Software Development Life Cycle

What are the different phases in the SDLC?

Planning, Requirements Analysis, Design, Implementation, Testing, Deployment, Maintenance

Requirements Analysis

Gather stakeholder expectations and detail what the system must accomplish

deliverables for requirements analysis phase

1. software requirement specification (SRS)

2. Business Requirement Document (BRD)

3. Use cases and user stories

What does BRD stand for and what phase of the SDLC is this created?

Business Requirements Document. It’s made during the Requirements Analysis phase of the SDLC

What does the BRD do?

Business Requirements Doc outlines high level business objectives, project scope, stakeholder needs, and functional/business goals.

WHY the project is being built and WHAT the business expects to achieve

What is phase 3 of the SDLC?

Design - Takes approved requirements into software architecture and blueprint

deliverables for system design phase

1. high level design (system architecture document)

2. low level design (component specs)

3. UI/UX wireframes, mock ups, and prototypes

4. database schema and API specifications

what is phase 4 of the sdlc

coding/implementation/development - developers write the actual source code according to the design documents

what does the waterfall or agile methodology determine?

depending on the methodology, it determines WHEN code is written, HOW MUCH is written at a time, and HOW developers collaborate

Waterfall Methodology

software is developed in large stages and you follow the different phases in order of completion. Efficient if the project has static requirements.

Agile methodology

Design, implementation, testing and deployment are done as “sprints” so there’s a product in as little as several weeks. Constantly testing and iterating based on the previous sprint.

User stories

short, simple and non-technical description of a software feature a customer wants. Specifically used in Agile frameworks.

User Story Structure/Formula

As a [type of user/persona],

I want [an action or feature].

So that [a benefit or business value]

What is phase 5 of the SDLC

Testing/QA - make sure everything is working as planned, catch bugs and security vulnerabilities early

what is phase 6

deployment - roll out the software to a live production environment for end-users

last phase of sdlc

maintenance - monitor live performance, fix ongoing issues and push updates

deliverables for testing phase

1. test plan and test cases

2. bug/defect tracking reports

3. user acceptance testing sign-off

deliverables for coding phase

1. source code and repository commits

2. unit testing scripts and code review reports

3. initial build/alpha version of the software

deliverables for deployment/release

1. production-ready software release

2. deployment guide/runbook

3. end-user documentation and training manuals

deliverables for maintenance phase

1. software updates, patches, and bug fixes

2. performance monitoring and incident reports

3. updated system documentation

for Agile, what are the phases for SDLC

1. ideation/concept

2. inception

3. iteration/development

4. testing/QA

5. release/deployment

6. feedback/review

7. maintenance and continuous improvement

Ideation/Concept

product owner outlines initial requirements and estimates general time and feasibility

product vision statement

summary defining core purpose, target audience, and ultimate value of the product

product roadmap

high level, visual timeline showing planned direction of the project focusing on major themes and upcoming feature blocks versus hard deadlines

backlog and requirements generation

agile collects requirements incrementally. requirements change as the team learns more from users and stakeholders

deliverables for backlog and requirements generation

1. product backlog

2. user stories and epics

3. acceptance criteria/definition of done (DoD)

product backlog

prioritized living list of all user stories, epics, bug fixes, and technical reqs needed to build the product

acceptance criteria/definition of done

explicit, checkable standards that a user story MUST satisfy before it can be considered complete

iteration/development

every 1-4 weeks, the team runs into a micro-SDLC loop, resulting in a predictable set of tactical and operation deliverables

deliverables for iteration phase

1. sprint backlog

2. sprint goal

3. burndown and burnup charts

sprint backlog

specific subset of user stories chosen from the product backlog to be completed during the current sprint

sprint goal

short, unified focus statement that guides the team’s work throughout the sprint

burndown and burnup chart

visual tracking metrics showing how much work remains versus how much value has been delivered during the sprint

emergent architecture

for agile methodology - designing just enough to build the next set of features rather than completing a massive high level design that’s used for waterfall

deliverables for inception

1. UI/UX prototypes and wireframes

2. living API specifications

3. architectural spikes

UI/UX prototypes and wireframes

lightweight, clickable mock ups used for immediate testing and rapid adjustment

(WHAT YOU WERE BUILDING IN FIGMA)

Living API specifications

Interactive documentation (like Swagger/OpenAPI) that updates continuously as services evolve

architectural spikes

brief, experimental coding exercises used to research technical approaches or mitigate risks before building a major feature

deliverables for Deployment and Release phases for AGILE

1. potentially shippable product increment (often called an increment)

2. release notes and automated documentation

PSPI

Potentially Shippable Product Increment.

“Potentially shippable” does not mean you are forced to deploy every 2 weeks. It means the work is clean, stable and ready to go whenever the business needs demand it.

NO INCOMPLETE WORK. must meet the team’s strict Definition of Done.

Release notes and automated documentation

bulleted logs generated automatically from repository commits to inform stakeholders what went live

stakeholders in “planning” phase

1. business leaders/execs

2. finance

3. project managers

4. product managers

stakeholders in design phase

1. system architects

2. UX designers

3. Security Engineers

4. Tech leads/Senior Developers

stakeholders in coding phase

1. software developers

2. dev ops engineers

3. code reviewers//tech leads

stakeholders in testing phase

1. QA engineers/testers

2. Product manager/business analyst

3. software developers

stakeholders in deployment phase

1. dev ops/release engineers

2. project/product manager

3. customer support/operations teams

stakeholders in maintenance phase

1. support/help desk team

2. maintenance developers

3. product manager/user

define “front end”

the visual part of a website or app users see, click and interact with in their browser (photos, text, colors, etc.)

define “back end”

server side. powers the app, handles business logic, and manages data (calculator, gps navigation, etc.)

define “full stack”

both front end, back end and also production deployment

what happens in the planning phase

define project goals, scope, budget, timeline and feasability

stakeholders in requirements analysis phase

1. business analysts

2. product owners/managers

3. direct/end users

4. legal/compliance officers

stakeholders in concept/idea phase

1. product owner

2. business execs

3. end users/customers

stakeholders in inception/planning phase

product owner

scrum master

architects

development team leads

stakeholders for iteration/sprint (development and construction)

1. developers/engineers

2. QA/testers

3. scrum master

4. product owner

stakeholders for release/testing and deployment phase

1. end users/beta testers

2. product owner

3. dev ops/system admins

4. customer support

stakeholders in maintenance/continuous improvement phase

support/operations

product owner

business execs

development

what do business execs do

provide financial backing, strategic direction and expected ROI

scrum master

leads daily stand ups and tracks sprint velocity

facilitates team alignment, process structure and removes hurdles