iPhone, Quality, Content and Design.

As stated in the iPhoneSDK Keynote, Apple will hold final say as to what third party applications end up on the iPhone, through iTunes.  While not specifically published or stated, this position seems to give the inference that there will be certain Quality, Content, and Design standards.  Given this, there must also be a well designed process to inspect applications for adherence to this standard.

This is an area where casual developers and professional developers often take different paths.  Most professional development efforts value a well developed SDLC, where good requirements and quality assurance practices are seen as tools to developing stable well functioning software.  To the casual developer the value of these processes are often too expensive, from a time perspective, and frequently take a lower priority.

Many have commented about the approach that Apple is taking here and even referred to it as a "closed" system.  Rich Miner, (Group manager of Wireless Platforms at Google) recently gave a talk (link to video) about the challenges to mobile software development, and the impact open source initiatives have had in this space.  In this presentation Rich mentions that even the Google "open source" mobile initiative (Android) will have some detailed quality and design requirements.

As the mobile development community continues to change, only time will tell what traditional software development practices will be a best fit.  Agile, practices appear to be leading the efforts for today and may still offer the best blend of flexibility and process for a platform that seems destined for great things.  

-Robert Zullo