Research on SDLC

By: Stanley Yun Kai Fok

In this blog post, I will cover SDLC and discuss its methodology, benefits, and key stages. 

(khan.zein554159, 2022)

Firstly, what is Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?

It is the process that allows the development of high-quality and low-cost software in a short time frame. Its goal is to produce the best quality software that satisfies and excels in the expectations of customers. (Synopsys, 2023)

Why SDLC?

A few of the benefits of SDLC comprise the following:

-Setting out communication mechanisms between other contributors and the development teams 

-Logical, direct roles and accountability among developers, designers, business analysts, and project managers

-Used to verify whether a step is truly accomplished

 (Swersky, 2022)

The key stages of SDLC include:

Planning -  In the planning stage, project and product managers verify the distribution of resources, estimate capacity, and decide on the project's timeline and budget. 

Defining -  Here, feedback from contributors is gathered and made into functional requirements that builders utilise to complete their tasks. Requirements aid in aligning the product development team toward the specific tasks they are responsible for.

Designing -  This stage may involve the progression of screen designs, prototypes, process diagrams, and system interfaces. 

Building - All in all, this step essentially involves writing code, which is then evaluated and sent to a QA environment for testing.

Testing - During the testing stage, the software's functionality is assessed to ensure it meets the predetermined requirements and prevents significant faults from being released to end users. 

Deployment -  This is the final stage where customers can start using the latest functionality of the software. At this stage, the customer and marketing teams should have the needed information in order to help customers and announce the launch broadly.

(Bartlett, 2023)

Its methodology consists of the following:

Lean methodology - The Lean methodology involves ways to eradicate irrelevant and unimportant aspects during the development process. Basically, fast forwarding and cutting down the insignificant testing and developing process as much as possible.

Agile methodology - The Agile methodology is when the product is released on a regular basis, tested, and enhanced in every repetition. 

Waterfall methodology - The Waterfall methodology complies with the preliminary process stating that the development team should work through each project phase in a particular order and uses information from the previous phase to proceed to the next.

DevOps - In DevOps, development and operations teams work together to speed up and enhance the making and distribution of the software. 

Spiral - The Spiral model allows project groups to create a greatly modified product to meet specific requirements. 

Iterative -  The Iterative model encourages reiteration. Developers build software and gradually identify additional requirements during the process. 

V-model - The V-model is done by assessing all stages of the development process. Each stage of the V-model begins only after the completion of the preceding stage which shows similarity to the Waterfall methodology.

(MichaelPageUK, 2021)

Reference(s):

Bartlett, J. (2023) An overview of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), TestLodge Blog. Available at: https://blog.testlodge.com/software-development-life-cycle/ (Accessed: March 6, 2023). 

khan.zein554159 (2022) Concept of Software Development Life Cycle - Waterfall Model vector illustration. Available at: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/15615277-concept-of-software-development-life-cycle-waterfall-model-vector-illustration (Accessed: February 27, 2023).

MichaelPageUK (2021) The top 7 SDLC methodologies. Available at: https://www.michaelpage.com.au/advice/career-advice/productivity-and-performance/top-7-sdlc-methodologies (Accessed: February 27, 2023). 

 Swersky, D. (2022) The SDLC: phases, popular models, benefits & more. Available at: https://raygun.com/blog/software-development-life-cycle/#benefits (Accessed: February 27, 2023).

Synopsys (2023) What Is the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and How Does It Work?, Synopsys. Available at: https://www.synopsys.com/glossary/what-is-sdlc.html. (Accessed: February 8, 2023).