QuickStudy: System Development Life Cycle

Sold on SOA Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

May 14, 2002 (Computerworld) --

Listen to Computerworld's TechCast: SDLC. Podcast duration: 6 minutes.

---

Once upon a time, software development consisted of a programmer writing code to solve a problem or automate a procedure. Nowadays, systems are so big and complex that teams of architects, analysts, programmers, testers and users must work together to create the millions of lines of custom-written code that drive our enterprises.

To manage this, a number of system development life cycle (SDLC) models have been created: waterfall, fountain, spiral, build and fix, rapid prototyping, incremental, and synchronize and stabilize.

The oldest of these, and the best known, is the waterfall: a sequence of stages in which the output of each stage becomes the input for the next. These stages can be characterized and divided up in different ways, including the following:

• Project planning, feasibility study: Establishes a high-level view of the intended project and determines its goals.
• Systems analysis, requirements definition: Refines project goals into defined functions and operation of the intended application. Analyzes end-user information needs.
• Systems design: Describes desired features and operations in detail, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, pseudocode and other documentation.
• Implementation: The real code is written here.
• Integration and testing: Brings all the pieces together into a special testing environment, then checks for errors, bugs and interoperability.
• Acceptance, installation, deployment: The final stage of initial development, where the software is put into production and runs actual business.
• Maintenance: What happens during the rest of the software's life: changes, correction, additions, moves to a different computing platform and more. This, the least glamorous and perhaps most important step of all, goes on seemingly forever.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

Putting SOAP Tools to Work System Development Life Cycle

"We interrupt the regularly-scheduled Microhoo update to bring you the..." Read more... "We don't need al-Qaeda to blow us up. We are perfectly capable of lighting the fuse ourselves, courtesy of our..." Read more... Read more Development posts or See all Blogs

Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops FBI worried as DoD sold counterfeit networking gear Update: Microsoft to appeal $1.3B EU fine More top stories...

XP SP3 cripples some PCs with endless reboots Windows Vista more secure than XP, says security company Microsoft grows DAISY for blind computer users while Adobe wilts

5 easy ways to commit career suicide Mistakes such as putting down co-workers or burning bridges when you resign are surefire ways to darken your career prospects. Here's how to avoid them Opinion: Get ready for these 6 game-changing technologies Hype and promises abound in the IT world, but these six breakthroughs really will change your life, says author and former IT manager John Brandon. What brain drain? Baby boomers are retiring and taking their knowledge with them. Why do so few in IT seem to care? Tales from the crypt: Our first computers Computerworld editors share stories of their first PCs, including some classics and some real clunkers -- then we ask readers to share their early-PC tales. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland SecurityAsk a Premier 100 IT LeaderBlackBerry Legal BattleData Security BreachesElectronic VotingFirefoxH-1B VisasHP's Boardroom ScandalHandheld DevicesHurricane Katrina AftermathMicrosoft Legal IssuesMicrosoft's VistaOpen SourceRFID TechnologySCO's Linux FightSarbanes-Oxley ActSpamVoice Over IPWi-FiWindows Meta File VulnerabilityWindows XP Service Pack 2 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders2006 Salary Survey2007 Best Places to Work in IT2007 IT Forecast2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders40 Years of ComputerworldASPs, Take TwoBest Places to Work in IT 2003Best Places to Work in IT 2004Best Places to Work in IT 2005Best Places to Work in IT 2006Business Intelligence Home RunsBusiness Intelligence: Smarter BIBusiness Intelligence: The Future of BICRM Goes VerticalCRM: Sober CRMCareer Planning Guide 2005Careers: IT Profession 2010Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005Data Management: Mining for GemsData Management: Taming Data ChaosDevelopment: Hard-Workin' Web SitesDevelopment: New Tools New ChoicesDevelopment: The New World of Application DevelopmentDevelopment: The Web Services TsunamiDevelopment: Web Services HurdlesDisaster Recovery: Preparing for the WorstE-commerce Grows UpE-mail/Groupware: Big DecisionsFaces of Mobile ITForecast 2006Global MobileHardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple ChallengesHardware: On-Demand Un-HypedHardware: The Shape of Things to ComeHorizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge TechnologiesIT Management: Guide to Managing VendorsIT Management: Navigating Global ITIT Management: Recovery AheadIT Management: The Future of ITIT Management: The Resourceful Project ManagerInnovative Technology Awards 2004Management: Reinventing ITMicrosoft in TransitionMobile/Wireless Leaders and LaggardsMobile/Wireless: The Untethered WorkerMobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge CostsNetwork Management: Taking ControlNetworking: Turbulence Ahead!Networking: VoIP Goes MainstreamOperating Systems: In the Slow LaneOperating Systems: Linux Goes GlobalOperating Systems: Should You Nix Unix?Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's GuideOutsourcing: Outsourcing DangersPremier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in ClassPremier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in ClassROI: Do the Math!Salary Survey 2003Salary Survey 2004Salary Survey 2005Security Action PlanSecurity: Compliance HeadachesSecurity: Proactive SecuritySecurity: Risk and RewardSecurity: Tips From Security ProsSouped-up SecurityStorage: Battling ComplexityStorage: Cheap & Secure Data StoresStorage: Stretching Your Storage DollarsStorage: The Lean Storage MachineStorage: The New Rules of StorageStorage: The Ultimate Backup GuideSupply Chain: Missing LinksSupply Chain: RFID Reality CheckThe Business of SecurityWeb 2.0 SecurityWireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone Enterprise Solutions Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone The Data Center Management Zone See your link here

Computerworld Report : Smart Storage Download this Computerworld report, free for a limited time, compliments of HP. (Source: Computerworld) Faced with growing demands, immature tools and a confusing array of technologies, IT decision-makers have to make some strategic choices. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls in this Computerworld report, a $49.95 value, available free for a limited time, compliments of HP. Download this executive briefing  Transformational Analytics: Virtualizing IT Environments Download this white paper, free, compliments of CiRBA. (Source: CiRBA) The overwhelming complexity of the modern data center compounds the problem of how to safely virtualize IT environments. This paper provides an in-depth guide to analyzing complex environments for virtualization opportunities, particularly within production environments where stability, service levels and performance are of the upmost performance. Download this white paper  Rapid, Widespread Adoption of CMMI at Lockheed Martin with Application Lifecycle Management Rapid, Widespread Adoption of CMMI at Lockheed Martin with Application Lifecycle Management Get this webcast now Go to the webcast  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. New Fujitsu High-End Itanium Windows- and Linux-Based PRIMEQUEST Servers Offer the Utmost in High Availability New Fujitsu High-End Itanium-Based PRIMEQUEST Servers Offer Industry-Leading System Management for Linux and Windows Symantec State of the Data Center Report 2007 View more whitepapers

• Putting SOAP Tools to Work
• System Development Life Cycle

• Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops
• FBI worried as DoD sold counterfeit networking gear
• Update: Microsoft to appeal $1.3B EU fine
• More top stories 

Independent Report by Forrester Research, Courtesy of MKS: "Selecting the Right Requirements Management Tool — Or Maybe None Whatsoever" Many of today's requirements management tool purchases are misguided: Application development and program management professionals often buy requirements management tools for the wrong reasons and select tools that are out of line with their needs. In this independent report, Forrester advises app dev organizations to be realistic about the problems that a requirements management tool can address, the level of tooling that they require, and their ability to build and maintain tool integrations. Download this white paper now  See more Whitepapers





• Space Shuttle Columbia's hard disk drive

• Microsoft warns of IE7 lock-in with XP SP3

• Leopard at six months: Does it live up to the early hype?

Read more news 



• It only goes down at night!

• Told him once, twice, thrice...

Read more Shark Bait 


Detect, identify, and locate RF interference in 802.11 WLANs. AnalyzeAir software provides IT network professionals with the vision they need into the hidden world of RF, providing them with the ability to see the spectrum in a visible and intelligible format. AnalyzeAir software lets you see, monitor, analyze, and manage all the RF sources and wireless devices that influence your Wi-Fi network's performance and security, even if those devices are unauthorized or transient. AnalyzeAir Trial Software v3.1 highlights the features found in AnalyzeAir Software using a set of saved spectrum files. Replay the data and experience the visibility that AnalyzeAir Wi-Fi Spectrum Analyzer provides. Note: The trial software is limited to a player version only. It does not communicate with an AnalyzeAir PC card so it does not collect actual spectrum data. Register for this trial now.