Software Development Life Cycle

What is SDLC?
- is the application of standard business practices to building software applications. It’s
typically divided into six to eight steps: Planning, Requirements, Design, Build, Document,
Test, Deploy, Maintain. Some project managers will combine, split, or omit steps,
depending on the project’s scope. These are the core components recommended for all
software development projects.

- is a way to measure and improve the development process. It allows a fine-grain analysis
of each step of the process. This, in turn, helps companies maximize efficiency at each
stage. As computing power increases, it places a higher demand on software and
developers. Companies must reduce costs, deliver software faster, and meet or exceed
their customers’ needs. SDLC helps achieve these goals by identifying inefficiencies and
higher costs and fixing them to run smoothly.

- is a framework defining tasks performed at each step in the software development

process. The life cycle defines a methodology for improving the quality of software and the
overall development process.

How the Software Development Life Cycle Works

The Software Development Life Cycle simply outlines each task required to put together a
software application. This helps to reduce waste and increase the efficiency of the development
process. Monitoring also ensures the project stays on track, and continues to be feasible
investment for the company.

Many companies will subdivide these steps into smaller units. Planning might be broken
into technology research, marketing research, and a cost-benefit analysis. Other steps can merge
with each other. The Testing phase can run concurrently with the Development phase, since
developers need to fix errors that occur during testing.
Software Development Life Cycle Process

SDLC is a process that defines the various stages involved in the development of software
for delivering a high-quality product. SDLC stages cover the complete life cycle of a software i.e.
from inception to retirement of the product.

Adhering to the SDLC process leads to the development of the software in a systematic and
disciplined manner.

Purpose:

Purpose of SDLC is to deliver a high-quality product which is as per the customer’s

requirement. SDLC has defined its phases as, Requirement gathering, Designing, Coding, Testing,
and Maintenance. It is important to adhere to the phases to provide the Product in a systematic
manner.

For Example, A software has to be developed and a team is divided to work on a feature of the
product and is allowed to work as they want. One of the developers decides to design first
whereas the other decides to code first and the other on the documentation part.
This will lead to project failure because of which it is necessary to have a good knowledge and
understanding among the team members to deliver an expected product.

Phases included in the Software Development Life

Cycle
Generally, the software development life cycle (SDLC) comprises the step-by-step processes
of developing the software.

Planning

In the Planning phase, project leaders evaluate the terms of the project. This includes
calculating labor and material costs, creating a timetable with target goals, and creating the
project’s teams and leadership structure. Planning can also include feedback from stakeholders.
Stakeholders are anyone who stands to benefit from the application. Try to get feedback from
potential customers, developers, subject matter experts, and sales reps.

Planning should clearly define the scope and purpose of the application. It plots the course
and provisions the team to effectively create the software. It also sets boundaries to help keep the
project from expanding or shifting from its original purpose.

Define Requirements
Defining requirements is considered part of planning to determine what the application is
supposed to do and its requirements. For example, a social media application would require the
ability to connect with a friend. An inventory program might require a search feature.

Requirements also include defining the resources needed to build the project. For example,
a team might develop software to control a custom manufacturing machine. The machine is a
requirement in the process.

Design and Prototyping

The Design phase models the way a software application will work. Some aspects of the
design include:

Architecture – Specifies programming language, industry practices, overall design, and use of any
templates or boilerplate
User Interface – Defines the ways customers interact with the software, and how the software
responds to input
Platforms – Defines the platforms on which the software will run, such as Apple, Android,
Windows version, Linux, or even gaming consoles
Programming – Not just the programming language, but including methods of solving problems
and performing tasks in the application
Communications – Defines the methods that the application can communicate with other assets,
such as a central server or other instances of the application
Security – Defines the measures taken to secure the application, and may include SSL traffic
encryption, password protection, and secure storage of user credentials
Prototyping can be a part of the Design phase. A prototype is like one of the early versions
of software in the Iterative software development model. It demonstrates a basic idea of how the
application looks and works. This “hands-on” design can be shown to stakeholders. Use feedback
or improve the application. It’s less expensive to change the Prototype phase than to rewrite code
to make a change in the Development phase.

Software Development

This is the actual writing of the program. A small project might be written by a single
developer, while a large project might be broken up and worked by several teams. Use an Access
Control or Source Code Management application in this phase. These systems help developers track
changes to the code. They also help ensure compatibility between different team projects and to
make sure target goals are being met.

The coding process includes many other tasks. Many developers need to brush up on skills
or work as a team. Finding and fixing errors and glitches is critical. Tasks often hold up the
development process, such as waiting for test results or compiling code so an application can run.
SDLC can anticipate these delays so that developers can be tasked with other duties.
Software developers appreciate instructions and explanations. Documentation can be a
formal process, including wiring a user guide for the application. It can also be informal, like
comments in the source code that explain why a developer used a certain procedure. Even
companies that strive to create software that’s easy and intuitive benefit from the documentation.

Documentation can be a quick guided tour of the application’s basic features that display on
the first launch. It can be video tutorials for complex tasks. Written documentation like user guides,
troubleshooting guides, and FAQ’s help users solve problems or technical questions.

Testing

critical to test an application before making it available to users. Much of the testing can
be automated, like security testing. Other testing can only be done in a specific environment –
consider creating a simulated production environment for complex deployments. Testing should
ensure that each function works correctly. Different parts of the application should also be tested
to work seamlessly together—performance test, to reduce any hangs or lags in processing. The
testing phase helps reduce the number of bugs and glitches that users encounter. This leads to a
higher user satisfaction and a better usage rate.

Testing involves in almost every phase in the modern SDLC methodologies. Once the coding
is done, it undergoes testing for quality assurance. Testing includes various functional testing like
system testing, acceptance testing, unit testing, integration testing, and also non-functional
testing.

Deployment

In the deployment phase, the application is made available to users. Many companies prefer
to automate the deployment phase. This can be as simple as a payment portal and download link on
the company website. It could also be downloading an application on a smartphone.
Deployment can also be complex. Upgrading a company-wide database to a newly
developed application is one example. Because there are several other systems used by the
database, integrating the upgrade can take more time and effort.

Operations and Maintenance

At this point, the development cycle is almost finished. The application is done and being
used in the field. The Operation and Maintenance phase is still important, though. In this phase,
users discover bugs that weren’t found during testing. These errors need to be resolved, which can
spawn new development cycles.

In addition to bug fixes, models like Iterative development plan additional features in future
releases. For each new release, a new Development Cycle can be launched.

SDLC Models & Methodologies

Waterfall

The Waterfall Model was the first Process Model to be introduced. It is also referred to as
a linear-sequential life cycle model. It is very simple to understand and use. In a waterfall model,
each phase must be completed before the next phase can begin and there is no overlapping in the
phases.

The Waterfall model is the earliest SDLC approach that was used for software development.
The waterfall Model illustrates the software development process in a linear sequential flow.
This means that any phase in the development process begins only if the previous phase is
complete. In this waterfall model, the phases do not overlap.
 The Waterfall SDLC model is the classic method of development. As each phase completes,
the project spills over into the next step. This is a tried-and-tested model, and it works. One
advantage of the Waterfall model is each phase can be evaluated for continuity and feasibility
before moving on. It’s limited in speed, however, since one phase must finish before another can
begin.

Agile
Agile SDLC model is a combination of iterative and incremental process models with focus
on process adaptability and customer satisfaction by rapid delivery of working software product.
Agile Methods break the product into small incremental builds. These builds are provided in
iterations. Each iteration typically lasts from about one to three weeks.

Agile model believes that every project needs to be handled differently and the existing
methods need to be tailored to best suit the project requirements. In Agile, the tasks are divided to
time boxes (small time frames) to deliver specific features for a release.

The AGILE model was designed by developers to put customer needs first. This method
focuses strongly on user experience and input. This solves much of the problems of older
applications that were arcane and cumbersome to use. Plus, it makes the software highly
responsive to customer feedback. Agile seeks to release software cycles quickly, to respond to a
changing market. This requires a strong team with excellent communication. It can also lead to a
project going off-track by relying too heavily on customer feedback.

Iterative
 In the Iterative model, iterative process starts with a simple implementation of a small set
of the software requirements and iteratively enhances the evolving versions until the complete
system is implemented and ready to be deployed.

An iterative life cycle model does not attempt to start with a full specification of
requirements. Instead, development begins by specifying and implementing just part of the
software, which is then reviewed to identify further requirements. This process is then repeated,
producing a new version of the software at the end of each iteration of the model.

In the Iterative development model, developers create an initial basic version of the
software quickly. Then they review and improve on the application in small steps (or iterations).
This approach is most often used in very large applications. It can get an application up and
functional quickly to meet a business need. However, this process can exceed its scope quickly and
risks using unplanned resources.

DevOps

The DevOps security model incorporates operations – the people who use the software –
into the development cycle. Like Agile, this seeks to improve the usability and relevance of
applications. One significant advantage of this model is the feedback from actual software users on
the design
and implementation steps. One drawback is that it requires active collaboration and
communication. Those additional costs can be offset by automating parts of the development
process.
V-Model
The V-model is an SDLC model where execution of processes happens in a sequential
manner in a V-shape. It is also known as Verification and Validation model.

The V-Model is an extension of the waterfall model and is based on the association of a
testing phase for each corresponding development stage. This means that for every single phase in
the development cycle, there is a directly associated testing phase. This is a highly disciplined
model, and the next phase starts only after completion of the previous phase.

V-shaped model is inspired by the Waterfall model, wherein V stands for Validation
and Verification. Each development stage has a parallel testing stage. Testing is done at
each and every stage of development. The development team moves to the next stage only
after the previous stage is completed.

Spiral SDLC
The spiral model combines the idea of iterative development with the systematic, controlled
aspects of the waterfall model. This Spiral model is a combination of iterative development
process model and sequential linear development model i.e. the waterfall model with a very high
emphasis on risk analysis. It allows incremental releases of the product or incremental
refinement through each iteration around the spiral.

The Spiral model is considered to be the most flexible software development life cycle
model mostly adopted for full-blown projects. The development process is divided into small stages
for easier follow-up. This methodology passes through four different phases-mainly planning, risk
analysis, engineering, and evaluation. The spiral model helps to develop a highly customized
project.

RAD

The RAD (Rapid Application Development) model is based on prototyping and iterative
development with no specific planning involved. The process of writing the software itself
involves the planning required for developing the product.

Rapid Application Development focuses on gathering customer requirements through

workshops or focus groups, early testing of the prototypes by the customer using iterative
concept, reuse of the existing prototypes (components), continuous integration and rapid
delivery.

Rapid application development is a software development methodology that uses minimal

planning in favor of rapid prototyping. A prototype is a working model that is functionally
equivalent to a component of the product.
In the RAD model, the functional modules are developed in parallel as prototypes and are
integrated to make the complete product for faster product delivery. Since there is no detailed
preplanning, it makes it easier to incorporate the changes within the development process.

RAD projects follow iterative and incremental model and have small teams comprising of
developers, domain experts, customer representatives and other IT resources working
progressively on their component or prototype. The most important aspect for this model to be
successful is to make sure that the prototypes
developed are reusable.

Big Bang
The Big Bang model is an SDLC model where we do not follow any specific process. The
development just starts with the required money and efforts as the input, and the output is the
software developed which may or may not be as per customer requirement. This Big Bang Model
does not follow a process/procedure and there is a very little planning required. Even the
customer is not sure about what exactly he wants, and the requirements are implemented on the
fly without much analysis. Usually this model is
followed for small projects where the development
teams are very small.
 The Big Bang Model comprises of focusing all the possible resources in the software
development and coding, with very little or no planning. The requirements are understood and
implemented as they come. Any changes required may or may not need to revamp the complete
software. This model is ideal for small projects with one or two developers working together and is
also useful for academic or practice projects. It is an ideal model for the product where
requirements are not well understood, and the final release date is not given.

Software Prototype

The Software Prototyping refers to building software application prototypes which displays
the functionality of the product under development, but may not actually hold the exact logic of the
original software.

Software prototyping is becoming very popular as a software development model, as it

enables to understand customer requirements at an early stage of development. It helps get
valuable feedback from the customer and helps software designers and developers understand
about what exactly is expected from the product under development.

Prototype is a working model of software with some limited functionality. The prototype
does not always hold the exact logic used in the actual software application and is an extra effort to
be considered under effort estimation.

Prototyping is used to allow the users evaluate developer proposals and try them out before
implementation. It also helps understand the requirements which user are specific and may not
have been considered by the developer during product design.