Steps to follow when Designing a Software

Ahmed Aamil
6 min readJan 21, 2023

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Photo by Mohammad Rahmani on Unsplash

Welcome to my very first blog post on Medium! In this space, I’ll be sharing my thoughts, and ideas on a variety of topics. I’m excited to have this platform to express myself and connect with others. From time to time, I may write on any random topic that comes to my mind, so I hope you’ll join me on this journey of self-discovery and exploration.

As a Software Engineering Undergraduate, I understand that the process of designing software can be overwhelming and confusing for some. But, with the proper steps in place, it can be made easy and manageable. In this article, I will be sharing the steps that could be followed to design software in a breeze. So, sit back, relax, and let’s get started on making software designing easy!

We cannot underestimate the importance of software in our lives. Whether we purchase online, communicate with distant relatives, or perform simple activities like making phone calls or playing games, software plays an important part in making all of this possible.

When there is a plan, stakeholder input, and the correct way to outline a project requirement, software design becomes more effective. Spend much time as necessary on this early planning to ensure that the project goes flawlessly. Before working on a prototype, you can establish your software designs and architecture using technical visualizations and a precise planning approach.

There are various systems used in the actual development of software, known as Software Development Models. Starting a software development project without a plan is a result of overspending, delays, and significant disasters. Instead of rushing into a project, more and more organizations are relying on Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) methodologies to provide high-quality software as fast, safely, and affordably as feasible.

An SDLC’s characteristics and precise number of phases differ between businesses and projects. Overall, in the Software Development process, the following stages are the most widely used methods;

1. Identify and understand the problem

Before drawing closer to the arrangement distinguish what’s going on with the principle issue and clear any questions in regards to it. Business analytics, operations, leadership, development, and security teams must all work together to complete this level. In some usage circumstances, getting feedback from end users may be a useful information source.

2. Gathering information

To Make gathering data simple, we can isolate the issue into smaller issues this way we can find solutions effectively this strategy is called Divide and conquer. Brainstorm your Ideas with your fellow teammates and ask them about their opinions.

3. Iterate Potential solutions

First and significant while attempting an answer think like you are the end client Take a stab at something it doesn’t need to be consummate assuming you see anything change by that, that is a triumph, and bit by bit you can work on yourselves.

Don’t overthink the solution and make it complex keep it exceptionally straightforward.

Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Mary Tyler Moore.

4. Implementing the Solution

Continuously re-use the code you composed and organize it with the goal that you can utilize the same code for some different projects. Ensure your framework works appropriately without realizing the execution subtleties of each part. While fixing mistakes and bugs don’t simply fix blunder and the bug fix the code around it also makes it more usable and comprehensible.

5. Following the “SOLID” Principle

SOLID

SOLID principles are a set of guidelines for object-oriented programming that aim to make code more maintainable and scalable. Developed by Robert C. Martin, these principles are widely accepted in the software development industry as a way to achieve well-designed, maintainable code. The SOLID principles are the single Responsibility Principle, Open-Closed Principle, Liskov Substitution Principle, Interface Segregation Principle, and Dependency Inversion Principle. Each principle is intended to address a specific problem or concern in software development, and adhering to them can help developers avoid common pitfalls and write code that is easy to understand, modify, and extend. In this article, we will take a closer look at each of the SOLID principles and how they can be applied in practice.

The accompanying five ideas make up our SOLID rule:

Single Responsibility

This guideline expresses that a class ought to just have one obligation and one motivation to change

This implies each class just does a certain something and each class has responsibility regarding one piece of the product's usefulness More classes ought to take care of just a single issue.

Single liability guideline is generally a fundamental rule that most designers are now using to assemble code. it can be applied to classes, programming parts, and microservices.

Using this guideline makes code simpler to test and maintain, it makes programming simple to execute, and it assists with staying away from the unexpected results of future changes.

Open closed Principle

The open-close standard is that classes should be open for augmentation yet closed for alteration. In doing as such we prevent ourselves from changing existing code and causing possible new bugs.

  • Open for expansion
  • Close for alteration

These measures appear to be going against one another, yet when you become more alright with it, you will see that it’s not as complicated as it appears

Using abstraction is the method for following this rule and ensuring that your class is effectively extendable without altering the code. Utilizing an inheritance or interface that permits polymorphic substitution is a typical method for consenting to this principle. regardless of the technique you are utilizing, it's critical to follow this standard to get code that is viable and revisable.

Liskov Substitution Principle

You can say this standard is the most challenging to comprehend. The standard expresses that each subclass ought to have the option to substitute their parent class

While this can be a troublesome standard to disguise in a lot of ways it's essentially an augmentation of the above open-close rule as it's away of guaranteeing that inferred classes extend the base class without changing conduct

Following this standard assist with staying away from unforeseen outcomes of changes and tries not to need to open a closed class to make changes

Interface Segregation Principle

The overall thought of the interface segregation standard is that it’s smarter to have a ton of more modest points of interaction than a couple of bigger ones. For programmers, this implies that you would rather not simply start with a current interface and add new techniques. Begin by building another interface and afterward let your class carry out different points of interface depending on the situation. Smaller points of interface imply that engineers ought to have an inclination for composition over inheritance and for decoupling over coupling. As per this rule, specialists should attempt to have numerous client-explicit interfaces, keeping away from the allurement of having one major interface.

Dependency Inversion Principle

The Dependency Inversion rule implies that designers ought to “rely upon abstractions, not on details.”

Definition of the Dependency Principle in the Books.

“Higher-level modules ought not to rely on low-level modules. Both ought to rely upon abstractions.” “Abstractions ought not to rely upon details. details ought to rely on abstractions.”

Carrying out SOLID plan standards during advancement will prompt frameworks that are more viable, adaptable, testable, and reusable.

Executing these standards prompts simple coding and simple comprehension to you to make great code and for others to comprehend.

As a bottom line, implementing a robust software development lifecycle (SDLC) and adhering to SOLID principles can greatly improve the quality and maintainability of your software. By defining a clear process for development and testing, and following principles for writing clean and organized code, you can ensure that your software is reliable, scalable, and easy to understand. Remember, the key to success in software development is to always strive for continuous improvement and to be open to feedback and new ideas. Thanks for reading!

Happy Learning :)

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