Understand the different stages of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) such as planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance.
Overview of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
A concise, structured guide to the phases, activities, and best‑practice considerations for building quality software.
| Phase | Primary Goal | Key Activities | Typical Deliverables |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Planning & Feasibility | Validate the idea and define scope. | • Stakeholder interviews • Business case & ROI analysis • Risk assessment • High‑level schedule & budget |
Project charter, feasibility report, high‑level roadmap |
| 2. Requirements Analysis | Capture what the system must do. | • Elicitation (workshops, surveys) • Functional & non‑functional requirements • Prioritization (MoSCoW, Kano) • Traceability matrix |
Requirements Specification (SRS), use‑case diagrams, user stories |
| 3. Design | Translate requirements into a technical blueprint. | • Architecture selection (monolith, microservices, serverless) • Data modeling (ERD, schemas) • UI/UX mockups • Component diagrams, API contracts |
Architecture Document, Design Specification, UI prototypes, API specs |
| 4. Implementation (Coding) | Build the solution. | • Set up development environment • Follow coding standards & guidelines • Version control (Git) • Unit testing, code reviews |
Source code repository, build scripts, unit test suite |
| 5. Testing & Verification | Ensure the product meets quality criteria. | • Test planning (test cases, test data) • Types of testing: unit, integration, system, acceptance, performance, security • Automated regression testing • Defect tracking |
Test Plan, Test Report, Defect Log, Release Candidate |
| 6. Deployment | Deliver the product to the target environment. | • Release management (staging → production) • Configuration management • Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines • Roll‑back strategy |
Deployment scripts, release notes, environment configuration |
| 7. Maintenance & Support | Keep the system functional and relevant. | • Incident handling • Bug fixes & patches • Enhancements & new features • Performance monitoring • Technical debt management |
Patch releases, service level agreements (SLAs), maintenance backlog |
| Model | Characteristics | Ideal Scenarios |
|---|---|---|
| Waterfall | Linear, sequential; each phase must finish before the next begins. | Fixed, well‑understood requirements; regulatory projects; small teams. |
| Iterative/Incremental | Repeats cycles; each iteration adds functional increments. | Projects with evolving requirements; need early user feedback. |
| Spiral | Combines iteration with risk analysis at each loop. | High‑risk, large‑scale systems; heavy compliance constraints. |
| V‑Model |