Imagine, you are absolutely happy about your current tech stack. All your software solutions are working properly and no technical challenges are concerning you at the moment…
Yes, we know that this looks like a fantasy, but even if your company has reached a full technological innovation, the morning sun never lasts a day. New business tasks and constant technology updates require new approaches and a new digital environment.
Our clients often face a necessity to improve their solutions or start new projects. The first case is discussed in our blogpost "How to keep up with Angular updates", the second one is a topic for today’s talk.
A fundamental component of any successful software solution is a codebase built to the highest industry standards, best engineering practices and expert knowledge. However, there are several factors that can significantly impact the software development process. One of the most common challenges is the software implementation process, which can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience for development teams when things go wrong. The software implementation process involves multiple steps, but it typically begins with planning and preparation.
Every modern software system consists of many components, such as the client and server-side, APIs, services and third party integrations, that work together within a common ecosystem. Angular is often used to build client-side applications that run in a web browser on desktop or mobile devices. There are many reasons to choose Angular as the primary framework for your next software solution, and it's important to evaluate all the reasons when making your decision.
When choosing a modern framework, such as Angular, it's crucial to ensure that your team and management is adequately prepared to adopt the new technology. This article is about the process of turning your vision into life, pitfalls and lifehacks. Let us share our experience of development process by stages:
1. DEFINING AN OBJECTIVE
Let's assume you already have an idea what you want your next application to do and how the user flows should look etc. Still, we recommend you to coordinate your vision inside the company and define at least two key concerns. The first one is your target audience including their behavior and preferences. The second one - market trends like the most popular application features and web-design details. This will help to adjust your plans to market requirements and set precise technical objectives.
2. DESIGN CONCEPT
The following piece of development puzzle is a design concept you are going to use. In case your company already has a corporate brand book, it will help a lot. If you don’t, you can use the existing design system, adapting it accordingly with your company. Don't be afraid of researching and borrowing existing ideas. Addressing a design issue in the first place will help you to go forward keeping your company products aligned with your company's unique branding, colors palette and design style. As a basement for your design you may use Angular open source library Angular Material which is based on Google's Material Design and provides pre-built UI components and styles for Angular applications. A number of other open source components libraries are listed in our blogpost "Open source FAQ. A Guide to modern software" . However in the early stages of software development, investing into custom design may not always bring a lot of value. A fully functional software prototype can often suffice to gather initial feedback from clients or stakeholders.
3. FIGURING OUT ARCHITECTURE
The next step is to think of an architecture of the project, how the user flow should be implemented, what architectural design patterns should be used and how your Angular application (front-end) will be communicating with the back-end servers. There are a lot of ways to approach Angular application architecture. However it is very important to get the component communication and state management approach to be done right. There is no right answer to the question of what state management solution is best as it may depend on many factors like what is the core functional of your application and the type of your backend API that you want to integrate an Angular app with. So the application architecture should be adjusted based on all those important factors. Angular Consulting approach is designing an IT Strategy for the abovementioned and following steps of application development and implementation which will set precise steps of the process.
4. SETTING UP SECURITY
Once you have decided on architecture patterns the next step is to decide on a common authorization mechanism that will be used to authenticate clients through the app. There is also no single answer to this question as everything depends on different factors including your current IT infrastructure. Usually there are a few options here like using your own authorization server or using a third party authorization mechanism.
At last we have a clear vision about the design system, architecture and authorization mechanisms and are ready to proceed with the final step which is building a project foundation.
Usually the project foundation starts from creating a new monorepo project. Depending on the complexity of the solution there are at least one Angular application and number of libraries that it is based on. A good practice is to generalize some parts of the codebase by putting it into separate libraries so it can be easily reused across different projects. Luckily Angular philosophy stands on with things like extensibility in mind.
Apparently, it may take a while to think before building a foundation project that will be used as a base for the new application and its new features.
5. SOLUTION TESTING
Testing is an important part of any software development process so automated testing is a critical piece of any code base usually set up and configured to carry out predefined duties. There are a few practices on how to approach testing. Each has its pros and cons and usually depends on the nature of the project. Even on the first development phase of the project some form of automated testing needs to be configured and implemented to assure the software quality and reduce the number of unpredicted errors, when the application code base evolves. Angular Consulting recommends creating a whitepaper with Software Testing Strategy which will ensure your solution is solid enough. However that step can come later in the process.
6. DEV TEAM TRAINING
Over time the code base and your team will grow and new technical challenges may appear. Every new developer who joins the team should follow the common patterns and practices implemented in the project. There are a lot of helpful tools in use for this requirement, but generic tools are not enough. A proper process of developer onboarding could be solved by having a well documented project onboarding guidelines. The other way is training sessions for new developers to get around the common practices used within a devteam. We recommend a combination of both - onboarding guidelines and training sessions or workshops. Angular Consulting has a great service for Dev Teams to cope with such kinds of situations. Besides, our clients may enquire about any kind of Training for their technical employees to work effectively and move forward in their new digital environment. Our advice is not to ignore a human factor that plays a big part in the implementation process, consider it in advance.
7. ONGOING SUPPORT
Ensuring the long-term success of new software can be challenging, especially when it comes to allocating resources for ongoing support. That's why we offer comprehensive Ongoing Support to lighten the load. With our dedicated team by your side, you can rest assured that your applications will receive the care and attention they deserve, allowing your business to thrive without unnecessary hurdles. Our experts will work closely with you to ensure the continued success and functionality of your software, so you can focus on driving your business forward without worry.
Hope, you have passed all the above mentioned steps and implemented your solution properly. The article is aimed to avoid the possible mistakes and make the process more effective. Still, Angular Consulting is ready to help you with our services to set your application done and operating. To know more about our experience from the customer side, please, see what Our Clients Say about us.
Evidently, the implementation of a greenfield project can be a challenging and complex process. However, with the right approach and competence adviser around, it can also be a rewarding and transformative experience for businesses and their stakeholders. Instead of being afraid of the difficulties, it is essential to learn the details and take on the challenges head-on, leveraging the expertise of professionals and working collaboratively to achieve success.
Angular Consulting encourages you to go forward with your ideas and remember, we are always here to help.
Make hay while the sun shines!
