Software Development Lifecycle Specialization

Software industry is going crazy on agile methods. It is rapidly becoming the choice for software development where requirements are unpredictable or is expected to change over time. This course will help you gain knowledge on what is agile? Why agile is better suited for these situations? We will also cover some of the most common agile frameworks like scrum and XP in depth.

Prerequisite: You need basic knowledge of software development process and software development methodologies. After completing this course, you will be able to : 1) Demonstrate the ability to participate effectively in agile practices/process for software development. 2) Explain the purpose behind common agile practices. 3) Ability to apply agile principles and values to a given situation. 4) Ability to identify and address most common problems encountered in adopting Agile methods. Project: You will also be given opportunity to apply what you learn in this course. You will be given fictional case studies, where after studying the case study, you will have to exercise some of the practices, techniques, etc that team members of an agile team members are expected to know.

While scrum and XP were transforming the software development industry, there were another set of ideas (derived from lean manufacturing and Six Sigma) that started to influence software development methods. These ideas around Lean Software Development forms the foundation of number of agile methods.

In this course, we will explore lean concepts and cover some of the common Lean methods and techniques like Kanban, Value Stream Mapping, etc. In this course, we will also learn techniques like Lean Startup and Design Thinking that can help team learn about user and market needs much faster and cheaper. As part of this course, you will also apply the knowledge gained in this course to fictional case studies. These projects will help you gain experience to confidently apply these techniques in real world. At the end of the course, you will be able to apply lean techniques / methods to software development. You will also be able to apply methods to learn about your users and market needs much faster and cheaper.