Incremental development in software engineering is a process methodology that emphasizes the virtue of taking small steps toward the goal. In contrast to the waterfall model of software development, in which a working system becomes available only in the later phases of the project, incremental development begins with a small, working system that is improved and expanded step by step.
At each increment, the key phases of the software development life cycle (SDLC), including functional specification, design, implementation, and testing, are reiterated. This approach can cope with the inevitable changes that result from a client inability to express system specifications fully at the inception of the project, the shifting fortunes of the various system stakeholders, new business developments that require new or modified features, and technological constraints that emerge only as the system is developed. See iterative development, software development life cycle (SDLC), software engineering, waterfall model.
Technipages Explains Incremental Development
Incremental development is a method that develops a system in a manner where various portions of the system are developed at different times or speed of development and are coupled based on the time of completion. In iterative development (step by step growth), the development teams revisit parts of the system to improve their functionality.
The incremental development is divided into four phases namely the Inception Phase, Elaboration Phase, Construction Phase, and Transition Phase. Although most people view incremental development as a modern practice, it has been used since as early as the mid-1950s. Leading sofware programmers and engineers thought leaders from each succeeding decade supported IID practices, and many large projects used them successfully. These practices might have evolved in their details, yet all had a typical subject to stay away from a solitary pass successive, archive driven, gated-step approach.
Common Uses of Incremental Development
- Incremental development is very advantageous because of its progressive growth which makes it easy to revisit different compartmentalized stages
- In incremental development, there are different completion times for different sections of the same project.
- It is easy to group developmental stages in incremental development as there is a general division of the entire project.
Common Misuses of Incremental Development
- In incremental development, all sections have the same completion time and rate.
