Software development involves planning, creating, testing and deploying software applications. It has become a common career path among those completing bootcamps or other online programs.

There are various SDLC models, including the waterfall model and V-shaped model – the latter of which resembles Waterfall but allows simultaneous coding and testing.

Requirements Analysis

At this phase, it is important to identify stakeholders and gather information on what the software should do, from how users will utilize the application to what data should be input or output. Achieve full and precise requirements is critical – any gaps or incompleteness could incur unnecessary time and costs down the line.

Requirement analysis should involve meetings between managers and stakeholders as well as an examination of technical feasibility of a project and identification of any risks or scope creep that may arise due to ineffective communication between developers and stakeholders. It’s best practice for scope creep prevention!

Issues not caught during requirement analysis or unit testing could cost your organization millions if safety-related features (like Takata’s $1Billion USD fine for their exploding airbags) or millions more in brand damage ( like Asus recall of motherboards) are affected. You can avoid this situation by adhering to an SDLC model.

System Design

The system design phase is the second stage in software development life cycle and involves designing user interface, process and data designs of candidate systems as well as planning quality assurance requirements and conducting a technical feasibility analysis.

Goal of system elements design: to meet intended purpose using principles and concepts. Design definition consists of complete models, properties and characteristics suitable for implementation; also serves to provide feedback from system architecture to confirm architectural characteristics allocated to system elements or tradeoff against other system requirements.

Ideal designs should be well documented so that everyone involved understands how each component fits together and why certain decisions were made and how improvements can be made. Interviewers will look for a complete explanation of your design including any limitations.

Development

Software development is a complex endeavor, which is why digital product teams rely on the software development life cycle (SDLC). This process typically utilizes one of five methodologies and 7 main development stages.

As part of their final deliverable, project teams need to organize all of the information gathered from planning and analysis phases into clearly articulated product requirements for their developers to work from. This process results in a document known as an SRS (Software Requirement Specification) which outlines each of these product requirements throughout a project’s duration.

At this stage, developers create a software architecture to guide their coding efforts, translating the SRS into code and conducting several tests to make sure it satisfies quality standards and protects against security flaws or bugs that might compromise user experience or integrity.

Testing

Testing phase refers to a process in which software goes through several checks designed to ensure it satisfies quality standards set in prior phases and is free from bugs or malfunction. Automated tests may be run, however manual evaluation (such as penetration testing) remains important.

This step results in functional code that meets SRS and DDS requirements, but can take more time if an agile methodology is employed.

Testing processes involve creating project plans, cost estimates and schedules as well as procuring needs. Tools like Function Point Analysis Sizing Standard help minimize error during this phase.

Deployment

Once testing is complete, deployment is the next stage in SDLC. Deployment involves developers assembling source code, libraries, and resources necessary for their product’s functioning. Deployment can be tricky since human eyes and hands need to be present on site in case issues arise that need fixing – this stage requires planning deployment windows when teams will be available for troubleshooting purposes.

Some deployment models are better suited to certain project types, like spiral model is perfect for projects with changing scopes as it focuses on gathering user and stakeholder feedback at every iteration and deploys new software each time. While this approach works great for companies involved with compliance-intensive industries, this strategy may become too resource-consuming or costly should there be multiple iterations required and difficulty is identifying when one should stop.

Maintenance

As software evolves, its complexity necessitates regular updating and repair; maintenance also includes improving existing products with additional features or adding entirely new ones.

Companies that use an effective SDLC process can detect errors early, when fixing them is less costly and easier, providing greater returns on their investments while producing software customers can trust.

There are various SDLC models, each one presenting its own set of advantages and disadvantages in regards to development process phases.

Waterfall models, while easy to comprehend and manage, don’t allow for changes once each phase has been completed; changing requirements could put off schedule altogether, while unfinished details could halt work altogether. Conversely, Agile and DevOps models enable teams to be flexible while maintaining an overall process that is reliable and consistent.