What is Adaptive Software Development?

Adaptive Software Development is a software building model that focuses on ensuring maximum adaptability to continually changing project requirements. It is a part of the agile methodology and is ideal for building complex software systems or projects with a dynamic nature.

This software development life cycle model focuses on building optimal code with high human collaboration and self-organization.

This blog focuses on explaining Adaptive Software Development in detail, including its birth, key characteristics, different phases, strengths and weaknesses, and whether it is the right fit for building your business idea.

Understanding the Birth of Adaptive Software Development (ASD) – A Brief History 

The traditional software building planning models suffered from poor flexibility and did not offer assistance to changing business requirements. For example, in the Waterfall model, companies need to fix the business requirements at the beginning of the project, and once it’s initiated, there’s zero scope for introducing changes in the application code.

Two project managers, John Highsmith and Sam Bayer, realized this issue and invented a flexible model called Adaptive Software Development that could also accommodate ongoing changes in the technical requirements. ASD grew out of the duo’s work on Rapid Application Development (RAD) model.

Later in 1998, Jim Highsmith also published the  book “Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems.” The SDLC based book outlined the major principles and practices involved in the process. 

Further beyond the year 2000, ASD started gaining popularity as major companies adopted it to build software applications.

What is Adaptive Software Development (ASD)?

Adaptive Software Development is a software-building methodology that promotes adaptability to respond to varying requirements and environments. It is a form of agile framework and largely focuses on continuous learning as an inherent part of the software-building process.

Here are 7 Key Characteristics of the Adaptive Software Development Process:

High Adaptability: With this model, the development team can leverage high-level adaptive planning rather than building detailed fixed plans.

Collaborative Environment: Team collaboration and open communication are the pillars of the process.

Iterative Development: The development process is divided into small and manageable iterations, each of which delivers a functional piece of software.

Continuous Learning: The iterations are entrusted for learning, and the feedback is further used to enhance the process and the product.

Providing Response to Change: The technology product being built can be largely adapted to modifications in the business/user requirements, technology changes, and latest market scenarios.

Risk Management: It is an effective model against risk identification and its proper management.

Empowerment and Ownership: The software building team has greater flexibility in taking ownerships and making decisions at the team-level, that also promotes accountability and team responsiveness.

Original source:- Adaptive Software Development