Exploring Application Development: Concepts and Key Approaches

Mobile applications are transforming how people approach their queries and the services they require. Businesses worldwide are harnessing their potential to widen their outreach and improve customer experience. For anyone who wants to bring their application to life, it’s crucial to understand the key concepts and application development approaches to stay ahead in the competition-driven landscape.

So here we bring you a comprehensive guide with fundamental basics you cannot afford to miss. Read on to streamline and simplify your app development process to convert your vision into reality.   

What Is Mobile Application Development?

Before we delve into detailed concepts, let’s first define mobile application development. It is developing software for tablets, smartphones, or digital assistants running on Android or iOS operating systems. These applications are then made available on mobile app stores to be downloaded or installed on mobile devices. 

A range of programming and markup languages are utilised for mobile application development, including HTML5, Java, C#, and Swift. Such applications are used to conduct transactions and access information across industries. From healthcare, finances, and government to e-commerce and education- mobile applications find applicabilities in all these sectors.

The Lifecycle of Application Development Process 

In the current world, humans are surrounded by software applications ranging from simple mobile apps for making their daily to-do lists to complex enterprise-level software for financial analysis. Nevertheless, all these applications go through the following 6 steps, popularly called the application development process, before becoming a reality:

1. Planning and Conceptualising

In the initial phase, clearly define the purpose, core features, and functions of the app while keeping in mind the target audience. Conduct deep market research and a thorough competitor analysis, which will help you shape the rough roadmap to complete your app development. It is also necessary to gather all information related to customer requirements, organisational feedback, and insights from user research to ensure that the software aligns with the expectations of all stakeholders.

 2. Designing the Application

In this phase, all focus is laid on designing the application guided through the data collected in the first step. A conceptual design is prepared with tentative UI and UX, along with a wireframe blueprint. At times, you would have to prepare a prototype model as well. After this, the suitable tools and technologies are determined for the further steps.

3. Developing the Application

This phase is all about developing the application using all the tools and technologies determined in the previous step. Developers literally bring the app to life by writing the appropriate codes. They identify the suitable programming language and frameworks for the target platform, implement features, integrate APIs, and manage data storage.

4. Testing the Application (H3)

The next step is to test the application across multiple scenarios with the intention of detecting bugs, ensuring high quality, and seeking out any kind of usability issues. This quality assurance is paramount to ensure a healthy functioning app for a seamless user experience. 

5. Deploying the Application

In this step, the curtains are raised, and the developed application is finally revealed to the audience by deploying it on a production server. In some cases, it is also deployed onto the built environment for in-depth testing for any last-minute fixes and tweaks.

6. Maintaining and Supporting the Application

In this last step, the total focus is shifted towards fixing any customer issues regarding the application or completing debugging requirements while managing the general software changes and updates. It is essential to monitor feedback, identify areas for improvement, release regular updates, and introduce new features.

Types of Application Development Approaches

Application development approaches are crucial in determining the speed, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of the whole process. Whether you are planning for iOS app development or for Android, it is crucial to choose the right development methodology. Here are the three main types of application development approaches:

1. Waterfall Application Development Model

It is a traditional linear approach to application development in which the team makes sure to complete one step before moving on to the next one. Each of the steps in this model ensures a tangible outcome. It is best suited for simple applications with fixed budgets and a pretty straightforward goal to achieve well-defined requirements.

2. Agile Application Development Model

Agile methodology stays true to its name and offers an iterative and flexible mobile app development approach by allowing developers to divide the project into smaller segments. When divided, these segments become manageable and encourage collaboration, adaptability, and ease of incorporating customer feedback into the process.

3. Rapid Application Development Model

RAD, or Rapid Application Development, is based on the agile framework, which aims to build a working prototype of the app in the shortest possible time. However, it is done while incorporating the relevant feedback and then continuously updating the app’s features in future versions.  

Navigating Through Application Development

The application development process is so much more than just tips, tools, and tricks. It is the inception of groundbreaking ideas, understanding the nuances of the project, traversing through the design process, and harnessing customer feedback for efficiency- all that while choosing the correct methodology. 

You could be doing all of this correctly, yet the essence lies in the functionality and features of the app, which have been thoroughly researched and skillfully executed for a seamless user experience. At Foreignerds, experienced developers have leveraged AI-based solutions for customised mobile application development for our clients across industries. Visit our website to get enterprise-class custom application development solutions.

FAQs

1. What are the different types of application development?

Applications branch out to a range of applications across industries but, they can broadly classified into the following categories- Custom application development, mobile application development, enterprise application development, database application development, web application development, and IoT application development.

2. What are the different mobile application development approaches?

Mobile application development approaches are mainly of three types- Waterfall, Agile, and RAD (Rapid Application Development). Other development approaches include Scrum, which falls under the Agile framework; Kanban, a visual management method; DevOps, which integrates development and IT operations; and Lean Development, which aims to eliminate wastage and maximise value in the development process. 

3. How important is it to choose the correct application development approach?

The right mobile application development approach ensures easy communication among the team members to understand and meet the project requirements. It provides a framework to organise the process, helps identify risks, and eliminates failures. Additionally, it also plays a crucial role in keeping the app development process well within the budget.

4. How to develop an app?

You may opt for the traditional coding route with the steps of planning, designing, developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining the app. These days, the “no-code” development is on the rise. Such platforms let users create applications without any coding expertise. The visual interface and pre-built components helps users with all the above processes quickly.