5 Tips to Increase the Speed in Software Development • Slash

Speed in software development is what clients want at this present time. In fact, businesses strongly believe in the phrase “the sooner, the better.” However, there are several factors that help accelerate the software development process.
For example, software complexity and utilization of automation tools. Likewise, working through agile development approaches and the number of experts in a development team and their experience.
So, in this article, we will reveal 5 methods to complete software development projects at full tilt.

Meaning of Speed in Software Development

Speed in software development refers to the capacity to deliver an app or website efficiently and quickly. The process includes the time on several activities, such as:

Software planning and designing
Writing high-quality code
Testing and deploying

Importance of Speed in Software Development

There are many reasons to get a move on with your development process. For instance:

Developing software with speed keeps you competitive within the market
It helps in user retention as you can deliver the new demands of customers swiftly
You can develop more digital products, allowing you to gain market share
Faster development helps reduce project costs because of using automation tools and agile methods

Quality vs Speed in Software Development

Increasing software speed but decreasing the quality of the product may not help you meet your goals. However, there is no one-size-suits-all approach in development. Indeed, quality and speed are both top goals of any DevOps. Quality ensures next-level user experience, while speeds give you benefits over your slower competitors.
Also Read: 10 Ways How to Improve Your Quality Software Development
But let’s be realistic. Achieving both speed and quality is kind of a utopia in most cases. Speedy software development may sacrifice instilling high-quality features in a product, as you may need to skip some essential stages. Contrarily, working on quality may extend the development process, leading to a slower time to market (TTM) your software.
Most companies have to choose between the quality and speed. But if you know how to improve software development without compromising the speed. You can work on strategies that can help you achieve both.

5 Ways to Increase the Speed in Software Development without Losing Quality

Here are 5 ways to speed up software development process.

1. Agile Mindset and Scrum Methodology

Agile is a way of thinking or a state of mind in software development. This philosophical approach lets the entire team focus on ongoing improvement to deliver ‘value’ to users. Whereas Scrum is one of the agile frameworks that facilitate your development project through the main agile principles. These are a few steps of Scrum and agile methodologies that can increase your development speed.

Also Read: Scrum vs. Kanban vs. Scrumban: Which Train to Catch for Succesful Project Completion

a. Backlog Grooming

Backlog grooming helps refine your product backlog by providing clear requirements, identifying risks and dependencies, and estimating the needed effort. As a result, it ensures:

Enhanced communication
Prioritizing tasks
Decreased reworking
Improved transparency

b. Standup Meetings and Planning

Agile and scrum methodologies promote sharing of information on a daily basis through standup meetings. These meetups allow the team to know the progress updates and keep the members focused and aligned on the upcoming tasks. Likewise, the team plans the next steps before each sprint to identify upcoming stories and prioritize the product backlog.

c. Retrospectives

Retrospective is an agile practice to improve software features, and it usually takes place after the completion of each sprint. It helps boost the software development process through:

Recognizing blockers
Applying improvements
Promoting collaboration

d. Desk Checking

Desk check is a manual procedure for inspecting the logic and programming of the software before it’s launched. It is a great practice that helps find bugs and errors early, eventually improving product quality. Moreover, it allows development teams to confirm whether or not the product’s features are being followed as per the product owner’s expectations.

e. Sprint Review

In sprint reviews, developers get feedback from the stakeholders on the completed tasks so far. Since it allows the team to receive insight. They can make quick decisions on planning upcoming tasks, which enhances the software building speed

2. Meeting All Corners of Iron Triangle

The Iron Triangle is a concept in project management. It represents a direct relationship between time, quality, and cost, representing the three corners (qualities) of the triangle. According to this framework, any two out of three qualities can be achieved.
That means:

High Quality + Fast Development = High Cost
Fast Development + Low Cost = Low Quality
High Quality + Low Cost = Slow Development

Therefore, you must have a good budget to increase the speed of software development.
However, according to some experts, all three qualities can be attained through proper training of employees and investing in the correct resources. Moreover, you can use the iron triangle to increase the speed of software development by understanding how all three qualities can be used without trading off any one.

3. Utilization of SaaS and Managed Services

One of the best ways to have speed in software development is to rely on SaaS and Managed Services. There are numerous services that can help reduce the effort of maintenance, setup, and more. For instance, you can use the AWS RDS managed service to setup a database. Similarly, Shopify is a great way to build an e-Commerce store quickly.
Also Read: 5 SaaS Application Development Practices for Building High-End Solutions
In the same way, managed services help improve the overall security. These services secure your systems by applying best security practices, incident response, and patch management. Furthermore, MSPs offer 24/7 system monitoring that quickly identifies potential threats.

4. Avoid Technical Debt

Technical debt refers to the process in which development teams take steps to quickly deliver the project without realizing that the speed will later require amendments. In other words, it is the consequence of prioritizing fast project delivery over code perfection.
Therefore, you should take the following actions:

Implement Test-driven development (TDD)
Always solve the technical debt before choosing to work on other solutions
Perform static code checking using SonarCloud or similar platforms
Apply the pair programming and code review techniques
Fix bugs, duplicate code, low-quality code, and code smells right away

5. Use Automation as Much as Possible

Lastly, the best way to get speed in software development is to automate your tasks, especially the long-term and repeated ones.
Here’s how to optimize software development process through automation:

Implement Continous Integration and Continuous Delivery approaches
Automate unit, integration, and end-to-end testing
Use GitHub Copilot – an AI tool for pair programming
Utilize Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform

Note: Avoid using automation for small projects, as it may waste your time and money.

Conclusion

You can enjoy high speed in software development if you work through agile and scrum methodologies. You might need to choose speed over quality, but if you are willing to spend more on the resources, you can gain all three sides of the iron triangle.
Additionally, SaaS and managed services can be a great support to increase the product-building process. And through automation of your big projects, you can easily complete the work swiftly. Nevertheless, it is always suggested to clear the technical debt before proceeding to your next task.
At Slash, we build software using Agile and Scrum frameworks. Our expert development team ensures the creation of apps and websites briskly but without giving up on quality. Contact us to develop the next highly-competitive solution satisfying your customers’ demands.

FAQs – Speed in Software Development

Q1. Is speed important in software development?

Speed is crucial in software development. It helps your business to offer new products to stay above the competition.

Q2. How important is product development speed?

A speedy product development allows you to get to the market before your competitors. You can respond to evolving market and customers’ demands quickly.

Q3. How can I improve my software development speed?

You can enhance your software development speed with the right technologies, tools, and project management strategies.

Q4. How can we accelerate the software development process without compromising the quality?

Using agile and scrum frameworks along with automation lets you savor speed in software development without compromising the quality of the product.