Building a software product is not as easy as it seems. However, following a few crucial steps involved in the software product development lifecycle can make the process easier.
SDLC is an abbreviation used for the software development life cycle. It is a structured approach for understanding, developing, and testing a software product. In other words, it is a methodology that involves certain steps to be followed in developing good quality, easy-to-maintain, and user-friendly software. SDLC exceeds all the expectations of businesses looking for time efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and user-friendly software solutions.
The major benefits of using SDLC are as follows-
- Improved vision of the overall development process for all the members involved.
- Efficient planning, scheduling, and estimation
- Better management
- Easy to meet customer expectations and increase satisfaction.
7 Stages of the Software Development Life Cycle
Well, the stages involved in the software development life cycle may be different for different software projects and teams. However, 7 stages are common in most SDLC processes-
- Planning and Analysis
The first stage of the software product development life cycle is the planning which involves gathering the relevant information about the project, analyzing the requirements, and creating a strategy to achieve the goals. This stage is quite important as it helps in checking the feasibility of the product. The entire team including developers, stakeholders, and project managers can have clear insights into the revenue potential, the cost, the development time software value/ update, and many other factors.
- Defining Specific Requirements:
This phase is also critical as it involves converting the gathered information about the project into clear requirements for the software developers. This allows the team to create the important documents associated with SRS (software requirement specification) Requirement Traceability Matrix document and a Use Case document.
- Product Designing:
In this phase, the planning is elaborated into the SDD (space design document). This document covers the product design, programming language, and the development process to use. A reputed software development company always pays attention to detail toward the application security measures. This stage also helps to create a flowchart about the working of software and how it will interact with the end users. In some cases, prototype development is also involved in the design stage to get the pre-development version.
- Development:
This is the main stage of the software product development life cycle in which the entire project is divided into small software modules and the developer creates the code for the final product. This phase may take more time as compared to other stages and require some specialized development tools. When the development milestones and timelines are set earlier, it becomes easier for developers to understand the expectations and work accordingly to meet them.
- Testing:
Before making the software product live, it is crucial to have the quality assurance team perform certain testing to ensure that the product is performing in an expected way. Testing is one of the main aspects of resolving security issues and user experience issues. Some important types of testing involved in this stage are-
- Functional Testing
- Performance Testing
- User Acceptance Testing
- Unit Testing
- Usability Testing
- Deployment:
During this stage, the final software product is delivered to the client for deployment. However, this stage can be automated. For instance, if you are just working on any feature update, you can opt for deployment or a small number of targeted users. But when it comes to brand new software products, it is important to ensure that the developers know SRLC (software release life cycle).
- Maintenance:
This is the last stage of SDLC especially when the software is built in the waterfall approach. If the software is built upon the agile approach, a maintenance stage is added. Maintenance of software products is important to fix the errors and bugs that were missed in the testing stage. When these bugs and errors are fixed, it becomes easier to deliver a better user experience.
These are the 7 stages of SDLC. If you are seeking the best software product development company, then it is important to check their expertise and approach to create software that matches your unique needs. Ask for their support to complete the project within the set timeline & cost.
