Secure application development previously required several fragmented approaches patchworked together, often in an inconsistent manner. Secure deployment of applications was previously poorly defined, and people or process assessments were not considered.
Then, the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) decided to do something about it. They created a single easy to follow standard called the Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS). This has been through multiple iterations, with version 4.0.3 being the most recent.