Pros and Cons of Blended Waterfall / Agile Software Development

Thirty-five percent of developers surveyed by Forrester in late 2009 said they were using agile development.

31 percent said they don't follow a software methodology at all meaning they may use concepts taken from multiple development methods.

The pros of blended waterfall & agile software development

1. Incremental delivery of features helps developers identify and build on early success.

2. Solving problems as they occur rather than testing and performing fixes at the end of a development cycle reduces the likelihood of fatal system flaws.

3. Iterative releases make it easier to accurately forecast delivery times and final budget.

The cons of blended waterfall & agile software development:

1. Agile requires developers to be able to work together as a team. Developers who don't do so may neglect integration issues and interdependencies.

2. Team leaders who don't establish and enforce scope and design requirements upfront risk losing control of the project.

Though this is also a risk with waterfall projects, it's an even bigger one for agile due to its emphasis on frequent iterations and making changes as you go.