Difference between Product and Process in Software development

Differences Software Development Software & Coding

Product and Process are the two crucial terms in software development. The elementary difference between the two is that a "process" is a sequence of steps to be followed to create an appropriate product, while a "product" is the final outcome of the software development cycle.

Read this tutorial to learn more about Product and Process in the context of software development and how they are different from each other.

What is a Product?

The product is the final outcome of the software development process. It is the software application or system that is being built or maintained. A product is built on the customer's requirements/requests.

In the context of software development, a product consists of several components such as requirement specifications, design and test documents, user manuals, etc. To develop a desired software product, the software development team and the customer should define the purpose and scope of the product. The "purpose" gives the information about the objective of the product, and the "scope" gives the details about fundamental data, functions, and behavior of the product.

What is a Process?

The process is a set of steps that are to be followed to create a software product. A process is basically a template that can be used to create multiple products in a similar fashion. In software development, the process directs the development of the product. The process takes care of all the development cycles of a software product.

Process makes the progressive changes in requirements of the product. It includes the various stages of the software development life cycle (SDLC), such as planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing, and deployment. The process also includes the methods, techniques, and tools that are used to complete the work, such as agile methodologies, version control systems, and integrated development environments (IDEs).

The main objective of the process in software development is to ensure the successful completion of each phase of the software development.

Difference between Product and Process in Software Development

The following table highlights the important differences between a Product and a Process in software development −

Key	Product	Process
Concept	The product is the final result of a development cycle.	The process is a sequence or set of steps that should be followed to create a product.
Focus	Product development focus is on final outcome.	The process focuses on each step to be followed during software product development.
Life cycle	A product life cycle tends to be in the short term.	A process life cycle is generally long term.
Goal	The main goal of product development is to finish the work and get the product delivered successfully.	The main goal of a process is to make a good quality products.

Conclusion

The most significant difference that you should note here is that the product is the final result of a development cycle, whereas the process is a series of steps that should be followed to create the product.