While every software project may have its specific requirements, there are standard software development steps that make the foundation of the software development process. Which is applicable to most types of software. Thus, the software development life cycle is tailored to meet the unique requirements of each project. These software development steps allow an efficient way of building quality solutions.
As a matter of fact, creating quality software is a complex process that ranges from planning to implementation. In this guide, we will walk you through the seven key stages of the software development process. Whether you’re a project stakeholder, a development team member, or simply interested in learning about the process, understanding these stages will give you an understanding into how quality software is built.
#1 Requirements analysis
Often referred to as requirements analysis, this is a crucial phase of any software project. This involves gathering and understanding the specific needs of stakeholders for the software product. It serves as a foundation step that takes place at the very beginning of a project.
The deliverable of this stage is the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document. SRS is essential as it clearly establishes the project requirements as well as other important project aspects like securing stakeholder agreement, setting project expectations realistically, and outlining the necessary functionality. You can refer to the SRS as a blueprint that guides the entire development process.
The project manager plays a pivotal role in this step. They help to assess the client’s goals and form a software development team capable of achieving them. This typically involves consideration of several key questions:
- How many developers are needed for this project?
- Which software development life cycle (SDLC) approach is most suitable?
- How long should the development process take?
- And more
It is important that all project goals are documented in an organized and measurable format. So that progress can be easily tracked and project goals verified upon completion.
#2 Software Design
The design phase is where you define how your software will function, making it one of the most critical and time-consuming stages. While you can make changes later, starting with a well-thought-out design will save you time, money, and effort in the long run.
You’ll need to focus on key elements like programming, architecture, user interface, security, communications, and the platforms your software will run on. This is where you make crucial decisions that will shape the success of your project. By treating design as its own distinct phase, you give yourself and your team the space to experiment and innovate.
Furthermore, in this stage, you may also want to incorporate rapid prototyping to test and compare different solutions. From there, you can identify the most effective approach.
As high quality software often results from continuous design improvements, using an iterative model allows you to gather feedback and continually make adjustments as needed. If your project requires flexibility due to evolving requirements, this would be valuable.
#3 Development
After the design stage, you move into development, where your ideas take shape through actual coding. Once there’s agreement on the system design, the development phase officially begins, often taking up the largest share of your project’s time and resources.
During this phase, the development team brings the software designed (in the previous stage) to life. And you’ll start to see how the different aspects of your planning come up in real-world scenarios. Depending on the chosen SDLC model, your software may evolve throughout development, allowing you and your team to refine and improve as you go.
Generally, the software engineering teams will focus on building and integrating the code while testing the system design. Whether you follow an agile approach or other model, this stage requires both time and a huge amount of effort. Collaboration and team problem-solving will be needed as the team addresses challenges and implements solutions.
By the end of this phase, you should have software that is functional and ready for testing. This is a tangible product resulting from your team’s hard work and dedication to creating a successful solution.
#4 Software QA
Once your software product is developed, it’s time to move to the next stage which is testing. In this stage, your software QA team will thoroughly perform testing of the software product to identify any bugs and/or errors. This is an important step and should be approached in detail.
Rushing or skipping the testing stage (e.g. to save costs or time) could lead to costly issues down the line. Testing ensures your software product functions as intended and delivers a pleasant experience for users.
You’ll have several testing methods at your disposal, including:
- Unit testing and Integration testing
- Security testing: Identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring data protection.
- Entry testing: Checking that the software meets initial entry criteria.
- Code quality checks: Reviewing the code for efficiency and maintainability.
- Performance testing: Assessing the software’s responsiveness and stability under various conditions.
Regular testing is essential, and many opt to automate these processes for comprehensive coverage and error-free results. This stage validates that every part of your software is functioning as it should before moving forward to deployment. Proper testing not only safeguards your product’s quality but also sets the foundation for a successful launch.
This rigorous testing phase is essential to ensure the software is fully functional and ready to move to the next stage, giving both the development team and users confidence in the final product.
#5 Implementation
The implementation phase, often called deployment, is a critical and ideally highly automated stage of your project. Once the software has been developed and tested, it should be deployed to the production environment as soon as it’s ready. For medium and large enterprises, Application Release Automation (ARA) tools are commonly used to streamline and automate this process.
Here is the stage where you can actually see how well your product performs in real life.
Usually, the implementation step is complex as it could involve integrating your product with other 3rd party systems.
Careful planning should be done in this stage to help minimize any potential business disruptions. This also helps ensure the success of your software product in its intended environment.
#6 Documentation
To enable efficient future development, and/or maintenance, as well as updates of your software, thorough system documentation is needed. Documentation helps you outline the system and allows other software engineers and stakeholders to understand the underlying technology. This typically includes:
- Requirements documentation
- Architecture design
- Source code details
- Validation documentation
- Verification and testing records
- Maintenance or user guides
Documentation is essential as it supports developers to track all relevant aspects of the software product, in order to make future updates and troubleshoot any issues more efficiently. It plays a vital role in keeping the project organized and ensuring continuity.
Proper documentation is done after implementation and before transitioning to the maintenance phase.
#7 Maintenance
This is the final stage, marking the near completion of the development process and the software cycle. To ensure your software continues to function as expected, ongoing product maintenance is often required. This phase is crucial for addressing issues, making updates, and helping to ensure the long-term success of the product.
The Advantages of Following a Structured 7-Stage Approach
You may wonder why I should follow the software development life cycle (SDLC)? And why is it important to have clearly defined steps when embarking on a software development project?
Following the seven stages of the SDLC offers you and your businesses various advantages. It provides a structured and systematic way to build software, ensuring the development of high-quality solutions. Moreover, it helps your product evolve, from concept to completion and beyond. Let’s consider why this approach matters.
Strategic Planning in Development
A well-defined plan acts as a roadmap for your team, dividing the project into smaller tasks that are easier to manage. Additionally, this helps you clarify and avoid potential confusions, allowing the development team and project manager to know exactly which tasks are required of them. Ultimately focusing on their tasks without overlapping the others.
Furthermore, as roles are clearly assigned and each stage of the project is defined, you can enhance team collaboration and address potential risks early on in the project.
Thus, following the SDLC helps your project stays on track, delivering a high-quality product that meets your goals.
Effective Resource Allocation
Following the seven stages of software development is a highly effective approach to managing resources and ensuring efficiency. Developing software solutions tailored to specific needs requires both time and financial investment, making resource management crucial to a project’s success.
By adopting a clear software development life cycle, you gain clarity on how to allocate resources effectively. Specifically, you can determine the correct level of resources required for various stages of the project, ranging development, testing, and deployment, ensuring nothing is overlooked.
The seven stages also provide a system that guides your team, ensuring resources are used efficiently and the project stays on track, ultimately delivering a high-quality software solution.
Clear Communication
Your development team can communicate more effectively with stakeholders by following the structure of the software development stages. All members of the development team can get feedback at each stage of the project roadmap and thereby contribute to future development.
Exploring the Different Frameworks of SDLC
To deliver effective and cost-efficient software solutions, it’s important to choose the right framework for your project. Models like Agile, Waterfall, and the Spiral model offer structured yet flexible approaches that adapt to your project’s unique needs.
The Spiral model, for example, combines a step-by-step approach with in-depth risk analysis, making it ideal for complex projects that require constant refinement. Other options include:
- Waterfall: Suitable if our projects have fixed requirements.
- Agile: Flexible and collaborative, perfect for projects with evolving needs.
- RAD: Focuses on rapid prototyping and quick delivery.
- V-Model: Ensures development and testing are perfectly aligned.
- Cloud-Based Models: Leverages cloud computing for scalability and efficiency.
By selecting the right method, you can create innovative, scalable, and cost-effective solutions that meet both current and future needs.
Why Following the 7 Stages Ensures Product Development Success?
The success of your software product often depends on how well you follow each stage of the development cycle. Each individual stage provides a clear framework for you to track development progress and maintenance, ensuring the project stays on track.
From design to testing to delivery, it’s essential to focus on the needs of end users while collaborating with team members to create software that is purposeful, innovative, and efficient. Development teams play a vital role in ensuring these stages are followed, enabling a smooth and effective process.
Having well-defined stages offers benefits like better resource management and improved communication. Tailoring each stage to your business needs allows one phase to flow seamlessly into the next. These stages also help developers concentrate on writing clean, efficient code and delivering bug-free software that truly meets user expectations.