
different methods follow a certain order. Some common steps carried out include,
1. Planning phase. This is the first and a very crucial step in system development. At this
stage the developer identifies with the purpose of the software to be developed, the
problem it will solve and how it will handle that problem. Other important consideration
at this stage will be, identifying the resources and cost, the possibility and effectiveness
of an alternative and identifying how to make the program good for competition from
other developers (Church, K. S., Schmidt, P. J., & Smedley, G., 2016). The developer at
the end of this stage will have three choices, develop a new system, and improve on the
current system or not to take any action on the system Analysis. At this stage, the end
users’ requirements and expectations are determined and documented. A feasibility test
for the system is also conducted.
2. System design. It follows the success of identifying what the end users want. This stage
defines how the system will look like and its functions. The elements, components,
architecture and various interfaces are defined (Wu, J., 2017).
3. Implementation and distribution. This is the actual construction that follows the
approval of the design. The actual code is written, and configurations are made

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTALS 4
accordingly. At the end of this phase the system is ready to be deployed and used by the
customers.
4. System testing. The system is subjected to various conditions and the output is measured
and analyzed. This shows how the system will behave under different conditions
(Fleischer, C. & Sauer., 2016).
5. System maintenance. This is a progressive stage that makes sure that the system is
functional all the time.
Discussions
DevOps
DevOps is a term used in system development to stand for Development and Operations.
It shows agile relationship between two units which are development and IT operations. The
objective of DevOps is to modify and improve the relationship by promoting better interaction
and communication between the two units (Ebert, C., Gallardo, G., Hernantes, J., & Serrano, N.,
2016).
It is a system development method that combines development and operations to realize
the agility. This approach seeks to enhance not only the development process of a single phase in
system but the entire process that are involved in software development.
There are three important components in DevOps culture, the people, process and the tools
(Erich, F. M. A., Amrit, C., & Daneva, M., 2017).