Explain software development life cycle?

Software Requirement Analysis-Functional requirements
Software Project Planning-Resources planning, no. of people, duration, modules etc
Software Design-Design of data structures, Software architecture, Procedural details and Interface
External design (High Level Design)- Design of GUI etc
Internal design (Low Level Design)- Design of tables, data structures, code design
Software Coding- Design into a machine readable form
Software Testing-Finding an error and Debugging (removal of error)
Software Maintenance-Error Correction, Adapting system to new environments, adding new Enhanced features

Hi,

I hope that the following diagram explian the software development life cycle








System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Model is also known as Classic Life Cycle Model (or) Linear Sequential Model (or) Waterfall Method. This model has the following activities.

1. System/Information Engineering and Modeling

As software is always of a large system (or business), work begins by establishing the requirements for all system elements and then allocating some subset of these requirements to software. This system view is essential when the software must interface with other elements such as hardware, people and other resources. System is the basic and very critical requirement for the existence of software in any entity. So if the system is not in place, the system should be engineered and put in place. In some cases, to extract the maximum output, the system should be re-engineered and spruced up. Once the ideal system is engineered or tuned, the development team studies the software requirement for the system.

2. Software Requirement Analysis

This process is also known as feasibility study. In this phase, the development team visits the customer and studies their system. They investigate the need for possible software automation in the given system. By the end of the feasibility study, the team furnishes a document that holds the different specific recommendations for the candidate system. It also includes the personnel assignments, costs, project schedule, target dates etc.... The requirement gathering process is intensified and focussed specially on software. To understand the nature of the program(s) to be built, the system engineer or "Analyst" must understand the information domain for the software, as well as required function, behavior, performance and interfacing. The essential purpose of this phase is to find the need and to define the problem that needs to be solved .

3. System Analysis and Design

In this phase, the software development process, the software's overall structure and its nuances are defined. In terms of the client/server technology, the number of tiers needed for the package architecture, the database design, the data structure design etc... are all defined in this phase. A software development model is thus created. Analysis and Design are very crucial in the whole development cycle. Any glitch in the design phase could be very expensive to solve in the later stage of the software development. Much care is taken during this phase. The logical system of the product is developed in this phase.

4. Code Generation

The design must be translated into a machine-readable form. The code generation step performs this task. If the design is performed in a detailed manner, code generation can be accomplished without much complication. Programming tools like compilers, interpreters, debuggers etc... are used to generate the code. Different high level programming languages like C, C++, Pascal, Java are used for coding. With respect to the type of application, the right programming language is chosen.

5. Testing

Once the code is generated, the software program testing begins. Different testing methodologies are available to unravel the bugs that were committed during the previous phases. Different testing tools and methodologies are already available. Some companies build their own testing tools that are tailor made for their own development operations.

6. Maintenance

The software will definitely undergo change once it is delivered to the customer. There can be many reasons for this change to occur. Change could happen because of some unexpected input values into the system. In addition, the changes in the system could directly affect the software operations. The software should be developed to accommodate changes that could happen during the post implementation period.

Hi krishnakumar,

There are number of models for software development life cycles like Waterfall models, Incremental, Spiral, Prototype, W-Models etc..

After searched in Google I got pdf format for SDLC and Please look into its useful for you.

Thanks
V.Vadivelan

Attached Images

sdlc.pdf (92.2 KB, 876 views)

Waterfall model is the basic model of all the models.

Spiral model is preferred for research and defense projects.

Advantages and disadvantages of V-Model

Advantages
• Simple and easy to use.
• Each phase has specific deliverables.
• Higher chance of success over the waterfall model due to the development of test plans early on during the life cycle.
• Works well for small projects where requirements are easily understood.

Disadvantages
• Very rigid, like the waterfall model.
• Little flexibility and adjusting scope is difficult and expensive.
• Software is developed during the implementation phase, so no early prototypes of the software are produced.
• Model doesn’t provide a clear path for problems found during testing phases.

Advantages and disadvantages of Waterfall model

Advantages
• Simple and easy to use.
• Easy to manage due to the rigidity of the model – each phase has specific deliverables and a review process.
• Phases are processed and completed one at a time.
• Works well for smaller projects where requirements are very well understood.

Disadvantages
• Adjusting scope during the life cycle can kill a project
• No working software is produced until late during the life cycle.
• High amounts of risk and uncertainty.
• Poor model for complex and object-oriented projects.
• Poor model for long and ongoing projects.

Advantages and disadvantages of Incremental model

Advantages
• Generates working software quickly and early during the software life cycle.
• More flexible – less costly to change scope and requirements.
• Easier to test and debug during a smaller iteration.
• Easier to manage risk because risky pieces are identified and handled during its iteration.
• Each iteration is an easily managed milestone.

Disadvantages
• Each phase of an iteration is rigid and do not overlap each other.
• Problems may arise pertaining to system architecture because not all requirements are gathered up front for the entire software life cycle.