This paper introduces a vision for Quantum Software Development lifecycle, proposing a hybrid full-stack iterative model that integrates quantum and classical computing. Addressing the current challenges in Quantum Computing (QC) such as the need for integrating diverse programming languages and managing the complexities of quantum-classical systems, this model is rooted in the principles of DevOps and continuous software engineering. It presents a comprehensive lifecycle for quantum software development, encompassing quantum-agnostic coding, testing, deployment, cloud computing services, orchestration, translation, execution, and interpretation phases. Each phase is designed to accommodate the unique demands of QC, enabling traditional software developers to engage with QC environments without needing in-depth QC expertise. The paper presents a detailed implementation roadmap, utilizing a range of existing tools and frameworks, thereby making quantum software development more accessible and efficient. The proposed model not only addresses current challenges in quantum software development but also makes a substantial contribution to the field of Quantum Software Engineering (QSE). By proposing a structured and accessible model, it sets the stage for further advancements and research in QSE, enhancing its practicality and relevance in a wide range of applications.
This paper introduces a vision for Quantum Software Development lifecycle, proposing a hybrid full-stack iterative model that integrates quantum and classical computing. Addressing the current challenges in Quantum Computing (QC) such as the need for integrating diverse programming languages and managing the complexities of quantum-classical systems, this model is rooted in the principles of DevOps and continuous software engineering. It presents a comprehensive lifecycle for quantum software development, encompassing quantum-agnostic coding, testing, deployment, cloud computing services, orchestration, translation, execution, and interpretation phases. Each phase is designed to accommodate the unique demands of QC, enabling traditional software developers to engage with QC environments without needing in-depth QC expertise. The paper presents a detailed implementation roadmap, utilizing a range of existing tools and frameworks, thereby making quantum software development more accessible and efficient. The proposed model not only addresses current challenges in quantum software development but also makes a substantial contribution to the field of Quantum Software Engineering (QSE). By proposing a structured and accessible model, it sets the stage for further advancements and research in QSE, enhancing its practicality and relevance in a wide range of applications.
As quantum computers advance, the complexity of the software they can execute increases as well. To ensure this software is efficient, maintainable, reusable, and cost-effective—key qualities of any industry-grade software—mature software engineering practices must be applied throughout its design, development, and operation. However, the significant differences between classical and quantum software make it challenging to directly apply classical software engineering methods to quantum systems. This challenge has led to the emergence of Quantum Software Engineering (QSE) as a distinct field within the broader software engineering landscape. In this work, a group of active researchers analyze in depth the current state of QSE research. From this analysis, the key areas of QSE are identified and explored in order to determine the most relevant open challenges that should be addressed in the next years. These challenges help identify necessary breakthroughs and future research directions for advancing QSE.
Recent progress in quantum computing has under-scored the need for specialized software to effectively address the unique challenges posed by quantum systems. While early research emphasized hardware and algorithmic breakthroughs, recent progress underscores the necessity of Quantum Soft-ware Engineering (QSE), an emerging discipline that combines software lifecycle processes, tooling, hybrid orchestration, and human-centered design. This paper integrates insights from QSE and quantum software architecture (QSA) to propose a hybrid execution architecture explicitly shaped by Quantum HCI principles, emphasizing developer experience, trust, and the quality of interaction with quantum systems. While quantum software represents a new genre of software-intensive systems, existing processes and notations can be adapted to derive architecting activities and develop modeling languages for quantum software. Additionally, tool chains can incorporate reusable knowledge and roles to automate and customize the architectural process. By analyzing current research and iden-tifying existing gaps, this paper aims to guide the systematic development of robust and scalable quantum software systems. Central to this vision is meaningful human interaction, ensuring that developers can interpret, act on, and trust system outputs from design to post-execution analysis.
Quantum computing is one of the research areas progressing rapidly toward practical deployment, yet the engineering of scalable and reliable quantum software remains underdeveloped. Current quantum software engineering (QSE) practices are largely tools‐driven and ad hoc that providing limited support for managing probabilistic execution, hybrid quantum–classical workflows, noise sensitivity, and hardware constraints. This study proposed a structured QSE lifecycle that integrates quantum‐specific characteristics with disciplined software engineering practices and principles. The proposed lifecycle organizes development into six phases, encompassing quantum requirements engineering, formal modeling, architecture and circuit design, hybrid integration, noise‐aware testing, and deployment with monitoring. Each phase is supported by explicit artifacts and quantitative criteria to enable systematic progression and iterative refinement. The QSE is validated through expert assessment and simulation‐based experimentation using representative variational quantum algorithms under the realistic noise conditions. The results show improved fidelity convergence, reduced resource overhead, enhanced development stability (DS), and more reliable validation compared with unstructured workflows, demonstrating the value of lifecycle‐driven engineering for quantum software systems.
Quantum Computing (QC) is transitioning from theoretical frameworks to an indispensable powerhouse of computational capability, resulting in extensive adoption across both industrial and academic domains. QC presents exceptional advantages, including unparalleled processing speed and the potential to solve complex problems beyond the capabilities of classical computers. Nevertheless, academic researchers and industry practitioners encounter various challenges in harnessing the benefits of this technology. The limited accessibility of QC resources for classical developers, and a general lack of domain knowledge and expertise, represent insurmountable barrier, hence to address these challenges, we introduce a framework- Quantum Computing as a Service for Hybrid Classical-Quantum Software Development (QCSHQD), which leverages service-oriented strategies. Our framework comprises three principal components: an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for user interaction, an abstraction layer dedicated to orchestrating quantum services, and a service provider responsible for executing services on quantum computer. This study presents a blueprint for QCSHQD, designed to democratize access to QC resources for classical developers who want to seamless harness QC power. The vision of QCSHQD paves the way for groundbreaking innovations by addressing key challenges of hybridization between classical and quantum computers.
As quantum computing continues to advance, the development of reliable and scalable quantum software systems becomes increasingly crucial. However, designing and implementing hybrid (quantum-classical) software systems poses unique challenges that require novel approaches and best practices. This position paper argues for the importance of developing architectural and design patterns specific to Quantum Software Engineering (QSE). We provide an overview of existing quantum software design patterns (more focused on low-level, programming details) and highlight the lack of patterns addressing hybrid software systems and architectural patterns. We discuss the key challenges that architectural patterns should address, including quantum-classical integration, maintainability, efficiency, and security. We also discuss the implications for practitioners, providing guidance on how to think high-level about hybrid software development process. Finally, we outline future research directions and emphasize the need for collaboration between the quantum computing and software engineering communities to establish a comprehensive high-level patterns framework for QSE.
The quantum computing (QC) field is rapidly moving beyond the realm of pure science to become a commercially viable technology that may be able to overcome the drawbacks of traditional computing. Major technology tycoons have spent in building coding frameworks and hardware to create applications specifically designed for quantum computing over the last few years. The development of QC hardware is accelerating, however, the requirement for software-intensive methodology, approaches, procedures, instruments, roles and responsibilities for creating industrial-focused quantum software applications arises from operationalizing the QC. This paper outlines the concept of quantum software engineering (QSE) life cycle, which entails the engineering of quantum requirements, design, implementation, testing and maintenance of quantum software. This paper notably advocates for collaborative efforts between the industrial community and software engineering research to propose practical solutions to support the complete activities for the development of quantum software. The proposed vision makes it easier for researchers and practitioners to suggest new procedures, reference designs, cutting-edge equipment, and methods for utilizing quantum computers and creating the newest and most advanced quantum software.