Our tech-intensive lifestyle makes software a vital part of our daily routine in the 21st century. Today, it is hardly possible to envision any activity not fueled by some sort of computer-related processes. Software development offers scope for creativity and innovation and is a highly organized process with precise procedures and strictly defined steps called Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Whenever you require a complex system, software suite or end-user web or mobile app, your exceptional project delivery, to a greater extent is reliant on a set of processes practiced by the software development team. The Software Development Life Cycle is a process used in designing, developing and testing quality software. The SDLC helps to connect tech, non-tech team members and project partners to change your extraordinary idea into a one of a kind software product or solution. It defines the work of the development teams enabling them to produce quality software able to meet or exceed the project’s anticipations, reach completion within times and cost estimates. Each stage of the software development life cycle is reliant on the model of the software development process selected by the company whether it is agile, waterfall, V-model, rapid app development (RAD) or incremental. Here we will attempt to typically reveal the most embraced phases of software development to see how the ideal product is launched.
Brainstorming and Planning
It all begins with a brilliant idea generated through free association. Nonetheless, any idea should be carefully well thought-out in order to be executed. Careful planning is the first and a fundamental phase of software development or product development as it necessitates determining the project scope, highlighting means and ways for the new framework to meet business strategic objectives, resource availability, cost-related issues, timeframes, and established solutions. Only after a flawless plan is worked out you are ready to push ahead to
Requirements and Feasibility Analysis
There are at least two key focuses in a software development project when requirements need to be defined. One focus people regularly miss is during the feasibility analysis, and failing to define requirements during this stage can doom the project. When undertaking a software product development at this phase, the project is defined entirely and the analysis of the project’s feasibility is conducted. For you to build an actionable solution, clean code and appealing design are insufficient, you first need the development team to get a profound insight of the project objective and gather all the requirements – quantifiable, relevant and detailed. Feasibility analysis shows all the technical and economic aspects affecting the application development process: time, resources, tasks and involvement estimates from the team members aid in calculating ROI and determining project cost and returns. Additionally, requirements analysis helps to identify the risks at the start so that risk mitigation strategies can be worked out from the very start. Well-structured documentation guarantees better cooperation and the development team and clients. Intense analysis of requirements and software performance, its behavior, performance and other systems it interfaces with, is critical for the successful next step of the product development life cycle.
Design
Software design is an important component of software project development bringing your real experience and expertise to the fore. In this phase, you conceptualize the entire system and the detailed software system meeting specific project requirements is created. The software architect, programmer, and/or developer may come up with ‘a detailed software design. The custom tailored software design sets distinct workflows and standards and incorporates clear overall product/solution design together with database structure and design. During this stage, the entire structure of the project is built with the final prototype and mock ups used for the following stages of the software development process. This is a sort of modeling visually everything beginning from solution functionality up to the definition of the essential hardware/software components, software tools for future advancement, structural potentials, processes to realize its business needs and goals of the recommended solution. After the design is identified it is time to proceed to the very development.
Development & Coding
After the design and documentation of the software system architecture, a team of developers comes together to build the system. This stage entails writing code and converting the design documentation into the actual software within the software development process. The development phase is the longest stage of SDLC being the pillar of the entire process and there are many important things to pay attention to. The software product engineering team should ensure their code is as per the software requirements specifications, complies with the requirements of the stakeholders, etc. however if the earlier software development stages were carefully achieved, the ready-to-use software is set to match the requirements to the software project. The software development release cycle continues from alpha, beta, release candidate to real production build. When the entire architecture (DB, API, etc.) and the planned functionality of the solution are built, the testing phase begins.
Integration and Testing
Since the software has been built and completed the following phase involve system testing and Integration begins. Reliant on the testing processes used, it might vary. However, the quality assurance engineers typically use a wide scope of systems combined with continuous integration executing unit tests, automation compilation, and testing. The QA team does a series of tests including functionality testing, systems integration, and interoperability and user acceptance testing among others so as to guarantee a clean code and fulfillment of the business goals of the solution. Verification and validation are important in ensuring that the application/solution are finished successfully. Since the product is bug-free, the implementation phase begins.
Implementation and Deployment
After the software has been thoroughly tested, the actual installation of the crafted solution occurs in this stage. The just built and tested application is moved to production including data and components transfer while during the next releases just the particular changes will be deployed. Depending on the project complexity it may be a straightforward release (for simple projects) or staggered release, in stages, for complex projects. At this point, system analysts and the end-users can essentially see and experiment the ready application.
Operations and Maintenance
The last phase of software development includes maintenance and regular updates. This is a continuous process and involves responding to user problems and resolving them in time. This stage should be treated with caution since the final software product has been well polished and enhanced according to the real-world performance feed backs. Maintenance is important to remove system errors during its working life and to tune the system to any changes in its working environments. You need a dedicated team depending on the size of the software system. The support and maintenance engineers with extensive experience in corrective and preventive maintenance will deliver a blend of operations and maintenance services.
And Finally
Software development Life Cycle is a well-thought-out iterative process that varies from company to company. Each of the SDLC stages depends on the model of software development a company opts for. The software development life cycle can be adjusted to the specifications of every project to identify precise actions in order to accomplish particular goals. It is a foundation model to arrange a system and equip the team members involved to speed up development process, and enhance the quality of software in accordance with the project. The final product and the cooperation level the client and the provider gets when investing into the next impeccable project is ultimately what is important.
Relevant Software offers established practices of software development life cycle. Following them proved to be a driving force for the successful delivery of well-tailored software solutions that address business needs and offer great customer satisfaction. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) empowers the clients to remain on top of the processes. The development team and the project management team can consequently concentrate on the vital elements in a swift and efficient way.
Author: Relevant Software