Understanding the software development life cycle

In today's digital world, every company is looking to deliver a good quality software product in a short period, which means the efficiency and the speed of the development team are game changers. To achieve this goal, companies must apply a set of well-defined activities and structured stages that define the software development life cycle, also known as the SDLC.

The SDLC is a methodology of work and best practices that aim to ease the process of software development and make it more efficient, ensuring the final product is delivered on time within the project budget and is totally in line with the expectations of the client.

There are different variations and models of the SDLC, such as the Waterfall model, the Spiral model, and the Agile model. They are popular and widely used by most software development organizations. Selecting the right model depends mainly on the size of the project and other factors. In the following sections, we are going to explore these models in detail to help you decide which model is right for your team and the project.

Here are the six stages that are defined in the SDLC process:

Figure 1.1: The six stages of the SDLC

We have just looked at an overview of the software development life cycle and its importance. In the next section, we will explore the different stages of the SDLC process.