Basics of SDLC

SDLC stands for Software Development Life Cycle.It is a  process that consist of series of planned phases or activities that are done either to develop or make some changes in the already developed software.

SDLC is a  process that is use to :-

Design,Develop,Test the software. Main aim of implementing the SDLC is to meet the customer expectations within defined timeline and cost estimates.

Various stages of SDLC life Cycle are stated below:-

Stage 1: Requirement Analysis

Requirement analysis is the most important and fundamental stage in SDLC. The Requirements & Analysis phase focuses on what the system will do in an effort that views all stakeholders, including sponsors and potential users, as important sources of information. 

 This information is then used :- To plan the basic project approach and to conduct product feasibility study in the economical, operational, and technical areas. This phase is performed to :-

• Create set  of requirements that defines what the system should do , is approved by  stakeholders.
• Provide developers and all other stakeholders with a clear understanding of the requirements.
• Define the boundaries of the system
• Prioritize features to provide a basis for possible iterations

 The outcome of the technical feasibility study is to define the various technical approaches that can be followed to implement the project successfully with minimum risks.

Once the requirement analysis is done,  the next step is to clearly define and document the product requirements and get them approved from the customer or the market analysts. This is done through SRS. Software Requirement Specification document consists of all the product requirements to be designed and developed during the project life cycle.

Stage 2: Designing the product architecture

Technical design requirements are prepared in this phase by lead development staff that can include architects and lead developers. SRS document to be consided as prerequisits  for preparing Design Document. Technical requirements includes :- 

• Detail database tables to be added
• New transactions to be defined
• Security processes
• Hardware and system requirements.

Stage 3: Coding

In this stage of SDLC the actual development starts. Developers have to follow the coding guidelines defined by their organization and programming tools like compilers, interpreters, debuggers etc are used to generate the code. Different high level programming languages such as C, C++, Pascal, Java, and PHP are used for coding. The programming language is chosen with respect to the type of software being developed.

Unit Testing is done by developers in this process once they complete  the development process. After each stage, the developer may demonstrate the work accomplished to the Business Analysts and tweaks and enhancements may be required.  It’s important in this phase for developers to be open-minded and flexible if any changes are introduced.  This is normally the longest phase of the SDLC.  The finished product here is input to the Testing phase.

Stage 4: Testing the Product

Once the application is migrated to a test environment, different types of testing will be performed including Integration and System testing.  User acceptance testing is the last part of testing and is performed by the end users to ensure the system meets their expectations.  At this point, defects may be found and more work may be required in the analysis, design or coding.  Once sign-off is obtained by all relevant parties, implementation and deployment can begin.

Stage 5: Deployment in the Market and Maintenance.

Once the product is tested and ready to be deployed it is released formally in the appropriate market. Sometime product deployment happens in stages as per the organizations. business strategy. The product may first be released in a limited segment and tested in the real business environment (UAT- User acceptance testing).

Then based on the feedback, the product may be released as it is or with suggested enhancements in the targeting market segment. After the product is released in the market, its maintenance is done for the existing customer base.