9 Software Development Best Practices for 2022

Getting started with software development is easier than ever, which means that more and more companies are looking to launch their product without the help of a consultant or agency to advise them on how to do it properly. 

Without the proper guidance, however, companies often run into trouble, making costly mistakes that set them back months or even years in their product release cycle. 

To avoid these common pitfalls and get your product out the door faster, follow these software development best practices for 2022.

9 Software Development Best Practices For 2022 and Beyond

Building Software that Solves Business Problems

This may sound obvious, but it’s also one of the biggest risks in software development. A new idea is sexy and worth spending a lot of time on—until it isn’t. If you want to minimize software development risks, spend more time building a business case than writing code. 

Customers aren’t interested in how clever your code is—they want a solution to their problem that they can implement quickly and easily. The best way to avoid building something no one wants? Don’t start coding until you clearly understand what problem you are solving.

Writing Good Code from the Beginning.

Unfortunately, good code doesn’t just happen—which is why it’s best to start writing lean software development from day one. 

Agile methodologies are best for all stages of software development. Still, if you want to keep your project risk-free and limit problems down the line, it’s good to implement lean methodologies as soon as possible. 

This approach works especially well with rapid prototyping models, which allow developers to work through potential risks while they have low stakes. 

Of course, there will always be risks in software development; however, by implementing risk management strategies early on in your process, you can minimize these risks and prevent them from getting out of hand.

Using Different Programming Languages

The lean software development movement has exploded in popularity in recent years, but there are risks to using different programming languages for every part of your project. 

If you’re planning on developing a new program or website in 2022, consider creating a baseline programing language that all of your staff members will be able to use. 

It will help to eliminate risk by using one common language. Still, it can also help you improve your overall efficiency by allowing multiple developers and designers to work from a single codebase.

Starting with Lean Concepts

Applying lean concepts like Kaizen, Kanban, and A3 thinking to software development today is a great way to improve productivity, especially when used in tandem with agile methodology.

But these ideas aren’t just relevant today—they’ll be important tomorrow as well. As software development moves into its second decade of existence (by my estimation), we’ll see lean software development more heavily emphasized.

This will be driven by several factors: First, Agile has been around long enough that it won’t continue to grow; it will stabilize at some point. 

Second, Agile can only go so far in reducing waste and improving quality; lean practices can help us get even better results from our efforts. 

Third, lean thinking is becoming more popular outside software development; organizations adopt lean software development best practices across all industries.

And finally, people are starting to realize that there’s still a lot of room for improvement in developing software.

Unit Testing your Code

Testing your code is a good way to identify risks in your code. Writing tests ahead of writing code can help you plan out how you want things to work and spot any problems that may crop up. 

Unit testing is one of many software testing methods that make up your entire testing strategy. Other types include integration, functional, acceptance, performance, and regression tests.

The right mix depends on what you’re building, but developers generally recommend writing unit tests before they write production code. 

This helps ensure that they are thinking about how their code will interact with other parts of an application or system and if it works as expected on its own.

Automating your Release Process

Although automation risks are involved, it’s still a very good idea to automate as much of your release process as possible. 

And while releasing can be a stressful time, using a process that has been carefully planned and rehearsed will help ensure you deploy software safely and quickly. 

The less you have to fuss with deploying your code into production, the better off you’ll be.

Having a Documented Build Pipeline

A documented build pipeline is a key part of reacting to risks in software development. Make sure you’re always aware of how quickly your team can deliver code, which dependencies and services they’re relying on, and whether those dependencies have any hidden or unforeseen risks. Are all your tools easily accessible? 

Are they verified to work with each other? Having good answers to these questions will make it easy for you and your team to adjust the course when necessary.

Continuous Integration and Delivery (CI/CD)

Cloud-based solutions, like Stash and Codeship, offer continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines as part of their services. This methodology involves building software and making it available to a user base as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality. 

CI/CD is different from continuous deployment in that it avoids deploying code that’s not tested and ready to go—which can pose risks in software development if done haphazardly.

DevOps Collaboration Tools

A lot has changed since we started developing software. Back then, teams kept track of their tasks and worked in silos, but today’s tech landscape is more fluid and collaborative. 

DevOps best practices suggest making communication a top priority; it’s hard to share ideas with someone you can’t even talk to, particularly if you want your new app to be a risk-free success story.

Read Also: Top 10 Web Design Tools to Boost Conversions in 2022

Conclusion

With so many risks inherent in software development, it’s essential to ensure your team members know what are they doing. When you create best practices for software development, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page and that no one is going to miss anything. The key is having these conversations upfront.