Software Development Life Cycle

(SDLC)
by
Dr Ompal Singh
Software Reliability: P(A|B)
A: Software does not fail when operated for t time units under specified conditions.
B: Software has not failed at time 0.

Engineering??????????
“Today, the majority of engineers understand very little about the science of programming or the
mathematics that one needs to analyze a program. On the other hand, the scientists who study
programming know very little about what it means to be an engineer... “ [Parnas 1997]
Right or wrong?
(Un)reliability of released products
Missed schedules
Cost overruns
Market share/reaction?

Software faults are introduced in all phases of the life-cycle: specification, design,
implementation, testing, maintenance.
 What is Software Reliability Engineering?
• The set of best practices that empower testers and developers to
Ensure product reliability meets users needs
Speed the product to market faster
Reduce product cost
Improve customer satisfaction (fewer angry users)
Increase their productivity
• Applicable to all software based systems
• Two fundamental ideas
Focus resources on the most used/critical functions
Make testing realistically represent field conditions
 SDLC Model

•A framework that describes the activities performed

at each stage of a software development project.
 Life Cycle Model
 It provides a fixed generic framework that can be tailored to a specific project.
 Project specific parameters will include:
 Size, (person-years)
 Budget,
 Duration

project plan = lifecycle model + project parameters

 By changing the lifecycle model, we can
Improve

•Development speed (time to market)

•Product quality
•Project visibility
•Administrative overhead
•Risk exposure
•Customer relations, etc, etc.
 The Waterfall Model

•The waterfall model is the classic lifecycle model

–it is widely known, understood and (commonly?) used.

In some respect, waterfall is the ”commonsense” approach. Introduced by Royce

in 1970.
Waterfall Model
• Requirements – defines needed information,
function, behavior, performance and interfaces.

• Design – data structures, software architecture,

interface representations, algorithmic details.

• Implementation – source code, database,

user documentation, testing.
 Waterfall Strengths
• Easy to understand, easy to use

• Provides structure to inexperienced staff

• Milestones are well understood

• Sets requirements stability

• Good for management control (plan, staff, track)

• Works well when quality is more important than cost or schedule

 Waterfall Deficiencies
1.Idealised, does not match reality well.
2. Doesn’t reflect iterative nature of exploratory development.
3. Unrealistic to expect accurate requirements so early in project
4. Software is delivered late in project, delays discovery of serious errors.
5. Difficult to integrate risk management
6.Difficult and expensive to make changes to documents, ”swimming
upstream”.
7.Significant administrative overhead, costly for small teams and
projects.
 When to use the Waterfall Model
• Requirements are very well known

• Product definition is stable

• Technology is understood

• New version of an existing product

• Porting an existing product to a new platform.

V-Shaped SDLC Model
• A variant of the Waterfall that
emphasizes the verification
and validation of the product.

• Testing of the product is

planned in parallel with a
corresponding phase of
development
 V-Shaped Steps
• Project and Requirements • Production, operation and maintenance –
Planning – allocate resources provide for enhancement and corrections
• System and acceptance testing – check the
entire software system in its environment
• Product Requirements and •
Specification Analysis – complete
specification of the software
system
• Integration and Testing – check that
Architecture or High-Level Design modules interconnect correctly
• •
– defines how software functions
fulfill the design
• Unit testing – check that each module
acts as expected
• Detailed Design – develop
algorithms for each architectural
component • Coding – transform algorithms into
software
 V-Shaped Strengths
• Emphasize planning for verification and
validation of the product in early stages
of product development
• Each deliverable must be testable
• Project management can track progress
by milestones
• Easy to use
 V-Shaped Weaknesses
• Does not easily handle concurrent events

• Does not handle iterations or phases

• Does not easily handle dynamic changes in

requirements

• Does not contain risk analysis activities

 When to use the V-Shaped Model
• Excellent choice for systems requiring high reliability –
hospital patient control applications

• All requirements are known up-front

• Solution and technology are known

Structured Evolutionary Prototyping Model

• Developers build a prototype during the requirements

phase

• Prototype is evaluated by end users

• Users give corrective feedback

• Developers further refine the prototype

• When the user is satisfied, the prototype code is

brought up to the standards needed for a final product.
Structured Evolutionary Prototyping Steps

• A preliminary project plan is developed

• An partial high-level paper model is created
• The model is source for a partial requirements
specification
• A prototype is built with basic and critical attributes
• The designer builds
– the database
– user interface
– algorithmic functions
• The designer demonstrates the prototype, the user
evaluates for problems and suggests improvements.
• This loop continues until the user is satisfied
Structured Evolutionary Prototyping
Strengths
• Customers can “see” the system requirements as they are being gathered

• Developers learn from customers

• A more accurate end product

• Unexpected requirements accommodated

• Allows for flexible design and development

• Steady, visible signs of progress produced

• Interaction with the prototype stimulates awareness of additional needed

functionality
Structured Evolutionary Prototyping Weaknesses

• Tendency to abandon structured program development

for “code-and-fix” development

• Bad reputation for “quick-and-dirty” methods

• Overall maintainability may be overlooked

• The customer may want the prototype delivered.

• Process may continue forever (scope creep)

 When to use
Structured Evolutionary Prototyping
• Requirements are unstable or have to be clarified

• As the requirements clarification stage of a waterfall model

• Develop user interfaces

• Short-lived demonstrations

• New, original development

• With the analysis and design portions of object-oriented

development.
Incremental SDLC Model
• Construct a partial
implementation of a total
system
• Then slowly add increased
functionality
• The incremental model prioritizes
requirements of the system and
then implements them in groups.
• Each subsequent release of the
system adds function to the
previous release, until all designed
functionality has been
implemented.
 Incremental Model Strengths

• Develop high-risk or major functions first

• Each release delivers an operational product
• Customer can respond to each build
• Uses “divide and conquer” breakdown of tasks
• Lowers initial delivery cost
• Initial product delivery is faster
• Customers get important functionality early
• Risk of changing requirements is reduced
Incremental Model Weaknesses
• Requires good planning and design

• Requires early definition of a complete and fully

functional system to allow for the definition of
increments

• Well-defined module interfaces are required (some will

be developed long before others)

• Total cost of the complete system is not lower

When to use the Incremental Model

• Most of the requirements are known up-front but are expected to

evolve over time

• A need to get basic functionality to the market early

• On projects which have lengthy development schedules

• On a project with new technology

Spiral SDLC Model
• Adds risk analysis,
and RAD prototyping
to the waterfall model
• Each cycle involves
the same sequence of
steps as the waterfall
process model
 Spiral Quadrant
Determine objectives, alternatives and
constraints

• Objectives: functionality, performance,

hardware/software interface, critical success factors,
etc.
• Alternatives: build, reuse, buy, sub-contract, etc.
• Constraints: cost, schedule, interface, etc.
 Spiral Quadrant
Evaluate alternatives, identify and resolve risks

• Study alternatives relative to objectives and constraints

• Identify risks (lack of experience, new technology, tight
schedules, poor process, etc.
• Resolve risks (evaluate if money could be lost by
continuing system development
 Spiral Quadrant
Develop next-level product
• Typical activities:

– Create a design
– Review design
– Develop code
– Inspect code
– Test product
 Spiral Quadrant
Plan next phase

• Typical activities
– Develop project plan
– Develop configuration management plan
– Develop a test plan
– Develop an installation plan
 Spiral Model Strengths
• Provides early indication of insurmountable risks, without much cost

• Users see the system early because of rapid prototyping tools

• Critical high-risk functions are developed first

• The design does not have to be perfect

• Users can be closely tied to all lifecycle steps

• Early and frequent feedback from users

• Cumulative costs assessed frequently

 Spiral Model Weaknesses
• Time spent for evaluating risks too large for small or low-risk projects

• Time spent planning, resetting objectives, doing risk analysis and

prototyping may be excessive

• The model is complex

• Risk assessment expertise is required

• Spiral may continue indefinitely

• Developers must be reassigned during non-development phase activities

• May be hard to define objective, verifiable milestones that indicate

readiness to proceed through the next iteration
 When to use Spiral Model
• When creation of a prototype is appropriate

• When costs and risk evaluation is important

• For medium to high-risk projects

• Long-term project commitment unwise because of potential changes to

economic priorities

• Users are unsure of their needs

• Requirements are complex

• New product line

• Significant changes are expected (research and exploration)

 Agile SDLC’s
• Speed up or bypass one or more life cycle phases
• Usually less formal and reduced scope
• Used for time-critical applications
• Used in organizations that employ disciplined methods
 Some Agile Methods
• Adaptive Software Development (ASD)
• Feature Driven Development (FDD)
• Crystal Clear
• Dynamic Software Development Method (DSDM)
• Rapid Application Development (RAD)
• Scrum
• Extreme Programming (XP)
• Rational Unify Process (RUP)