Understanding The Importance of Software Development Life Cycle
Defining your project before thinking about developing it will save you countless hours.. Having that said, software projects are no stranger to this (as obvious as it sounds!). As a matter of fact, software projects can only survive once you have clearly defined your project; especially when it comes to Software Development. In order to do so, software development life cycle, or SDLC, is an important element to be well-understood!
Understand that you won’t be the only one who knows how your project will go, so, you need to make sure that everyone that will help you get your project done understands your project like the back of their hands. This is why understanding software development life cycle will truly get you ready to face the challenges ahead!
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Software Development Life Cycle can be abbreviated as SDLC. SDLC is an essential knowledge that will help you drive your software development project. It works just like project management and as such, SDLC has multiple phases/stages that will need to be properly met. Meeting all the phases in SDLC will positively see your software development off to a good start so it can soar like an eagle in the sky.
So, now, we will talk a little bit more about the phases that exist in SDLC:
1. Requirement Gathering
In this first part of SDLC, all the information regarding the software that you would like to have developed is being laid down. The information that will need to be acquired from this first phase includes what you would like to develop, who your target audience is, and why you would like to develop this software in the first place.
This phase determines the appropriate approach you and the software house you are partnering with need to take. Developers in your chosen software house will be able to have insights into your vision and they will then be able to decide the language that best suits the software.
This is also the part where you can discuss directly with the developers and the project managers of your partner to prevent confusions down the line. Professional software houses will have already prepared their project managers and their developers to sit with you and assist you the best they can by answering all the questions regarding the initiation of your project. Having well-understood how your project will be approached by your partner will definitely put you at ease as you might also quite possibly learn something you’ve never thought of before! It’s really a win-win solution.
Once you and your partner are off on the right foot with your software project, a very important document is created. This document is the Software Requirement Specification document or SRS Document for short. This document will contain all the things that have been discussed and confirmed with your chosen software house partner.
2. Design Making
This phase is where the developers start putting together the pieces laid down in the SRS document. The developers will start thinking about how they can shape the software as you have envisioned starting from the framework.
Through this phase, a new document will be created. This document will include the system architecture and the design that will be modeled and agreed upon by the developers and the graphic designers. This will greatly help the developers to get busy with their coding skills in the next phase.
3. Implementation
This is where the system architecture will be filled in with lines and lines of codes. The better the mapping-out of the system architecture, the quicker, and more precise the lines of codes that the developers will need to strap them on to will be.
Even the most complex design can be easily overcome with the fully-fleshed out System Requirement document and System Architecture document. So, yup, in order to get this phase rolling smoothly, the previous phases must really be thoroughly thought-out and well-written.
4. Testing
Now, it’s time for the developer’s brew to get a bit of a taste-test! Yup, the developers are going to get to know if their maths and incantations are all spot on to the core.
Developers will work together with the Quality Control team and they will search for bugs that occur in the software. Holes will be patched, wounds will be stitched.
5. Deployment
Once the people of the software house have thoroughly tested all there is to test regarding your software, you will now get to try out this wonderful software that has been worked on for weeks and even months! The developers and their quality control team will have their eyes set on you to assist you if the software acts up. They will also assess your satisfaction with the software through this phase.
This is also where User Acceptance Testing, aka UAT, takes place. As you might imagine, this phase will require users who are quite familiar with the model of the software that you are developing. Let’s say, if you’re developing an e-commerce application, you will need to have users who are familiar with how this particular application works.
Once the software passes the UAT, it is qualified to be pushed live. Your software is ready to face your target audience! Woot!
6. Maintenance
Right-o! When this phase has finally been reached, all there is to do is keep up the pace! Software projects are basically projects that don’t quite stop. You will need to keep it going by closely maintaining your software and giving it fresh updates!
Maintaining and updating your software includes checking the stability of your software as it is running, ensuring the safety of the software by closely monitoring how your software is being distributed, and improving your software in a way that is exciting for your customers.
Having good maintenance of your software will strengthen the loyalty of your customers, and attract new customers in the long run! Don’t ever abandon your software once it goes live as that is where your next challenge lies.
CONCLUSION
Picking up software development as your project truly is a journey that will be a very eye-opening experience. For starters, let’s get some facts straight. Starting a software development project is no easy feat. You will need to first understand what you are making and how you are going to go about reaching your mission. Then, you will need to ask yourself who you are trying to appeal your project to and why you are making this project. Once you have figured out the answers to these questions, you will then need to find a partner that can get you there. Professional software houses will always be ready to kick start your project on the right track.
Ensuring that your project will go off on a smooth ride will require you to prepare ahead of time. A crucial factor that you will need to establish is how you work with your partnered software house. You have to make sure that you have elaborated your ideas in detail. A professional software house will have a project manager, a developer, and possibly a graphic designer coming together with you to discuss the feasibility of your project. Once you have all started it out on the right foot, your project can then be set in motion.
In order to set your project in motion and as you have discussed with your partner, you will need to firstly understand Software Development Life Cycle. Understanding the way software development works will help you overcome the obstacles that will inevitably arise as your project progresses.
There are 5 phases that you must know in a Software Development Life Cycle. They are Requirement Gathering, Design Making, Implementation, Testing, and Maintenance phase. Meeting the conditions required for each phase to be considered “Complete” is important to your project.
In order for the Requirement Gathering phase to run smoothly, you will need to lay down all the details regarding your software. Once you are able to do so, the representatives of the software house (the developers, the project managers, and the graphic designers) will have a clear understanding of your ideas. You will then be able to move on to creating what is called a Software Requirement Specification document. This document is filled with all the details of your project and how the developers will go about developing your software.
The second phase is the Design Making phase. This phase will hinge on the SRS document as the developers will then be able to visualize the framework of your software project. A solid framework will save up a lot of time in the next phase of Software Development Life Cycle.
Implementation phase is where the developers start doing their magic. They will code your software project as envisioned and written on the SRS document and as discussed in the Design Making phase. The more complex your project is, the more detailed the SRS document has to be. So, make sure that you give thorough attention to what you will put in the SRS document.
We will then come to the Testing phase. This is where your software will undergo a rigorous quality control by the designated QA of the software house team. This testing phase will see how well your software will run and if there are any bugs, the QA will list them and get the list sent to the developers. The developers then will be able to fix and perfect your software project.
After numerous amounts of testing by the Quality Assurance team, we will now come to the Deployment phase. This is where you, the client, will be able to have a taste of your own software. Developers will assist you in making sure that you get the most out of the software. The QA team will also be ready at your side whenever you see another bug appearing. Once you feel like your software works like a charm, the project manager and the developers will be able to push your software live and get it out to the real world; where your target audience lies!
Mind you, you’re not quite done once it’s been pushed live! You will need to ensure that your software stays at its stellar quality in this Maintenance phase. Maintenance phase is also the phase where you can gain loyalty of your customers and make your product even bigger in the process! So, never neglect your software! Keep the loyalty of your customers high by letting them know that you are regularly updating your software and possibly giving them a “loyalty” program! There are basically limitless opportunities that you can take and things that you can do in this Maintenance phase.
So, how’s your software project going? Do you have any interesting stories when developing your software project? The comment section is all yours! 🙂
If you’re looking to start up your software project, we here at SoftwareSeni are always ready to set your software project in motion!
