The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a process used by the software industry to design, develop, and test high-quality software. It is a structured process that enables the production of high-quality, low-cost software in the shortest possible production time. The goal of SDLC is to produce superior software that meets and exceeds all customer expectations and demands. The SDLC defines and outlines a detailed plan with stages, or phases, that each encompass their own process and deliverables. Adherence to the SDLC enhances development speed and minimizes project risks and costs associated with alternative methods of production.
The stages of SDLC are as follows:
- Planning and requirement analysis: This is the most important and necessary stage in SDLC. The senior members of the team perform it with inputs from all the stakeholders and domain experts or SMEs in the industry. Planning for the quality assurance activities and defining the scope of the project are also done in this stage.
- Defining requirements: In this stage, the requirements of the software are defined based on the inputs received from the stakeholders.
- Designing the product architecture: In this stage, the software architecture is designed based on the requirements defined in the previous stage.
- Building or developing the product: In this stage, the actual development of the software takes place.
- Testing the product: In this stage, the software is tested to ensure that it meets the requirements defined in the earlier stages.
- Deployment of the product: In this stage, the software is deployed to the production environment.
- Maintenance: In this stage, the software is maintained and updated as needed.
SDLC is important because it provides a well-structured flow of phases that help an organization to quickly produce high-quality software which is well-tested and ready for production use. It also increases visibility of the development process for all stakeholders involved, improves risk management and cost estimation, and leads to systematic software delivery and better customer satisfaction.
