The DevOps engineer's handbook The DevOps engineer's handbook

A brief history of software delivery

How did we get to where we are today with software delivery? Each time an organization publishes a new software delivery model, they tend to attack previous attempts to solve this complex problem. Still, there is evidence that they’re more influenced by earlier working methods than they might first appear.

This series looks at how the process of writing software has changed over 70 years and why. In these posts, we’ll cover 3 major eras of software delivery, from 1950 to now:

  1. Phased Models (1950-1990)
  2. Lightweight Adaptive Methods (1990-2010)
  3. Modern Software Delivery (2010-now)

Some process concepts were based on incorrect assumptions, others lost their relevance over time, but some ideas have stood the test of time. By looking at the evolution of software delivery, we can separate the wrong turns from the enduring truths.

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