Phases of the Software Development Life Cycle

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a defined process, used for planning, creating, testing, and developing high-quality softwares and information systems, to meet customer expectations.

SDLC consists of a detailed plan with its own process and deliverables that feed into the next phase. It is also referred to as an Application Development life-cycle.

SDLC Phases;

• Phase 1: Requirement collection
• Phase 2: Plan
• Phase 3: Design
• Phase 4: Coding
• Phase 5: Testing
• Phase 6: Deployment
• Phase 7: Maintenance

Requirement collection:

At this stage of the SDLC, a clearer picture and scope of the entire project are defined, as well as the anticipated issues, opportunities, and directives on which the project is centered.

Inputs are sourced from all stakeholders, including customers, salespeople, industry experts, and programmers to acquire detailed requirements needed to finalize the timeline for the project.

Plan:

The planning is conducted with the help of a “Software Requirement Specification” document. It includes everything which should be designed and developed during the project life cycle.

The planning phase is also referred to as the feasibility study phase, where checks on the economic status, legal compliances, technical requirements, and schedule are put in place.

Also See: Moving to Germany as a Software Developer or a Techie – What to expect and requirements

Design:

This phase gives a visual representation of the needs of the business owner. The designs are reviewed, and feedback and suggestions are effected in this stage.

The design phase serves as an input for the next phase of the model. The two kinds of design documents developed in this stage are High-Level Design & Low-Level Design

Build:

In this stage, developers build the entire system by writing codes using the chosen programming language.

It is usually the longest phase of the project – with programming tools like compilers, interpreters, and debuggers used to implement the code.

Code Test:

After software development is complete, the testing team starts testing the functionality of the entire system to verify that the application is according to the customer’s specifications.

The Quality Assurance and testing team may find bugs at this stage which would be communicated to developers to attain a bug-free and stable system before deployment

Software Deployment:

Once the software passes the testing phase with no bugs present, the application is pushed to available application stores based on instructions by the Project Manager.

Software Maintenance:

After deployment, customers start using the developed application, with continuous improvement and bug fixing to ensure that the system meets the customer requirements