The term software engineering pops up every now and then. Today software development and software engineering have penetrated almost every aspect of business culture. According to a report by Statista, the global software development market is expected to reach a value of a staggering US$ 605 billion by the end of 2022. The market’s growth is attributed to the growing demand for new and multifunctional software for individuals, startups, and large enterprises across the globe. Looking at the growth of the software development and software engineering markets, it’s likely to say that certain myths and rumors encircle these terms. Let’s look at some software engineering myths and debunk them.
What is software engineering?
Software engineering gathers, understands, and analyzes the client’s requirements and then develops the software application. The primary agenda of this entire process is to ensure that every client’s need is met and the software functions as per the customer’s expectations. Moreover, software designing is a systematic and disciplined approach to designing a computable software application while providing seamless support to development and operation teams.
Challenges solved by software engineering
Now that we know what software engineering is, let’s look at some of the challenges that software engineering can overcome.
Mending the gap between project leadership and developers
Software should provide and add value to a business, generate revenue, make tasks easier for the personnel. However, most of the time, companies are not sure what they want from their software applications, so they have several unwanted features that rarely help them achieve their core business goals. The software development company must have its project funders, leadership, managers, and developers agree on the same vision for the software. This includes functional, non-functional requirements of the software, how it will interact with the internal modules, solutions to the problem it is aimed to solve, and a detailed description of how the system shall perform. This allows the software developers and project heads to be on the same page.
Eliminating the communication barrier
Software development lifecycle involves clear and intense communication for seamless software development at any given point. However, multiple teams engaged in software development create tons of commotion resulting in poor communication. Software engineering allows the software engineers to fragment the software into various components handled by a dedicated team of developers. Moreover, a project manager overlooks the development team’s progress, ensuring the information about the software and its components are transferred to the respective team smoothly.
Development cost estimation
Managing the overall cost of software development is one of the biggest challenges that every custom software development company faces today. What’s obvious is that it is difficult for the software development team to estimate the cost of development initiatives. This skyrockets the cost of software development. However, with the help of software engineering, the custom software development companies can estimate the cost of module development and finally sum up the entire cost.
Debunking the 5 myths around software engineering
Understanding the challenges that software engineering can solve showcases the importance of the practice in software development. Since the technique is so widely used, certain myths encircle software engineering. What are these myths? Are they true? If not, what’s the reality? Let’s look at some of the software engineering myths and facts.
1. To be a good software engineer, one must be good in mathematics
The most common and widely spread myth about software engineering is that one must be perfect in maths to be a successful software engineer. However, that’s not true in any manner. Coding skills can be learned regardless of having or not having a maths background. Moreover, unless the software’s goals are to solve complex calculations, geometry, or trigonometry, a software engineer will use four basic mathematical operations while developing the software and nothing more. On the contrary, to be a successful software engineer, one must think through and keep track of the relationship between structures. What’s more important than math is the ability to work through the problem and learn from the mistakes.
2. In-house software engineers are better than remote engineers
Some of the clients across the globe believe that when a software engineer is out of their sight, he’s unmotivated, uncontrollable, and most importantly, unaccountable. This notion can be discarded as – modern project management tools, practices, and excellent communication opportunities help remote software engineers to stay motivated and as productive as in-house software engineers.
3. Software engineering: A predictable linear process
For people unaware of the technologies and how challenging a wielding technology can be, software engineering is a linear and predictable process. However, for those who know software development and software engineering, it can be linear and straightforward BUT ONLY FOR A SHORT PERIOD. Software engineering is as unpredictable as rain in a rainforest. Several bugs can hinder the entire software development process, or there can be an additional function that needs to be added to a module.
4. Software testing irrelevant in software engineering
This myth about software engineering is quite popular, and people have various reasons. For instance, people outside the IT industry think anyone can test software. However, only QA experts understand the overall working of the software, its dependencies, and the impact of one module on another. Sometimes, even the client give-up software testing, stating it as time-consuming. However, time spent on software testing ensures the final product meets the client’s requirements and works as per their expectations.
5. Product release implies the end of the project
This idea sounds right, but software products are unpredictable. They have their lifecycles and are subject to change as per necessity. Businesses and technologies are evolving rapidly, end-users are constantly demanding new functionalities and improvements in their products. Software engineers have to be on their heels to cater to all these needs. The software also requires constant monitoring to ensure it is working fine. Therefore, releasing software is not the end; it is just the beginning.
Conclusion
Software engineering is a constantly evolving practice. It aims to cater to the demands and requirements of the clients. With new technology and the constant need for software products, software engineering will always be surrounded by myths and rumors. Therefore, having a team of software engineers is always an advantage for the business. So if you are looking forward to hiring a software engineer, connect with us