29 Software Development Tools And Best Practices To Adhere

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Successful software development involves industry best practices, the right software development tools, and ensuring the development is practical, high-quality, and scalable. 

According to a recent survey, around 90% of Fortune 500 companies use open-source software tools, emphasizing the pivotal role of software development tools in the competitive market.

However, with the abundance of available tools and frameworks, identifying the effective ones for both development and team collaboration to pursue the desired result can be challenging. 

This article from Design Journal identifies the tools and practices that will ensure efficient and effective execution of the software development life cycle.

Prominent software development tools & best practices

Explore essential software development tools and best practices that enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and improve code quality.

Version control system

A version control system (VCS) facilitates monitoring activities, allows collaboration among parties, and manages critical documents and workflows. Git is one of the most used VCS tools.

Git is one of the most popular software development tools for version control systems (VCS). It enables programmers to develop multiple features simultaneously, track coding history, and establish methods for merging changes. 

Some of the popular applications supporting Git are as follows:

• GitHub: A versioning and collaboration repository service offered as a Software as a Service (SaaS).
• GitLab: A versioning and collaboration repository service with additional Integrated Development Environment (IDE) tools such as CI/CD built into the platform.
• Bitbucket: A Git versioning and collaboration repository application that integrates with other Atlassian products such as Jira.

Best Practice: Adopting branching strategies such as Git Flow or GitHub Flow will enhance collaboration among members and keep everything well-organized during the development process.

Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)

Integrated Development Environment is the heart of coding, debugging, and software application development. 

An IDE will help the person responsible for writing the code. It allows features such as code completion, highlights coding styles, and offers debugging features.

The most popular IDE tools are the following:

• Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is the most well-known IDE because it is flexible, multilingual, and enabled through extensions.
• JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA: Most known when programming in Java but also supports other languages like Kotlin, Groovy, and Scala.
• Eclipse: It is ancient as it was the first IDE for Java and other languages, but in contrast to the other two, it has to be much more bulky for non-Java-based applications.

Best Practice: A best-suited IDE for the user’s targeted computer languages should be used with add-ons and tools to enhance work with the IDE.

Project management and issue-tracking tools

Communication and task management are the two most crucial functions in any development cycle. Working in teams complicates these functions.

It allows for the tracking of issues and manages projects such that reporting bugs/tasks are consolidated and the project progress can be monitored at all times.

Some notable names for existing tools in this area are:

• Jira: A multi-sprint planning, bug tracking, and backlog agile project management tool that most teams use for their projects.
• Trello: Simple and easy-to-use project management software that takes a visual approach to task management similar to the Kanban methodology.
• Asana: Highly customizable project management software with good collaboration and task management plugins.

Best Practice: Managing and tracking work items, providing a record of its completion in Agile methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban.

CI/CD tools

The CI/CD process involves full integration in software development that lets teams rapidly release software on well-tested and validated versions. 

Continuous Delivery is when the alterations made to the code are placed in production immediately. Deployment is automated with no additional manual work.

Some of the widely known market CI/CD frameworks are listed below:

• Jenkins: This was one of the earliest open-source projects to pioneer software build automation development. Its popular feature includes Continuous Integration, which enables users to automate testing and deploy code on cloud systems.
• CircleCI: It provides built-in integrations with popular cloud services like AWS and Google Cloud Platform, allowing teams to quickly onboard. Rapid scaling for growing teams is necessary because spin-up time can be an issue.
• GitLab CI: In the GitLab ecosystem, this CI/CD tool helps users automate the building and deployment processes as part of their workflows without friction. It is extensible and can be used alongside other services.

Best Practice: Focus on building automated cloud infrastructure. Keeping monitoring and environment setup automated increases flexibility and minimizes human intervention.

Containerization and virtualization tools

Containerization allows the developer to virtually ‘wrap’ an application and its components into a single package. This simplifies deployment and management in various environments and is crucial in modern DevOps.

Some notable examples of containerization tools are:

• Docker: A tool that allows the building and shipping of software across various platforms and tracks the performance of applications.
• Kubernetes: A public cloud platform that allows users to control the scaling and orchestration of application containers within clusters.
• Vagrant: Software for managing and building portable virtualized development environments. It is mainly used with other container tools besides Docker.

Best Practice: Employ Docker for application containerization and Kubernetes for managing large-scale micro-services.

Testing tools and frameworks

One key aspect of application development is Testing. The automated testing process resolves the code and any issues before execution, ensuring the code works as intended.

The most popular tools for testing are:

• JUnit: Junit is an impressively popular tool for testing Java-based applications.
• Mocha: A highly sophisticated unit test framework for JavaScript that runs on the most popular web browsers, and the node is Mocha. Mocha is simply perfect.
• Selenium: This application for automated browsers is suitable for end-to-end testers.
• Postman: This is a standard developer tool for creating and testing API calls.

Best Practice: Adopting Test Driven Development where code quality is created rather than maintained is conducive to better engineering outcomes.

Collaboration and communication tools

Lack of effective communication and high productivity do not work well, particularly for remote and overseas teams. To improve efficiency, collaboration tools streamline the integration of teams for effective collaboration.

Here is a selection of some of the most popular communication and collaboration programs:

• Slack: A user-friendly communication app ideally suited for teams with several features to add to the ease of communication.
• Microsoft Teams: This software facilitates communication and collaboration alongside other Microsoft Office applications.
• Zoom: A video-conferencing application that enables remote teams to participate in virtual standup meetings, sprint planning, and other routine team gatherings.

Best Practice: Always choose systems that support an integrated communication model to address the problems associated with varying working methods.

Security tools and practices

Security is a concern that should be addressed during the coding process and software warranty maintenance. Given the vast increase in cyber attacks, your operating software applications must be protected.

Below are examples of some of the tools that integrate security into the software development life cycle:

• GITguardian: This tool scans GitHub repositories for sensitive information, including passwords and API tokens.
• SonarQube: This static code analysis software tool facilitates the search for bugs and security flaws in source code.
• OWASP ZAP: This tool primarily scans web applications for security issues. It is distributed free of charge.

Best Practice: Security implementation is helpful at every organizational level. Such practices seek to mitigate risks posed by breaches and the introduction of malware and viruses to system networks. 

Besides, setting up automated checks in the CI/CD pipeline enhances security in every stage of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).

Cloud platforms and hosting solutions

The evolution of modern application development is closely tied to the development of cloud infrastructure and hosting services, which makes these platforms very critical.

Some of the more commonly used cloud platforms are:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS): This offers cloud computing, storage, databases, and machine learning services through its mesa cloud service. It is the most popular cloud service platform for data analytics and machine learning services. 
• Microsoft Azure: One of the most popular Microsoft services is Microsoft Azure, a cloud platform that provides solutions for databases, virtual machines, and containerization.
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP): GCP is gaining popularity in the business world primarily mainly because of more advance

Best Practice: To maximize scalability, performance, and resilience, a leading software development company should adopt a cloud-native strategy. This strategy involves selecting the right platforms, embracing a multi-cloud approach, and leveraging native cloud services.

Conclusion

Therefore, it must be done beforehand using the right software development tools to ensure proper management and deployment success. 

Software Development Tools increase the organization’s speed and reduce the support infrastructure that needs to be looked after.

Agile schema design, versioning control systems, CI/CD, containerization, cross-team collaboration, and even security testing project management can help automate certain routine activities. This enables faster development and the release of more quality code.

In addition, TDD, like agile development and automation, has particular goals. In this case, the goal is to optimize the collaboration and development processes so that a sufficiently functional software product exists and the desired user experience is delivered from every perspective.

Nonetheless, selecting proper instruments and processes for the development workflow will help control the Software Development Life Cycle, ensure that projects are completed smoothly, and produce quality software in a shorter period.

Combine the best design tools, your experiences, observations, and insights to create something meaningful.

Frequently asked questions

What tool is used in software development?

Software development involves various tools depending on the stage of development, such as:

• Code Editors & IDEs: Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse
• Version Control Systems: Git, GitHub, GitLab
• Project Management Tools: Jira, Trello, Asana
• CI/CD Tools: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD
• Testing Tools: Selenium, Jest, JUnit

What are your top 5 software engineering tools?

The top five widely used software engineering tools include:

1. Git – Version control system for managing code.
2. Visual Studio Code – Popular lightweight code editor.
3. Docker – Containerization tool for deployment.
4. Jenkins – CI/CD automation for software deployment.
5. Postman – API development and testing tool.

What are build tools in software development?

Build tools to automate compiling, linking, and packaging code. Some commonly used build tools include:

• Maven – Primarily for Java projects.
• Gradle – Used for Java, Kotlin, and other languages.
• Webpack – Bundles JavaScript, CSS, and assets for web development.
• Make – Automates software compilation in Unix-based systems.

Which software tool is in demand?

As of 2024, some of the most in-demand software tools are:

• Docker & Kubernetes – For containerization and orchestration.
• GitHub & GitLab – This is for version control and collaboration.
• AWS, Azure, Google Cloud – Cloud computing platforms.
• Jenkins & GitHub Actions – For CI/CD automation.
• PyTorch & TensorFlow – For AI/ML development.