Predictive vs Adaptive Development: Which Way to Go?

Quick Summary: With diverse software development techniques and methods, choosing the best process to develop your enterprise application becomes a puzzle. Adaptive and predictive are the two most prevalent software development methodologies today, with various pros and cons. In many cases, predictive can be a good approach, and adaptive can fit best in many other cases. Which one is best for your project, though? Here we will find the answer to this question with an understanding of each of these methodologies.

Software development is not a piece of cake but a complex process that requires proper coordination and planning. Therefore, selecting the right software development model is crucial for a hassle-free process.

Over time many SDLCs (Software Development Lifecycles) have evolved, providing more efficient ways to build software solutions. Today, there are two types of methodologies which are prominent in software engineering: predictive and adaptive development.

Predictive development is an earlier approach that is still relevant in many cases. The main focus of this process is on finishing a project with defined goals. However, there are many flaws with this approach, especially when the changes in project requirements and expectations are more frequent.

On the other hand, adaptive development is relatively new, and it recognizes the volatility of projects. It assumes that it’s hard to define every requirement and provision for changes to cope with uncertainty.

But which one is a good SDLC for any software development project? Predictive vs adaptive dilemma needs to be solved to choose the most efficient process for your project. Keep reading to get a full comparison of Predictive and Adaptive methodologies.

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What is Predictive Development?

Predictive development is a software development methodology where an application is developed piece-by-piece until it is fully completed. This process is based on predictions and planning, as the name suggests.

It assumes that the development team can predict the final product and complete the development process with planning. Hence, the project scope, timeline, and software development cost are determined at the initial phase of the development process.

Waterfall is a common example of a predictive development approach that presumes the SDLC in sequential, linear phases. Under this process, the software is created incrementally in steps with the next step depending on the completion of the previous one.

Advantages of Predictive Development

• The predictive SDLC is easy to follow and doesn't require any special understanding.
• Every next phase under this process is only initiated when the previous one is completed.
• There are clearly defined milestones, goals, and a concise workflow that make it easy for developers to work as per the specified budget and timeline.
• Development teams are able to predict the project timeline and budget when things go as per planning.
• Software development services leverage Waterfall model as an organized and sequential approach is needed to build reliable software solutions.
• Managing and monitoring projects is easy under this process because of specific timelines and deliverables.
• Waterfall is an example of a predictive approach.

Disadvantages of Predictive Development

• The final product is produced at the last stage of the predictive model. Consequently, it’s hard to implement changes and fix any bugs discovered later once the software product is complete.
• It adds extra software costs arising from the delays due to the discovery of bugs in testing the final product.
• Predictive software development is not suitable for complex projects.
• This model cannot verify the data quality they're provided for training. As an outcome, loopholes, errors, or mistakes during the data accumulation can render the forecast pointless.

What is Adaptive Development?

Adaptive SDLC evolved out of the search for a more flexible software development approach that accommodates changes and uncertainties. It is a combination of incremental and iterative development processes that provides agile transformation.

The comparison of predictive vs adaptive SDLC depends on the ability to adapt to the change in requirements. In adaptive SDLC, the client is also involved in the development process and provides feedback which is the catalyst for change in requirements.

Since adaptive software development is iterative and incremental, it follows a cyclical approach improving the product incrementally with every loop. The principles and values of Agile manifesto are based on the adaptive development approach. In fact, adaptive development is an earlier form of Agile.

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Advantages of Adaptive Development

• It is resilient to abrupt changes in software development requirements because of a flexible and easy-to-follow approach.
• Adaptive processes like the Agile software development lifecycle are popular today because they are more efficient and effective models.
• This SDLC involves a short loop of feedback and improvement that helps development teams identify and resolve issues early and build quality software.
• It effectively eliminates vulnerabilities and bugs while the software is frequently tested in the development process.
• Adaptive development focuses on producing quality software solutions.
• It brings teams with different expertise to work together and build better work environments.

Disadvantages of Adaptive Development

• There is excessive client involvement and software is reviewed with every iteration.
• While working with the adaptive SDLC, teams engage in continuous collaboration and communication that increases the overall time in development.
• The software development quality is impacted because of the deep collaboration between development teams and clients.
• Since frequent changes are adopted in software development, there is no full detailed documentation.

Predictive vs Adaptive Approach: Head-to-Head Comparison

Software Development Life Cycles (SDLCs) are rules and methods that development teams use to manage and organize their projects. Today, there are different approaches to software development categorized into predictive and adaptive models. Each of these development models has its pros and cons and is suitable for various project management scenarios.

However, with agile becoming a dominant methodology in software development, adaptive models become the go-to choices for many development teams. Nevertheless, the debate of adaptive vs predictive project management remains a hot topic across the board. A comparison of Adaptive vs Predictive can help to choose the right software development methodology to accomplish your goals efficiently.

Here is a complete comparison of predictive vs adaptive project management. It will help you understand the core differences between predictive development and adaptive development.

Workflow

The workflow in predictive and adaptive life cycles is a key difference. Predictive development is based on a structured process where the project scope and timeline are predefined. This process follows the assumption that requirements can be defined in advance. Once the needs are set forth, the development team breaks the project into subtasks and completes them one after another sequentially.

On the contrary, adaptive SDLC doesn’t make any assumptions and accepts the volatility of project requirements. Instead of taking project requirements as fixed, it works with speculation by taking initial requirements into consideration and having scope for mistakes. Thus, adaptive development works with a speculation-collaboration-learning cycle. The adaptive approach lays the foundation for agile software development.

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Collaboration

Team collaboration and communication are other factors to understand predictive vs adaptive differences. In predictive development methodology, software development takes place sequentially, with every phase starting when the previous one is finished. Take the Waterfall model, for example.

In this methodology, there is little communication and collaboration between different teams. Like when the design team finishes its task, the task of the development team starts. As a result, the project is finished without deeper communication and collaboration between teams. Similarly, client feedback is received only when the project is fully completed, making it harder to make changes.

The adaptive process emphasizes close collaboration and communication between teams, and changes are implemented quickly. In this process, client involvement is also crucial because the changes are made based on the feedback received from the client.

Flexibility

Adaptive development is also considered to be the freeform software design model because of greater flexibility and continual adaptation. Since it does not assume anything as is, the project evolves over time because it prioritizes continual change throughout the SDLC to meet emerging needs and requirements.

We can differentiate between adaptive and predictive project methodologies based on how they approach the initial stage. As you can guess, the predictive methodology starts with planning and setting project milestones. So, it involves planning a project upfront and following a strict plan.

However, the adaptive approach replaces planning with speculation, where the software development process takes place with some predefined requirements and provision for uncertainties is made. Hence, when there are some changes in the project plan, they are easily incorporated into the next iteration of the development cycle.

Predictive vs Adaptive Models: Which One to Choose?

As both of these methodologies have many benefits and disadvantages, there is no clear-cut answer to which one is better than the other. But you can find any of them more beneficial in specific cases. Let’s see the best approach in different cases.

Predictive development is better when:

• Predictive development is suitable in cases where the development team is well aware of the project and knows what they are supposed to do.
• It is best for simple projects where things are less volatile and predictable.
• When project demands are stable, and the development team is aware of the final deliverable.
• The development process is thoroughly documented.
• Having a clear idea of possible changes.
• If the project manager doesn’t have experience with any other methodology, the Predictive approach is easy.

Adaptative development is better when:

• Project parameters are undetermined and new requirements can frequently emerge.
• If the project involves innovation or experimentation and the final product isn’t strictly defined.
• Working on a project which is for a rapidly evolving industry.
• In the case of complex projects where abrupt changes in requirements are too common.
• For project managers with experience in agile SDLC.

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Ready to Make a Choice?Now that you have a good understanding of predictive and adaptive methodologies. You can take a better decision on which approach is good for you. However, each of these has unique benefits and is appropriate in various contexts.You should carefully assess the project requirements and specifications before adopting a particular SDLC. There can be negative ramifications of a new software development process if you are already using a specific methodology and proficient in it.Software development can be tedious and chaotic unless done with a professional approach. However, at Radixweb, we have years of experience in software development with the use of the most efficient SDLC as per project demands.We are experienced in both predictive and adaptive methodologies. Our team will help you accomplish your goals while efficiently managing your project with an agile approach. You can hire software developers from Radixweb to build customized solutions with a flexible workflow.No matter if you want to scale your existing software team or build one from scratch, we can meet all your requirements. Contact us to choose the best software developers for you in a few simple steps.