Information Systems Development
This chapter focuses on the concepts surrounding the development of information systems. It begins with a discussion of software development methodologies, then covers programming languages and tools, and finishes with a review of implementation methodologies. As you read, reflect upon all the different pieces that must come together in order for a system to be developed.
Programming
Software is created via programming, as discussed in Chapter 2. Programming is the process of creating a set of logical instructions for a digital device to follow using a programming language. The process of programming is sometimes called "coding" because the developer takes the design and encodes it into a programming language which then runs on the computer.
The process of developing good software is usually not as simple as sitting down and writing some code. Sometimes a programmer can quickly write a short program to solve a need, but in most instances the creation of software is a resource-intensive process that involves several different groups of people in an organization. In order to do this effectively, the groups agree to follow a specific software development methodology. The following sections review several different methodologies for software development, as summarized in the table below and more fully described in the following sections.
Software development methodologies