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Agile methodology has its own domain in software development and every company uses this methodology or a version of it and if not they somehow believe that they are using this method. Today's software development is included by the agile methodology of software development irrespective of the fact that whether you are new to the application or are age old in this field. Even if you have been using the waterfall software development methodology agile method of software development still influence your work.  

The topic of this article is whether agile is still the best methodology to use in software development so before that you should know is what agile methodology and how can it be useful and its features only after that we can come to a conclusion that whether it is the best or not.

WHAT IS AGILE METHODOLOGY?

Agile is a methodology that prioritizes and gives more attention to individuals and organizations than tools and processes. Agile puts his whole focus as to how can it work to design a software that works in desired manner and not just staying within the realms of documentation and along with these agile is both responsive and flexible.

Agile was rolled out in the year 2001 by 17 developers. These 17 developers came forward to draft the Agile Manifesto. These same 17 tech enthusiasts drew five principles to make a better software.

These five principles are mentioned below:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

Agile has all of these mentioned features and maybe this is the reason why all the developers whether new or learned - prefer agile over any other method for the software development.

THE INVENTING OF AGILE:

Before agile the most dominant method for software development was waterfall but developing software with this method was too complex and required a lot of work before the actual development of the software and also consumed a lot of time. Slowly this waterfall methodology began to change as soon as it was used for Internet applications. Yet the developers faced competitive and financial pressures, hence they started to look for ways to justify the waterfall methodology and with this pressure the response changed owing to internet technology and platforms.

In quest to bring something better and replace the old aged classic waterfall methodology the 17 developers finally came up with the agile manifesto and revolutionized the methods of software development.

THE ROLES ASSIGNED:

In agile methodology everyone has been assigned their own share of roles which they need to fulfil for the proper development of the software and in a desired way.

USER: The agile processes begin with keeping the customer in mind. They are also illustrated as costumer personas to signify the customer needs.

PRODUCT OWNER: He should combine all his skills, ideas, insights and feedback to develop a product vision. This vision can be simple and short but must paint a clear picture of the needs of the customers. The product owner should be able to identify his vision and work with a team to make it real.

THE TEAM: The members of the team should be skilled and they should be able to perform their end to end duties. The compete focus of the team should be on how to deliver the software. The team members should be both cooperative and collaborative so that they know what they are making and how they are making.

THE PROBLEM IS WITH PEOPLE NOT WITH THE METHOD:

Agile clearly gives more importance to people and organizations but people continue to give more importance to tools and processes. Agile is flexible in nature and caters to all the needs of the users. The agile methodology has high potential, the developers like this but sometimes struggle with it because of certain reasons.

CONCLUSION:

The agile method may have certain problems but so far it is the best method for the development of a software. If understood better and performed according to the norms then it may create the best softwares.