Iterative and Agile Development
Describe and compare iterative development processes and agile methodologies in realistic project contexts.
How to study Higher Computing Science
Move from requirements to structured designs, trace code and data precisely, and support every test or evaluation judgement with observable evidence.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Iterative development repeatedly builds, tests and refines versions of a solution.
Exam cue: Name the feature of the methodology before explaining its project effect.
Concept 2
Agile methodologies organise work into short cycles with frequent stakeholder collaboration and responsiveness to changing requirements.
Exam cue: Compare the same criterion on both sides rather than listing unrelated advantages.
Concept 3
A comparison should connect methodology features to project communication, risk, change, delivery and feedback.
Exam cue: Use the scenario’s requirement stability, team structure and stakeholder access.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Treating iterative and agile as exact opposites with no overlap.
Guardrail: Check route, scope, data type, boundary, loop condition, identifier and expected output before committing to the response.
Calling any repeated testing agile.
Guardrail: Check route, scope, data type, boundary, loop condition, identifier and expected output before committing to the response.
Giving a generic advantage without explaining why it matters in the stated project.
Guardrail: Check route, scope, data type, boundary, loop condition, identifier and expected output before committing to the response.
Memory anchors
Iterative development
Create a version, test it, evaluate it and refine it through repeated cycles.
Agile cycle
A short development cycle delivers usable progress and invites frequent feedback.
Changing requirements
Agile methods can accommodate change by reprioritising work between short cycles.
Stakeholder contact
Frequent collaboration helps expose misunderstandings and refine requirements early.
Iteration benefit
Problems can be found and corrected before the entire solution is complete.
Method comparison
Compare communication, flexibility, delivery frequency, risk and documentation in the project context.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
A team releases a usable booking-system increment every fortnight and reprioritises features after staff feedback. Which development approach is being used?
Why is an agile approach suitable when a charity expects its requirements to change during development?
Answer all questions to submit.
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Move forward only after this module is stable.
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