Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) refers to a methodology that includes work phases defined at the beginning of the project to ensure transparency, consistency, and efficiency of the whole process. Built for the purpose of manufacturing high-quality products, both customers and software engineers need to understand and agree on the specific stages, timeframes that represent project progress, and clear spending cost estimates.
It might be said that creating and managing an SDLC is not easy. Therefore, developers might need the support of some typical SDLC models or methodologies, such as Waterfall, Boehm spiral, Agile… And no matter what company you choose to conduct offshore software development, the models and implementation phases of SDLC will not change too much from countries throughout the world.
How SDLC works?
SDLC spiritually operates on putting work efficiency, competitive service prices, and product quality first, thereby shortening the time to complete the product thanks to the consensus and specific schedule set out from the beginning. It can be said that the application of SDLC in the software development process will partly eliminate troubles and arise problems when evaluating the system and finding the deficiencies to remove in the first place.
At the same time, the detailed plan right from the beginning of the project is also a prominent feature to avoid errors and problems arising. SDLC is seen as a “perfectionist” methodology since it requires perfection at every step, every operation, and phase involved. Therefore, SDLC has a feature that is very popular with Developers, that is ‘repetition’.
It sounds boring, however, in the information technology industry, especially software development, to produce an application that operates smoothly, to meet the needs of both customers and users, the software development team has undergone a lot of testing, evaluation, and repair. It is not considered as a tutorial; however, specifically, SDLC includes the following steps:
Identify the existing problems
Firstly, before starting a project, an indispensable step to ensure the smoothness of progress is Identifying the existing problems. Identification of hindering issues will also directly speed up progress and save energy throughout the process.
Make a plan
“How to implement a project with the lowest level of risk?” Playing a key role in determining job efficiency and project agility, this Planning step helps both the investor and the software development team know the processes and steps needed to help a successful project.
During this phase, the software development team will determine the costs and human resources required to implement the project. Then, specify the hazards in detail and propose other back-up plans to minimize the risks arising. In addition, the feasibility of the project is also one of the essential factors.
During this phase of the SDLC, the Developer team would determine the costs and resources needed to fulfill the analyzed requirements. It also details the risks involved and provides sub-plans to mitigate those risks.
Conduct design
At this stage of SDLC, software developers will turn software specifications into a Design Specification. Then, stakeholders will discuss the reasonableness and irrationality of the plan. This period is not everything, but it is seen as the “backbone” of the whole product plan; because, if you don’t focus on it, the outrageous cost and the total collapse of a project are inevitable.
Build the software
Right at this step, the ‘software formation’ really starts. Using ideas, concepts, plans, and human resources in hand, the team will build up the software and ensure that you follow each specific step of the initial plan. In addition, appropriate coding style and practice guidelines are equally important to the success of the project.
Test the Code
At this step, the whole team will have to discuss more than ever before to check, check for irrationalities, mistakes, and find solutions quickly. The purpose of this step lies in two main factors, one is to ensure the product works well, and the other is to meet customer requirements right from the start. Thanks to that, products and corporate reputation have been improved a lot. No one would wish to receive a product that deviates from its original orientation and is full of bugs, right?
Deployment (or Installation)
At this stage, the software will be thoroughly checked to make sure there are no more bugs or errors. Then, based on customer feedback, our team of experts will continue their work until the complete software is deployed so that users can start using it.
Software maintenance
Experts believe that up to 65-70% of the effort in the life cycle of software lies in this maintenance phase. A sample plan or demo is never perfect if left on paper and not used in practice.
One way or another, the DevOps movement has also changed SDLC in a more positive way. From there, software developers take on more responsibility than ever before, with the help of performance monitoring tools such as APM.
Also Read: 8 Must-Have Tools for Software Development Teams
