Aim to launch an innovative product to conquer the SaaS market, or a successful mobile application? Start with learning the basic principles of the software development life cycle models and methodologies.
A suitable software development life cycle model is key to establishing an effective digital solution. Specifically, it is a mechanism for project tracking and control and a universal tool for improving client relations. Using an SDLC also allows you to eliminate risks that relate to exceeding the budget or deadline breaches.
If you plan to take one of the existing SDLC models as your starting point, you’ll need to understand their characteristics first. This guide will give you all the information you need about models and phases of systems development life cycles, including the answers to the following questions:
Get an understanding of how web projects are developed to bring your product to life and choose the best methodology for custom software development for your specific project.
Let's begin with an SDLC definition. SDLC or the Software Development Life Cycle is a systematic, highly organized process for developing software. In other words, it is a sequence of stages for digital development and support.
SDLC starts with the decision to create a new digital product and ends when there is no longer a need for the product. It comprises a precise plan which describes how to plan, develop, alter, and maintain a software system. Every stage of the system development life cycle has its use case and results, which can influence the overall software development.
The intention in using this process is to build top-notch software that meets all customer requirements and expectations. You can set a pre-defined cost and timeframe when building the software to help you to achieve the expected results.
Still wondering why your project needs a complete software development life cycle? SDLC is crucial for launching SaaS or applications because each phase of the process will help you test your app's functionality. SDLC methodology can be compared to a jigsaw puzzle, which isn’t complete until each piece is in place.
SDLC has numerous advantages that will come in handy when developing a software system:
Knowing these SDLC advantages will help you delve deeper into the phases of a software development life cycle, which is the next topic in our guide.
So what is SDLC process? To start a digital project, you must undertake the steps necessary for its efficient implementation. There are various opinions about SDLC phases; however, here we will highlight 7 stages of software development life cycle:
These stages of program development process are vital for software building, as each of them fulfills a specific role. To organize the process of establishing a digital product effectively, you need to analyze every stage in detail.
Planning phase is the first and most essential stage of software development. This SDLC phase represents gathering information relating to the long-term customer expectations and goals of the project. With a well-structured and elaborated plan, you gain a solid basis for shifting to the analysis step. The SDLC planning phase can also help you to identify the opportunities and risks of launching your application.
For example, if you want to create an app for monitoring and collecting specific data, I recommend that you indicate here what information you will need to collect to achieve the expected results. Thus, you can stay one step ahead, effectively plan the project’s growth, and spend less time on the next stages.
Now that you know what is the first step of SDLC, it's time to proceed to the next phase, which can't exist without planning.
Gathering requirements and analysis is a fundamental stage in the software development life cycle. This phase aims to define the system’s requirements to ensure that all participants in the process have a clear understanding of their objectives. To obtain the most significant benefit from the requirements phase, you should involve senior development team members, the QA specialists who can amend the process, and all other parties interested in the project.
The analysis phase helps to build up a picture of the scope, anticipated issues, and opportunities of the business. Additionally, the information gathered at this stage can be used for maintaining and supporting the product in the economic, technical, and operational areas.
The first two development life cycle phases of a systems development life cycle will help you identify your program's demands, diagnose its issues, and define the positive ways of its growth for outlining the work measurement. I would recommend you also take note of any problems that remain unresolved before proceeding to the next SDLC phase.
Moving to the design phase of SDLC reflects your readiness to optimize the project. What exactly does this entail? During design phase in SDLC, you should finalize your project's goal and define the conceptualization of the solution, which includes technologies used in the application, time frames, team load, and budget limitations. This creates an architecture for the digital application.
The designing and prototyping stage deals with custom-tailored software design to meet the specific project requirements. This process includes the development of two types of design documents:
HLD includes a brief description of each module and its functionality. Plus, it indicates the interface relationship, identifies database tables with their essential elements, and provides all technical details of architecture diagrams.
LLD incorporates database tables, total interface detailing, as well as input and outputs for every module. Low-level design can assess the functional logic of the modules and address diverse dependency issues.
The design phase of SDLC consists of three steps:
Designers start with sketching, which provides a representation of the project's concept.
If you need to create a sketch and turn it into a digital format, the Paper app is one that I would recommend.
Once you have finished with the sketching, you'll need to transfer your draft onto a tablet to prepare a black and white model of each screen. This will be your wireframe, which will look almost like a finished design. The only missing detail will be the color scheme and actual content of the application, which can be added at the last stage of design.
In the prototyping phase, you can see how your app will actually look. This will allow you to estimate the final result and add uniqueness to your project to allow it to stand out on the market.
After improving all the project requirements, it's time to move towards the system development phase, which actually incorporates the process of building the product. This SDLC stage entails writing the source programming code for the app.
The development step consists of two parts:
The frontend is the user interface or the application that allows visitors to interact with the program. As for the backend, it represents the functionality of the app. This part guarantees the operation of the whole software system and manages all the program's functions and calculations.
The programming process includes algorithm development, source code writing, compilation, and testing.
If you have zero experience in coding, you will probably be unfamiliar with some or all of these terms. However, you can always use the assistance of a professional programmer.
Developers know how to implement the coding guidelines that govern specific programming tools, including compilers, interpreters, debuggers, and more. They also understand programming languages such as C, C++, Java, PHP, and Pascal, which are commonly used for coding.
Testing is one of the finalizing stages of the system development life cycle. During testing phases in software development, you can bring all the project's parts together to perform the app's debugging process.
Testing phase in SDLC includes functionality checking, systems integration, and user acceptance testing, allowing you to ensure that the code is clean and ready for establishment.
To implement this software development stage, you should place your project into a particular test environment and check it for bugs. By doing this you will have an opportunity to fix all the code flaws missed during the development phase.
Repeat the testing process until there are no critical issues related to the software workflow. This is the only way to create a product that can reach the quality standards defined in the software requirements specification (SRS).
Once you get rid of all the bugs and errors detected during the testing stage, you can proceed to the implementation or deployment phase in SDLC. This phase of program development is a starting point for project realization, as it contributes to the release of the final software.
To finally launch the application on the market and showcase it to the end users, you should let your tech support team deploy the complete project. Thanks to this department, you will be able to interact with users and consult visitors about the program's execution. The implementation phase in SDLC enables updating of selected components.
Sometimes the deployment phase is realized in several steps. The developer can first release the product with limited scope to test it in a natural business environment. Then you may consider the clients' feedback in order to perform further app improvements.
If you haven't upgraded your app during the deployment step, you have a great opportunity to fix this shortcoming during the maintenance phase. This is one of the most beneficial, yet potentially most expensive, stages of the system development life cycle, so do your best to take it seriously.
Maintenance is the systematic testing of a product's functionalities. It helps to identify bugs that were not detected or were not shown in the fail logs. The program's efficient operation is impossible without the vital maintenance that guarantees the project meets all requirements.
The maintenance phase of SDLC comprises the following activities:
A focus on these three components of the maintenance SDLC phase can help to ensure the project's software performs correctly.
There are many reasons why a software system requires maintenance. One of the conditions for the improvement of design features is the desire to achieve better usability. Implementing enhancements is also an excellent reason to return to the software development life cycle's maintenance phase.
As well as the extended 7-step version of system development stages described in this guide, there are alternative software development life cycle concepts, with either five or six points rather than seven. The difference between these two SDLC systems may seem insignificant, but it is important to distinguish between 6-stage and 5-stage SDLC procedures.
The alternative concept that includes six stages of app development lifecycle contains:
This option, therefore, incorporates all phases except planning.
As for the 5 stages of software development, they are as follows:
This option may seem less detailed, but it nevertheless provides the same functions as the 7-step scheme described in this guide. The main difference is that implementation is part of the development stage.
After you have checked out how we describe the seven phases of the systems development life cycle, it's time to learn about the various types of system development methodologies. SDLC methodologies provide different ways of performing functions within each of the aforementioned stages. Developers distinguish nine software development life cycle models:
Different SDLC methodologies undertake the development process in different ways, but there is one common factor: their purpose. The system development methodologies aim to create high-quality software rapidly and efficiently.
All these types of sdlc models contain the tools needed to achieve the final goal efficiently. Still, the best choice depends on the concrete expectations and requirements. Define your intentions relating to the product and determine your project's scale and specifics to make the right decision.
You can select the appropriate SDLC model by considering the level of expertise required, time, budget, and other factors relevant to the process. However, it is advisable to understand the specifics of all software development models and methodologies in order to select the one that is the best option for your project. In the rest of this article, you'll find a detailed description of each SDLC model as well as the specific aspects of their usage.
The Waterfall software development life cycle is the first and the simplest SDLC model. This methodology looks like a flow, as its stages are closely linked and follow one another sequentially. However, take into account that Waterfall represents quite a rigid approach to software development compared to other system development methods.
The following chart illustrates the Waterfall model stages:
The Waterfall SDLC starts with an analysis phase to define the project's specific requirements. After a thorough requirements study comes the design phase. Then the wireframe heads to developers for implementing the code in the development stage of SDLC.
The fourth phase of Waterfall is testing for defects and bugs, which provides an estimation of the overall software performance quality. Then there is the maintenance phase, the last stage of the SDLC Waterfall model process, during which the product can be released.
In the Waterfall model system development life cycle, the outcome of one phase becomes the input for the next sequential stage. Thus, it is crucial to complete each step before proceeding to the next one. You can undertake every SDLC phase only once in this model. As the next step, let's look at the Waterfall model advantages and disadvantages.
V-model is an extension of the aforementioned Waterfall methodology SDLC. This SDLC model incorporates testing, also known as "verification" steps, into every phase. To understand this method better, check out the following v model diagram:
The V Model comprises several validation stages, such as:
V model development includes various testing options, which perform several functions:
The Incremental model of the software development life cycle is linear, therefore, all development life cycle phases follow each other. This system development methodology consists of mini-projects, each of which leads to a full-fledged product. Once all these systems are put together into a final software system, the product is ready to be launched.
The Incremental model involves four steps in software development:
The Spiral model SDLC is a sequence of iterative and linear development stages, focusing on analysis. There are four Spiral model phases:
Spiral model in software engineering is the most flexible out of all SDLC methodologies, as it combines the features of both the SDLC methodology Waterfall and Prototyping approaches. Spiral development model emphasizes goal definition and risk evaluation, which are vital to the implementation stage. It is also based on client assessment and includes a linear approach to customer interaction.
The Spiral model of software development is applicable to long-term and large-scale projects.
The Agile SDLC combines iterative and incremental phases of software development. This Agile software development life cycle methodology maximizes the system's adaptability, which allows us to launch a product quickly and cost-effectively.
The Agile software development life cycle consists of a combination of the following stages:
Choose the software development life cycle Agile model if you want to develop your project through customer interaction and collaboration. This will allow you the opportunity to define proper product requirements in line with users' feedback.
Agile methodology resume is a quick response to change and continuous development, so it will boost your product during the whole SDLC process.
The Lean SDLC model focuses on software efficiency and quick delivery of the final result. This system development model includes aspects of the Agile methodology SDLC to reduce software waste and cost. In the graph below, you can see the essential principles of the Lean model.
The first principle is the eliminate waste stage that deals with wasteful features removal. Then comes the procedure of complete system optimization and the process of software structuring. The next statement of the Lean SDLC model is development team empowerment, which can help to avoid rash decision-making during product development. The application of these principles ensures quick product delivery and excellent project quality.
The Iterative models of software development life cycle deal with improving the system for its efficient deployment. This process begins with identifying part of the software for implementation of additional requirements. At the final stage of SDLC iterative model, we obtain a new version of the software. Check our iterative diagram:
To get the most benefit from this approach, you should precisely verify and test each part of the system. However, consider the fact that your product's software must be tested repeatedly during the process of its establishment.
The Iterative methodologies are suitable for large scalable projects.
The Rapid Application Development model (RAD) is a program development methodology that doesn't require specific planning. This SDLC model involves creating a prototype; i.e., a working model of the product with the same functionality as the actual project.
The projects implemented using the Rapid Application Development model in SDLC follow iterative and incremental phases. Moreover, the RAD model involves stages such as:
The Software Prototype Model is in demand among program developers as it helps to reveal client needs and requirements at an early stage of software launching. The software development phase allows the incorporation of users' opinions about the product, thus determining possible improvements for the project.
There are four stages of the Prototype model in software engineering:
The Prototype model in software engineering is suitable for projects with unclear or unstable requirements.
Selecting the best system is the first step of the systems design phase of the systems life cycle. Choosing the most appropriate SDLC model depends on the priorities of the project at hand. When it comes to your own product development, spend some time defining your business's fundamental goals and focusing on how best to implement them. No matter which software development life cycle methodology you choose, the method should resolve all issues related to your project.
Interact with the dev and QA teams to highlight the future product's essential aspects. They can provide you with actual examples of SDLC models, thus helping you to view each one from different perspectives.
Still need a consultation on the matter of the custom software development — contact us; we are always glad to assist!
Roman Zomko
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