Developing software is not easy. That is why there are processes, known as agile methodologies, that greatly facilitate the path for the developer team and customers.

But what are agile methodologies? This concept arises from the need to streamline, as its name suggests, the steps for creating software. It focuses on human interactions in order to maintain a fluent conversation between the parties, which allows a more dynamic and participatory development.

Agile methodologies use an adaptive development system rather than a predictive one. This means that the work team has the desired result in mind, but does not know exactly the type of product that could create due to the impossibility of understanding the client's needs.

One of the foundations of these methodologies is what is known as the iterative or incremental life cycle, also known as cascade development. This concept consists in the development of the product progressively, providing the customer with an increasingly functional MVP periodically, until a final product is reached.

Software factories must use agile methodologies not to generate an action plan, but to create developments that can be polished and improved until they reach the perfect product. There are many agile methodologies; some of them will be presented in this article.

Scrum is the most widely used agile methodology. This methodology is based mainly on the creation and assignment of tasks. Such tasks, normally written in post-its or derivatives, are implemented in the system, which controls the changes that may occur in them: assigned, not assigned, finished, in process, etc.

The Scrum methodology is developed through the achievement of some specific points. At first, the Product Backlog is defined. This could be defined as a list of the functionalities that the customer wants the product to have, ordered from highest to lowest importance.

Once the Product Backlog has been defined, the list of tasks for the iteration or Sprint Backlog begins to be developed, which consists of an index with certain points of the Product Backlog that must be completed in the first part of the development.

The work team is the one who defines its duration.
Throughout the Sprint Backlog, meetings are also held with the client and the work team.

These meetings are known as Sprint Planning Meeting and are used to determine how the project is going to be approached, the stages and the deadlines.

Another popular methodology is Kanban. This Japanese methodology is based on the Toyota production method that emerged in the 40s.

Its name comes from the union of the words Kan, whose meaning refers to the visual plane, and Ban, which means card. Thus, it can be concluded that this agile methodology "makes use of cards to visually manage the performance of certain processes". Card usage is its main advantage, since it allows Kanban to be a very simple methodology to implement to the system and projects of a company.

Extreme Programming is another agile methodology. It was developed by Kent Beck, one of the main precursors of the Agile Manifesto. eXtreme Programming is the simplest and easiest software development methodology to implement, although at the same time it has been one of the least used by companies in the last few years.

This methodology is based on an ongoing feedback between the development team and the client. Therefore, the most advisable thing is for the client to give his opinion on what he likes and what he does not like as the project progresses.

It is highly recommended for those projects whose conditions are ambiguous or highly variable. Planning has to be highly flexible and based on iterative development, or cascade development, with very fast deliveries "waiting for customer´s daily feedback".

Within the XP methodology, each of the development interactions is programmed from one day to the next, reflecting, designing and documenting the code as it is written.

Then, Lean is a methodology specially designed for small work teams. It is necessary that these members are educated and motivated people, since the development will depend on the effectiveness and union of the work team. Like Kanban and other agile methodologies, Lean is based on the Toyota production method and is one of the most used for the development of medium-term projects.