DivNotes' Suggested Best Development Practices

Effective software development relies heavily on collaboration between developers and the business operations team. Developing software is only one component in getting it successfully up and running, and in many cases, how quickly and effectively you do that, can affect revenue.

While there are many tools at your disposal that can help you develop a project and put it into action, development operations – or DevOps – require a recalibration of mindsets too. 

Developers can be happy beavering away at code, finessing, and tweaking while the operations team is more concerned with putting it all into practice. 

Good development practice requires both of these teams to work together to ensure smooth code deployment and that any bumps along the road are smoothed out as quickly as possible.

​Prevent Scope Creep

When a project manager (PM) begins managing a new project, they will need to have a clear definition of what the requirements are. Naturally, the PM can expect a few minor setbacks along the way and these are the sort of things that get baked into the planning process.

However, in seeking to define the scope of the project, it is essential to keep an eye out for scope creep. Scope creep is a deviation from the initial requirements of a project and can sometimes be caused by external forces. Nevertheless, it is good practice not to allow this to slow the delivery of the project down.

By engaging your project team and documenting the initial requirements, you can help prevent scope creep. A client can often change requirements at various stages, so it is important that a PM records any changes and communicates any revised timeframes for the project to the client as quickly as possible.

Collaboration is Key

Once you start any new phase or project, the best way to get from development to operation as quickly and efficiently as possible is with collaboration. Rather than have developers constructing reams and reams of code while the operations team kicks their heels, it is a good development practice to keep the whole system moving in tandem.

This may involve designing, building, and testing small chunks of code at a time for quicker deployment. Using tools like Jira can allow you to get multiple sprints actively running concurrently with each other.

With greater automation of aspects like code testing, workflows, and infrastructure, bringing projects to completion will be a much more efficient process. 

Continuous Monitoring and Evaluation

With quicker code deployments, the DevOps team can spend time monitoring the platform's performance and be on standby ready to fix bugs and evaluate processes as necessary.

Constant evaluation is key to measuring performance too. It is good practice to analyze system logs regularly to see where applications are performing well and which areas need a bit of attention. Tools such as GitHub can help track source code for a range of issues during software development.

Communication is also a vital component of the monitoring and evaluation process. As much as automation of certain processes can help improve efficiency, regular communication between PMs and team members will help address and resolve issues quickly. 

If you have any questions for the DivNotes Development Operations (DevOps) team, please reach out to us and we'd be happy to have a discussion with regard to the problem you face.