Automation in Software Development Life Cycle Phases: What Is the Future?
Software development life cycle phases cover well-defined software development stages from idea or conception to deployment and maintenance. Gone are the days when all these steps involved were driven by manual processes. SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) automation is the future of software development. It enables the attainment of high-quality software with minimum manual labor, time, and cost along with a high level of productivity and efficiency. In this blog, you will understand diverse aspects of automation in SDLC and why is it the future of software development.
The tech world has seen significant changes over the years. One of them is the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation. Even though these fields of technology are relatively new, it is expected that we will see them evolve in the near future.
The software development industry was the one that experienced most of these changes. This is because automation has boosted various stages of the software development life cycle phases.
As a developer, it is vital to learn about these changes early on or at least have an idea. And if you’ll ask why, well, there are more potential use cases of automation and AI than you could imagine. There are different SDLC models in software engineering, and automation can boost the productivity of these models.
Aspects of Software Development Life Cycle Phases That Needs Automation
Technology is evolving daily and professionals need to move along with it. For instance, developers no longer rely on manual processes.
They have automated significant parts of the software development process that they now handle through automation and AI.
(Software Development Life Cycle phases generally consist of 6-8 steps, including Planning, Requirements, Design, Development, Test, Deploy and Maintain.)
These technologies have helped speed up processes and increase efficiency. For businesses, the aim is to ensure they leverage technology without affecting quality. Thus, they identify steps that can get automated and leave others for humans.
This article will help you know what you can automate in the software development cycle. It will also take an in-depth look into the future of automation in software development.
Let’s get into it.
1. Code Quality Review and Optimization
Coding is one of the vital steps of the software development lifecycle. It is important to write and maintain high-quality code to ensure you have robust software. Developers use automation when writing, reviewing, and optimizing code for the best results.
Also, coding can usually be a time-consuming process. Developers are using automation to boost speeds without compromising the software quality. But you cannot use automation alone when coding. It’s good to use it alongside manual processes to ensure high-caliber software.
2. Software Testing
Testing is another crucial step of the software development process. This step allows developers to see the faults in their code early on. However, this process is slowly shifting from manual to automated. I mean, who would want tedious manual testing when you can opt for automation, right?
But what is automation testing? Well, it is a software testing technique that uses special tools and frameworks. Automation testing minimizes human intervention while maximizing quality. Automation testing simplifies everything for software developers.
However, one should not depend on automation alone. The tools and framework involved can be hard to grasp when you don’t know the logic behind them.
Thus, to learn automation testing, you must also be familiar with the mechanics of manual testing. Having a good background in this can help bring better results. It will help you know what to automate, prioritize tasks and prepare test cases.
Various resources can also help you learn how to start automation testing from scratch. There are software testing tutorials that you can use. These resources available online will help you learn automation without much struggle.
3. Code Generation
It is also possible to automate code generation song the other Software Development Life Cycle phases. This is a step that involves getting code ready for testing. Developers have been following manual processes when doing this in the past. But then, automating this task has helped simplify work for developers.
Automating code generation impacts the quality you can expect from software products. There are various types of automated code generation tools that developers can use. An example is the design-time code generation tool that generates low-level language from user designs.
Why Automation Is the Future of Software Development
As mentioned earlier, knowing what automation does in the software development cycle allows us to have a glimpse of its future.
And since most industries are now technology-driven, we only expect to see more from software automation.
Automation can be the way developers use to build a strong customer base. Every user wants software that’s reliable and efficient. Software providers are competing to see who meets these needs best.
Automation can also boost software quality making it a priority for every developer. Thus, more software companies and individual developers will keep using it from now on. They will use automation to free humans from repetitive work so that they focus on more demanding tasks that are hard to automate.
Also, we might also see a few changes in test automation tools in the future. For instance, the automation testing tools will get designed with ROI in mind. Developers do not want to gamble with different tools. They will be keen to only adopt automation tools that promise good returns.
You can also expect automation testing to get even better in the future. For instance, the work humans will do when creating automated test cases will reduce. Besides, these cases will maintain themselves. In short, more aspects of the development lifecycle will get automated.
Last but not least, automation in Software Development Life Cycle phases will become less complicated in the future. Yes, automation can simplify and speed up processes but it can be confusing to start. Thus, developers are expected to make it more understandable.
You Should Consider Adopting Automation Today!
Automation has been beneficial in the software development world. Developers are finding it indispensable in their quest to produce high-quality software. As seen above, there are various ways to use automation. You can use it when writing code through to testing software.
Software testing is one of the most vital steps. It is also among those that have gotten simplified by AI automation. As said before, even beginners can learn automation testing and apply it. All you need is a software testing tutorial for beginners. So, you can start using testing tools today.
This article has also provided insight into the future of automation in software development. You now know what to expect as a developer. But start by getting ready for automation if you have not adopted it yet. One way to do this is by learning how various automation tools work.
The good news is that learning automation testing online has become easier. The best part is free tutorials and lessons are everywhere! Thus, there is no excuse to skip this learning opportunity.
AI and automation have come a long way. Although the field is pretty young, we sure can expect that it will evolve as time pass.
Do you have any software development project that needs to be executed quickly and precisely? You need to collaborate with an expert custom software development company that has immense experience in delivering high-quality software to businesses across the globe. Call us to get help.
Really interesting read, Thank you for posting this!