A Comparison of Various Software Development Methodologies: Feasibility and Methods of Integration

Abstract

System development methodologies which have being used in the academic and commercial environments during last two decades have advantages and disadvantages. Researchers had tried to identify objectives, scope …etc. of the methodologies by following different approaches. Each approach has its Limitation, specific interest, coverage …etc. In this paper, we tried to perform a comparative study of those methodologies which are popular and commonly used in banking and commercial environment. We tried in our study to determine objectives, scope, tools and other features of the methodologies. We also, tried to determine how and to what extent the methodologies incorporate the facilities such as project management, cost benefit analysis, documentation …etc. One of the most important aspects of our study was how to integrate the methodologies and develop a global methodology which covers the complete span of the software development life cycle? A prototype system which integrates the selected methodologies has been developed. The developed system helps analysts and designers how to choose suitable tools or to obtain guidelines on what to do in a particular situation. The prototype system has been tested during the development of a software for an ATM “Auto Teller Machine” by selecting and applying SASD methodology during software development. This resulted in the development of high quality and well documented software system.