Analysis and Comparison of Waterfall Model and Agile Approach in Software Projects

Looking at the history of civilization from past to present, the concepts of project and project management are frequently encountered. Thanks to project management, businesses can work target-oriented, provide high motivation, facilitate internal control and provide a significant increase in quality. The concept of software, born with the development of technology, penetrates our lives more and more day by day. The globalizing world has brought together the concepts of software and project management and integrated them. Software projects require special management techniques because of their content. For this reason, new methods have emerged over time in the management of software projects. In this study, the concept of the project, the development of project management from its birth over the years, project management in software projects, software development life cycles, and the Waterfall Model and Agile Approach, which are two methods used in software projects, are discussed. The perception of the Waterfall Model and Agile Approach was evaluated with the survey study created with the participation of 145 employees from the software industry. Thus, it is aimed to support managers to choose an effective and efficient method at the point of deciding which method to proceed in software project management.