What is SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) : Business Analysts and System Analysts FAQ

SDLC or Software Development Life Cycle is the life cycle literally of the development of a system or software. This life cycle details all the processes that a system undergoes while it is being designed. That is the basic layman understanding of what SDLC stands for.

The steps of the System Development Life Cycle are detailed as below. They show the detailed working of how a system is developed for a particular project.

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) starts when a client expresses the need to start a new project. Once the project is in hand, the steps of the SDLC work as:

ü Project Planning: Planning is the core of every process and only effective planning can make a Business Analyst realize if the intended system can really be developed or not. A feasibility study is conducted in this stage to determine if the actual system intended is indeed possible to work upon or not.

ü System Analysis and Requirements Definition: Here, the requirements of the client in the system to be developed are properly analyzed and then a final requirement definition is written by the Business Analyst in consultation with the client, who will be the end- user of the project. This requirements definition is used by the software team of programmers and developers to start the project.

ü System Design: This is the process of SDLC where the system is actually designed as per the requirements. The process of database design, structure design, nuances of the client/server technology, defining tiers of package architecture are all defined properly in this phase.

ü System Development: This is the phase where the actual project is made. The system‘s software is coded in this phase. Code generation makes the system machine-readable. The code is generated by the technical team of software developers and programmers. The code is generated with the help of languages like C, C++, Java, VB, SQL and tools like debuggers and compilers.

ü System Implementation – Here, the system developed is incorporated in the design of the project. The developers assemble their creations in the previous phases of the SDLC.

ü System Integration and Testing – The system generated is now checked for errors and bugs so to as to ascertain how workable the system developed really is. The System Testing phase shows whether the timelines of the project can be adhered to or how much work is still pending, depending on the number of errors and bugs found.

ü System Acceptance and Installation – Testing in live conditions is an acid test for the system’s success. Testing the project in a replica of live environment will enable the software developing team to ascertain whether the software developed will actually work in live conditions and as per how it was envisioned to work.

ü System Maintenance - Once system is implemented in live conditions, it has to be maintained properly. The software developed may face some changes due to some unexpected inputs or changes due to new personnel in the organization. Hence any problems arising need to be fixed to maintain the system well.

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What is SDLC? different phases of SDLC?