Five Stages of a Software Development Life Cycle

There are many approaches that are implemented during the process that involves software development. These approaches and methods are also known as ‘Software Development Process Models’ and include examples such as the Waterfall Model, V-Model, Incremental Model, and Iterative Model. These approaches or models consist of a specific life cycle that they follow in order to determine the level of success in the software development process.

Software Development Life (SDLC) Cycle explains the various stages of a software cycle and the structure in which these stages are carried out.  The result produced from each stage is implemented in the next stage of the software life cycle. Requirements are converted into design and the design is used to develop the code. The final testing stage authenticates the results of the implementation stage by measuring it across the requirements.

There are mainly five stages in the SDLC:

Requirement Analysis

The requirements of the software are determined at this stage. Discussions are held between the various stake holders, managers, and users to find out what the particular software will be used for. Who will use it and how will they be using it. Information regarding what kind of input is required and what output is expected is collected during this stage. Once the information is collected, it is analysed to see if the requirements can be incorporated into the software that is to be developed. After which, a ‘Requirement Specification’ document is developed to be used as a guide for the next stage.

Design

Here, the software and system design is developed according to the instructions provided in the ‘Requirement Specification’ document. The design stage establishes what hardware and what system requirements are needed as well as the entire system architecture. The results from this stage are used as input for the next one.

Implementation & Coding

In this stage, the actual coding is done and the code is produced based on the design specifications. This is the most critical and also the longest stage in the SDLC.

Testing

After the development of the code, it is tested to see if it meets all the requirements that were determined in the first stage. Various kinds of testing such as system testing, unit testing, acceptance testing, and integration testing are carried out.

Maintenance

This is the final stage, where the finished software is delivered to the customer. The real problems are identified once the customer begins use. These problems are addressed from time to time as they crop up.