Unit: - III Software Development Methodologies

SDLC: System/Software Development Life Cycle

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a process used by the software

industry to design, develop and test high quality software’s. The SDLC aims to
produce a high-quality software that meets or exceeds customer expectations,
reaches completion within times and cost estimates.
 SDLC is the acronym of Software Development Life Cycle.
 It is also called as Software Development Process.
 SDLC is a framework defining tasks performed at each step in the software
development process.
 ISO/IEC 12207 is an international standard for software life-cycle
processes. It aims to be the standard that defines all the tasks required for
developing and maintaining software.

What is SDLC?

SDLC is a process followed for a software project, within a software organization.

It consists of a detailed plan describing how to develop, maintain, replace and
alter or enhance specific software. The life cycle defines a methodology for
improving the quality of software and the overall development process.
The following figure is a graphical representation of the various stages of a typical
SDLC.
A typical Software Development Life Cycle consists of the following stages −

Stage 1: Planning and Requirement Analysis

Requirement analysis is the most important and fundamental stage in SDLC. It is

performed by the senior members of the team with inputs from the customer, the
sales department, market surveys and domain experts in the industry. This
information is then used to plan the basic project approach and to conduct product
feasibility study in the economical, operational and technical areas.
Planning for the quality assurance requirements and identification of the risks
associated with the project is also done in the planning stage. The outcome of the
technical feasibility study is to define the various technical approaches that can be
followed to implement the project successfully with minimum risks.

Stage 2: Defining Requirements

Once the requirement analysis is done the next step is to clearly define and
document the product requirements and get them approved from the customer or
the market analysts. This is done through an SRS (Software Requirement
Specification) document which consists of all the product requirements to be
designed and developed during the project life cycle.

Stage 3: Designing the Product Architecture

SRS is the reference for product architects to come out with the best architecture
for the product to be developed. Based on the requirements specified in SRS,
usually more than one design approach for the product architecture is proposed
and documented in a DDS - Design Document Specification.
This DDS is reviewed by all the important stakeholders and based on various
parameters as risk assessment, product robustness, design modularity, budget and
time constraints, the best design approach is selected for the product.
A design approach clearly defines all the architectural modules of the product
along with its communication and data flow representation with the external and
third party modules (if any). The internal design of all the modules of the
proposed architecture should be clearly defined with the minutest of the details in
DDS.

Stage 4: Building or Developing the Product

In this stage of SDLC the actual development starts and the product is built. The
programming code is generated as per DDS during this stage. If the design is
performed in a detailed and organized manner, code generation can be
accomplished without much hassle.
Developers must follow the coding guidelines defined by their organization and
programming tools like compilers, interpreters, debuggers, etc. are used to
generate the code. Different high level programming languages such as C, C++,
Pascal, Java and PHP are used for coding. The programming language is chosen
with respect to the type of software being developed.

Stage 5: Testing the Product

This stage is usually a subset of all the stages as in the modern SDLC models, the
testing activities are mostly involved in all the stages of SDLC. However, this
stage refers to the testing only stage of the product where product defects are
reported, tracked, fixed and retested, until the product reaches the quality
standards defined in the SRS.

Stage 6: Deployment in the Market and Maintenance

Once the product is tested and ready to be deployed it is released formally in the
appropriate market. Sometimes product deployment happens in stages as per the
business strategy of that organization. The product may first be released in a
limited segment and tested in the real business environment (UAT- User
acceptance testing).
Then based on the feedback, the product may be released as it is or with suggested
enhancements in the targeting market segment. After the product is released in the
market, its maintenance is done for the existing customer base.

Water Fall Model:

The Waterfall Model was the first Process Model to be introduced. It is also
referred to as a linear-sequential life cycle model. It is very simple to understand
and use. In a waterfall model, each phase must be completed before the next phase
can begin and there is no overlapping in the phases.
The Waterfall model is the earliest SDLC approach that was used for software
development.

Waterfall Model - Design

Waterfall approach was first SDLC Model to be used widely in Software

Engineering to ensure success of the project. In "The Waterfall" approach, the
whole process of software development is divided into separate phases. In this
Waterfall model, typically, the outcome of one phase acts as the input for the next
phase sequentially.
The following illustration is a representation of the different phases of the
Waterfall Model.

OR

The sequential phases in Waterfall model are −

 Requirement Gathering and analysis − All possible requirements of the
system to be developed are captured in this phase and documented in a
requirement specification document.
  System Design − The requirement specifications from first phase are
studied in this phase and the system design is prepared. This system design
helps in specifying hardware and system requirements and helps in defining
the overall system architecture.
 Implementation − With inputs from the system design, the system is first
developed in small programs called units, which are integrated in the next
phase. Each unit is developed and tested for its functionality, which is
referred to as Unit Testing.
 Integration and Testing − All the units developed in the implementation
phase are integrated into a system after testing of each unit. Post integration
the entire system is tested for any faults and failures.
 Deployment of system − Once the functional and non-functional testing is
done; the product is deployed in the customer environment or released into
the market.
 Maintenance − There are some issues which come up in the client
environment. To fix those issues, patches are released. Also to enhance the
product some better versions are released. Maintenance is done to deliver
these changes in the customer environment.
All these phases are cascaded to each other in which progress is seen as flowing
steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases. The next phase is started
only after the defined set of goals are achieved for previous phase and it is signed
off, so the name "Waterfall Model". In this model, phases do not overlap.

Waterfall Model - Application

Every software developed is different and requires a suitable SDLC approach to

be followed based on the internal and external factors. Some situations where the
use of Waterfall model is most appropriate are −
 Requirements are very well documented, clear and fixed.
 Product definition is stable.
 Technology is understood and is not dynamic.
 There are no ambiguous requirements.
 Ample resources with required expertise are available to support the
product.
 The project is short.

Waterfall Model - Advantages

The advantages of waterfall development are that it allows for departmentalization
and control. A schedule can be set with deadlines for each stage of development
and a product can proceed through the development process model phases one by
one.
Development moves from concept, through design, implementation, testing,
installation, troubleshooting, and ends up at operation and maintenance. Each
phase of development proceeds in strict order.
Some of the major advantages of the Waterfall Model are as follows −
 Simple and easy to understand and use
 Easy to manage due to the rigidity of the model. Each phase has specific
deliverables and a review process.
 Phases are processed and completed one at a time.
 Works well for smaller projects where requirements are very well
understood.
 Clearly defined stages.
 Well understood milestones.
 Easy to arrange tasks.
 Process and results are well documented.

Waterfall Model - Disadvantages

The disadvantage of waterfall development is that it does not allow much

reflection or revision. Once an application is in the testing stage, it is very difficult
to go back and change something that was not well-documented or thought upon
in the concept stage.
The major disadvantages of the Waterfall Model are as follows −
 No working software is produced until late during the life cycle.
 High amounts of risk and uncertainty.
 Not a good model for complex and object-oriented projects.
 Poor model for long and ongoing projects.
 Not suitable for the projects where requirements are at a moderate to high
risk of changing. So, risk and uncertainty is high with this process model.
 It is difficult to measure progress within stages.
 Cannot accommodate changing requirements.
 Adjusting scope during the life cycle can end a project.
  Integration is done as a "big-bang. at the very end, which doesn't allow
identifying any technological or business bottleneck or challenges early.

PPT : Waterfall model can be used when

 Requirements are not changing frequently

 Application is not complicated and big
 Project is short
 Requirement is clear
 Environment is stable
 Technology and tools used are not dynamic and is stable
 Resources are available and trained

Advantages and Disadvantages of Waterfall-Model

Advantages Dis-Advantages

 Before the next phase of  Error can be fixed only during

development, each phase must the phase
be completed

 Suited for smaller projects where  It is not desirable for complex

requirements are well defined project where requirement
changes frequently

 They should perform quality  Testing period comes quite late

assurance test (Verification and in the developmental process
Validation) before completing
each stage

 Elaborate documentation is done  Documentation occupies a lot of

at every phase of the software's time of developers and testers
development cycle

 Project is completely dependent  Clients valuable feedback cannot

on project team with minimum be included with ongoing
client intervention development phase

 Any changes in software is made  Small changes or errors that

 during the process of the arise in the completed software
development may cause a lot of problems

Spiral Model:

Introduction: The spiral model is a combination of sequential and

prototype models. ... There are specific activities that are done in one iteration
(spiral) where the output is a small prototype of the large software. The same
activities are then repeated for all the spirals until the entire software is built.

Spiral Model in software testing is the testing strategy which works on incremental
and prototype technique. Generally Spiral Model strategy is followed for the large
and complicated projects where risks are high and development and testing goes on
incremental basis. Spiral Model is also known as Spiral Lifecycle Model. The
Spiral Model was introduced by Barry Boehm in 1985. This model is quite old but
still very useful for the large projects development and testing.
There are five phases in Spiral Model-
 Planning of each phase and next phase.
 Risk Analysis
 Engineering
 Execution
 Evaluation

Testing and development starts from planning phase and carries up to evaluation
phase. All the requirements are collected in the planning phase itself. In the risk
analysis phase we assume all the risks could be occurred during testing and
development. In engineering and execution phase we start executing the test cases
which are planned and identified and finally we move to the evaluation phase
where we review the progress of the project. The reason of success of Spiral Model
is that analysis and engineering both carried out in each phase of the project.

Advantages of Spiral Model:

 Best approach for testing and development for complex and large project.
 Cost effective.
 Better risk analysis and management.
 Better requirement analysis.
 Fast and easy development.
 Better time management.
 Easy to change requirements and documentation if any change happens in the
middle of development.
Disadvantages of Spiral model:
 Difficult to follow strategy for small projects.
 Not much useful for low risk projects.
 Need more experience resources as process is bit complex.
 Large documentation.
When Spiral Model should be followed:
 For large and big projects.
 For high risk projects.
 If requirements are more complicated.
 If frequent changes required in the project.

Prototype Model:

The basic idea in Prototype model is that instead of freezing the requirements
before a design or coding can proceed, a throwaway prototype is built to
understand the requirements. This prototype is developed based on the currently
known requirements. Prototype model is a software development model. By
using this prototype, the client can get an “actual feel” of the system, since the
interactions with prototype can enable the client to better understand the
requirements of the desired system. Prototyping is an attractive idea for
complicated and large systems for which there is no manual process or existing
system to help determining the requirements.

The prototype are usually not complete systems and many of the details are not
built in the prototype. The goal is to provide a system with overall functionality.

Diagram of Prototype model:

 Advantages of Prototype model:

 Users are actively involved in the development

 Since in this methodology a working model of the system is provided, the
users get a better understanding of the system being developed.
 Errors can be detected much earlier.
 Quicker user feedback is available leading to better solutions.
 Missing functionality can be identified easily
 Confusing or difficult functions can be identified
Requirements validation, Quick implementation of, incomplete, but
functional, application.

Disadvantages of Prototyping Model

 The client involvement is more and it is not always considered by the developer.
 It is a slow process because it takes more time for development.
 Many changes can disturb the rhythm of the development team.
 It is a throw away prototype when the users are confused with it.

 Leads to implementing and then repairing way of building systems.

 Practically, this methodology may increase the complexity of the system as

scope of the system may expand beyond original plans.
 Incomplete application may cause application not to be used as the
full system was designed
Incomplete or inadequate problem analysis.

When to use Prototype model:

 Prototype model should be used when the desired system needs to have a lot
of interaction with the end users.
 Typically, online systems, web interfaces have a very high amount of
interaction with end users, are best suited for Prototype model. It might take
 a while for a system to be built that allows ease of use and needs minimal
training for the end user.
 Prototyping ensures that the end users constantly work with the system and
provide a feedback which is incorporated in the prototype to result in a
useable system. They are excellent for designing good human computer
interface systems

RAD MODEL:

Rapid application development is a software development methodology that uses

minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. A prototype is a working model
that is functionally equivalent to a component of the product.
In the RAD model, the functional modules are developed in parallel as prototypes
and are integrated to make the complete product for faster product delivery. Since
there is no detailed preplanning, it makes it easier to incorporate the changes
within the development process.
RAD projects follow iterative and incremental model and have small teams
comprising of developers, domain experts, customer representatives and other IT
resources working progressively on their component or prototype.
The most important aspect for this model to be successful is to make sure that the
prototypes developed are reusable.
PPT:

RAD model is Rapid Application Development model. It is a type of incremental

model. In RAD model the components or functions are developed in parallel as if
they were mini projects. The developments are time boxed, delivered and then
assembled into a working prototype.

This can quickly give the customer something to see and use and to provide
feedback regarding the delivery and their requirements.

Diagram of RAD-Model:
The phases in the rapid application development (RAD) model are:

RAD model distributes the analysis, design, build and test phases into a series of
short, iterative development cycles.
Following are the various phases of the RAD Model −

Business modeling: The information flow is identified between various

business functions. The business model for the product under development is
designed in terms of flow of information and the distribution of information
between various business channels. A complete business analysis is performed
to find the vital information for business, how it can be obtained, how and
when is the information processed and what are the factors driving successful
flow of information.

Data modeling: Information gathered from business modeling is used to

define data objects that are needed for the business. The information gathered
in the Business Modeling phase is reviewed and analyzed to form sets of data
objects vital for the business. The attributes of all data sets is identified and
defined. The relation between these data objects are established and defined
in detail in relevance to the business model.

Process modeling: Data objects defined in data modeling are converted to

achieve the business information flow to achieve some specific business
objective. Description are identified and created for CRUD of data objects.
The data object sets defined in the Data Modeling phase are converted to
establish the business information flow needed to achieve specific business
objectives as per the business model. The process model for any changes or
enhancements to the data object sets is defined in this phase. Process
descriptions for adding, deleting, retrieving or modifying a data object are
given.

Application generation: Automated tools are used to convert process models

into code and the actual system. The actual system is built and coding is done
by using automation tools to convert process and data models into actual
prototypes.

Testing and turnover: Test new components and all the interfaces. The overall
testing time is reduced in the RAD model as the prototypes are independently
tested during every iteration. However, the data flow and the interfaces
between all the components need to be thoroughly tested with complete test
coverage. Since most of the programming components have already been
tested, it reduces the risk of any major issues.

Advantages of the RAD model:

 Reduced development time.

 Increases reusability of components
 Quick initial reviews occur
 Encourages customer feedback
 Integration from very beginning solves a lot of integration issues.

Disadvantages of RAD model:

 Depends on strong team and individual performances for identifying

business requirements.
 Only system that can be modularized can be built using RAD
 Requires highly skilled developers/designers.
 High dependency on modeling skills
  Inapplicable to cheaper projects as cost of modeling and automated code
generation is very high.

When to use RAD model:

 RAD should be used when there is a need to create a system that can be
modularized in 2-3 months of time.
 It should be used if there’s high availability of designers for modeling and
the budget is high enough to afford their cost along with the cost of
automated code generating tools.
 RAD SDLC model should be chosen only if resources with high business
knowledge are available and there is a need to produce the system in a short
span of time (2-3 months).