POWER POINT PRESENTATION

SDLC

Sai Rohith Cherukumilli

Mcnair Donell

Wilmington University

SDLC

All software development processes must follow a professional standard in which the standard procedures are used. Some of the major software development processes used include Waterfall Model, Agile Software Development model, Rapid Development Model, and also Prototyping. Each of these SDLC models follow particular conventional standards set by the different organizations (Rossberg, 2014). The purpose of system development life cycle is to ensure that business requirements are. The process of coming up with a system from scratch to the point where it is to be implemented into the business environment or sold out into the market is the software development life cycle, which is series of processes depending on the model chosen by the developer or the system analyst conducting the system development. Software development life cycle regards the professional process of coming up with a system for use within a business environment. 7-Step SDLC Model: Traditional SDLC Model

This is the most basic model majorly used in the market by most system analysts, and it follows a series of seven different systematic steps to be fully completed. The steps range from system planning, system analysis, system design, system development, system testing, system implementation, and system maintenance. These steps are sequential and perform a similar role of driving towards achieving the sole purpose of final system functionality. According to this 7-step model, the first phase of system planning involves identification of the project requirements. These project scopes are then analyzed and proper required operational standards are identified for correct solutions. Part of the analyses conducted include parameters such as cost implications on the business organization, time required to complete the system, as well as hardware and software requirements that will be used. All processes must be followed lest any skip of any of these processes would impact heavily on the given organization or client in this case, since a miscalculation of any form would cost the company or the analyst. In each step, specific activities are carried out to ensure that the final product achieves its functionality as per the client’s requests.

The next phase of software development life cycle is the feasibility study. Ritchie (2012) proposes that the analysis phase requires proper information gathering techniques and definition of constraints that will be used in the system. The phase involves different techniques of acquiring sufficient information before proceeding to building the system, and this information would be in form of data such as the organization’s processing requirements. The information can be gathered using techniques such as interviews or questionnaires, with subjectivity to have maximum information.

After sufficiently acquiring relevant information, the system analyst then designs the plan to be used in system development, and this comes in the manner in which the system would be developed. A proper system is determined at the design phase, where each module is incorporated and planned as they would appear in the actual system. The best design is modular, where each developer or program would be involved in different modules in the developmental phase. The development phase is the involving phase of actual programing, where lines of codes and commands are written to achieve the system requirements and the entire business requirements.

The next phase after development is a series of tests conducted on the system before implementing it into the client’s business. This is to ensure that the system is functional and achieves the goals set by the client during problem definition phase. Thorough testing must be conducted on the system to ensure that it is functional. Once it is asserted that the system meets the requirements, implementation is done, based on an agreed changeover strategy, where the company’s information would not be compromised or lost (Suresh Kute, Seema, Thorat, & Surabhi Deependra, 2014).

The final step in the 7-step SDLC model is the maintenance phase, which is a series of documentations and upgrades, including supportive measures towards mastering and ensuring complete functionality of the system.

4-Step SDLC

This model involves steps of different builds, with different steps such as requirement analysis, design and development, testing, and implementation. Each of these steps can be developed parallel to each other, and they can be run consequentially, allowing for a fast functional system. This four-step software development life cycle is mostly implemented with Agile SDLC, with quick functional systems produced within a short period of time.

The initial step of requirement analysis is an involving step that requires in-depth information about the given organization or company that requires the system. In this phase, a system analyst engages various tools and resources in obtaining sufficient information about the given customer, and the details required to successfully come up with a new system. This phase also entails analysis of the problem that the company requires to meet its objectives. According to the requirement analysis phase, a system analyst must gather enough facts and problems to ensure that the system developed would meet all the challenges and ensure that the clients are satisfied. Moreover, the requirement gathering phase also involves identification of the tools to be used in the system development, such as the hardware and software tools to be used in the development process. Proper identification of the required materials would form the basis of time and financial scopes, thereby producing the estimated time and cost budgets for the organization. Should the advantages of the new system outweigh the cost implications, the organization would then approve the development of the system

The next phases in this 4-step SDLC model are interactive and can be built in parallel, whereby a step can be built before the previous step is completed. The design development phase is done as per the client’s constant approvals of the system. Each build is submitted to the customer for approvals before continuing to the next phase. This is typical of Agile Development, which engages the customer and the system analyst developer at each stage. This kind of interaction produces a quality dynamic system, and the client can easily recommend changes and the changes be incorporated during the design and development phase. According to the functional and non-functional requirements of the system, an analyst is able to build a fast working system.

The testing phase is a tedious stage of code debugging and error identification. All the modules should be operational before delivering the system to the client for integration or implementation. Testing can be done in various modes, such as path testing, white box and black box testing. Each stage calls for system testing, and after successfully testing and proving the system functional, the system is implemented into the client’s system to start operating.

Comparison between the Seven-Step SDLC and the Four-Step SDLC

The 4-step SDLC produces results faster as compared to the 7-step SDLC model, since the 4-step SDLC model is interactive and offers quick feedback to the end user or the client while the 7-step SDLC model is sequential and all the steps must be completed before releasing the final product. Additionally, since the 4-step SDCL model is interactive, the user can also test the system and provide recommendations on the design to be made, thereby producing a user-approved final product. On the other hand, the 7-step SDLC model can only be handed over to the user after all the steps have been completed, and in the case of user distaste, the entire system would require reconstruction or restructuring. The user interaction of the Iterative or 4-step model allows for efficient debugging and error testing, while the traditional 7-step model is a tedious process of debugging, where testing is only done after development of the system (Merkow & Raghavan, 2010).

The dynamism of the 4-step model enables it to be implemented easily and cheaply, since the changes can easily be made during the development phase. The traditional 7-step model is costly, and changes cannot be easily effected during development, as the steps are sequential in development. The Iterative or 4-step SDLC approach is easy to track because the system is delivered in modules, while the traditional 7-step model cannot be easily tracked or maintained as the system is delivered as whole at once.

References

Merkow, M. S., & Raghavan, L. (2010). Secure and resilient software development. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Auerbach Publications.

Ritchie, P. (2012). Visual Studio 2010 best practices: Learn and implement recommended practices for the complete software development life cycle with Visual Studio 2010. Birmingham, UK: Packt Pub.

Rossberg, J. (2014). Beginning application lifecycle management.

Suresh Kute, Seema, Thorat, & Surabhi Deependra. (2014). A Review on Various Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Models. IJRCCT.