Table of content

• Introduction

• What is the SDLC

• Brief history of the SDLC

• Advantages of the SDLC

• Phases of the SDLC

Introduction

It is the wish of every software Organization and development team to produce quality software that exceeds customer expectations, meets customer deadlines and is cost-effective.

This article will help development teams and software organizations archive this by giving a basic understanding of the SDLC and how to apply its phases in producing quality software products

What is the SDLC

The SDLC or Software development lifecycle is a systematic process taken to develop quality software. It defines tasks performed at each phase of the software development process which leads to the production of software that meets stipulated requirements.

It also serves to improve the quality and the development process of the software

Brief history of the SDLC

Due to the growing complexity of software development projects, in the mid-1960s, there came a need for these projects to take a more detailed approach toward their development. This need resulted in the birth of the Software development lifecycle

Advantages of the SDLC

The advantages of Utilizing the SDLC include

• Each team member has a well-defined role, thus, reducing complexity and overlapping responsibility

• problem-solving methods are incorporated early in the design /process

• It improves efficiency and reduces the risk of failure

• It enables team members to know what aspect of the project they are to work on and when

• It provides room for interaction, making it possible to respond to changing requirements

• It facilitates communication among stakeholders

Phases of the SDLC

There are 6 phases involved in the SDLC. These include the;

• planning

• Design

• Development

• Testing

• Deployment and

• Maintenance phases

Planning Phase: During this phase, the team gathers, analyzes, documents and prioritizes the software requirements. Factors influencing the software such as resource allocation, risk identification, purpose, users, legal compliance, input/output data, quality assurance and project scheduling are considered during this phase.

Labour time, teams and roles are also identified and allocated in this phase.

All requirements identified in this stage are then documented in an SRS(Software Requirement Specification) document.

Design Phase: During this phase, the requirements gathered in the SRS document are used to develop the architecture of the software. A Design document is then created.

Development Phase: Here, the designers use the design document to decide on and assign coding tasks. The software developers in the team then begin building upon the design architecture.

Testing Phase: Here, the testers carry out tests on the software to ensure that the stability, security and other SRS requirements are met.

Various levels of tests are carried out during this phase including unit, integration, system and acceptance tests.

Deployment Phase: During this phase, the application is released into a production environment and made available to users.

Maintenance Phase: During this phase, later requirements, user interface issues, bugs and code enhancements are identified and rectified.

Conclusion

This article has introduced you to;

• the software development lifecycle(SDLC)

• the history and need for the SDLC

• the advantages of the SDLC and

• the general phases involved in the SDLC