All You Need to Know About Feature-Driven Development

Today, you can often find recommendations regarding the use of Feature Driven Development (FDD). The main goal of the development methodology is efficiency and adherence to deadlines. Since the methodology manages to combine all the best from popular methodologies in the software development industry, and does your project need FDD?

What Is Feature-Driven Development?

Feature Driven Development (FDD) is a customer-centric, architecture-oriented software development process according to technical vocabulary. It is usually applied in conjunction with Agile. FDD is based on the four Agile values ​​and the twelve Agile principles. All of the above rules are listed in the Agile Manifesto.

The work begins with building an object model of the domain and assigning all functions and groups of functions. Then the work begins, with progressive implementation and iteration as needed.

FDD is considered the optimal format due to the skillful combination of traditional planning and flexible assembly practices. This allows the methodology to fit perfectly into any corporate structure. In addition, a continuous integration environment is an excellent solution for large teams and complex projects with a long duration.

Other Software Development Models

Different development models have different flexibility and can not always be called universal. It is important to understand how the rules of a particular approach apply to your individual case.

Let's look at some of the most popular approaches.

Waterfall

All work and processes occur in a cascade mode, which means that each stage has specific results and everything is strictly documented. The stages go strictly one after the other. An excellent solution for small and medium-sized projects that lend themselves to strict control.

V-model

The model gives full control over everything during the development process, with mandatory testing at every stage. Despite all the advantages and benefits, the V-model is considered one of the most expensive and labor-intensive models. Nevertheless, it is the best choice for projects where mistakes are unacceptable, for example, in medicine.

Incremental and iterative model

Everything here is built on iterations, and the processes can be both parallel and sequential. it is optimal to use this model if the customer participates in the development. It performs well in large mission-critical corporate applications.

4 Reasons Why You Should Use GitFlow

Gitflow is a methodology for working with Git. This means it determines which branches to create and how to merge them.

Parallel development

All new developments are done in feature branches, later merged into the main body of the code. Thus, you can work in parallel on several tasks. It also allows you to switch between tasks and commit all changes.

Cooperation

Simplify the collaboration of multiple developers on the same feature. Because each feature branch is a sandbox.

Release preparation area

As soon as new development is completed, it immediately enters the development branch. It is considered a staging area for all completed functions.

Support for emergency fixes

This allows bugs to be corrected without risking new developments. This is optimal for emergency fixes.

Read also: Top 8 Legal Issues to Consider in your Mobile App Development in 2021

FDD and Agile Modeling

FDD is not a millet part of Agile, but the backbone of the entire Agile methodology. The main focus here is on the needs of the client, in order to ensure regular and timely fulfillment of obligations to clients.

An iterative and incremental process is considered key in FDD. Splitting projects into smaller ones for easier and more efficient management. Better results can be achieved through continuous customer engagement and accountability.

Another advantage of the methodology is the modeling of domain objects. This makes it much easier to add the required functionality based on the finished model. FDD is a robust alternative to Scrum and Kanban, which are also commonly used in development.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

In this methodology, roles are usually divided into 3 categories: key roles, minor roles and

additional roles. In this case, several roles can be assigned to one person, or vice versa - one role is divided into several people.

Key roles in an FDD project: Project Manager, Chief Architect, Development Manager, Chief Programmer, Class Leader, and Domain Expert.

Supporting roles: release manager, language lawyer, build engineer, tool-smith, and system administrator. Sometimes it can involve: testers, deployers, and technical writers.

When to Use Git Branching Model

There are several options for applying Git strategies to suit specific purposes. Let's consider them and their characteristics.

Gitflow

The strategy works with the "master" and "development" branches throughout the entire lifetime of the project. This is the most difficult model to use. It uses three branches: feature- *, hotfix- *, and release- *.

GitHub Flow

The GitHub branching strategy requires maintaining a constantly deployable main branch but overall is fairly simple to use. Before merging into the main branch, each feature branch must be finalized and tested.

Trunk-based development

Has a lot in common with GitHub Flow, but differs in the ability to deploy only after merging production code to the main branch. These measures are aimed at preventing recourse.

GitLab Flow

Has a lot in common with GitHub Flow, but allows you to add git feature branches among the releases for better support for mobile apps and SaaS.

So, which companies are using functional development? Companies focused on a quality product that works with large-scale projects. An important point here is the reliability and professionalism of the main developer since all decisions are made from top to bottom.

Stages of Feature-Driven Development

There are five main steps in function-oriented development. Let's briefly consider each of them.

1. Development of a general model

This is where the scope of the project takes place. Typically, several models are defined, which are then combined into one general model.

2. Making a list of functions

At this stage, the functions that meet the client's expectations are determined. These are usually the simplest functions to implement quickly.

3. Planning by function

Here the hierarchy and importance of the functions are determined, after which they are distributed among the team members.

4. Design by function

The main developer defines a list of functions for the sprint and a feature's design package is created for each of them.

5. Build by function

Developers write code for each function, later it will be tested before the final stage.

DevOps Best Practices on Software Development Lifecycle

The goal of DevOps is to make things faster and easier without sacrificing project quality. This specialist improves the efficiency of the project.

DevOps is looking into request processing as well as the amount of overhead associated with branch management. Ease of reading and clear structure and connections are extremely important in this matter.

It is important to find and implement a branching system that suits the style of the team. With the wrong approach, the work of the team becomes much more complicated and the workload increases unnecessarily. Another important point is the impact on the quality of the product.

Conclusions

Feature-Driven Development can become the cornerstone that will help the project become more efficient and the product of higher quality. Carefully study the goals and expectations of the customer, and then start planning, and only then can you guarantee full control and meet the stated forecasts.