A Beginner's Guide to the Software Development Life Cycle
Stuart Robbins · 2011
This chapter presents the software development life cycle (SDLC) that consists of five primary stages: plan, design, build, test, and launch. The trigger for SDLC initiatives may originate from many sources such as quality complaints, customer requirements, and compliance mandates. In the case study outlined in the chapter, these organizational characteristics, present before and during the launch of Project X, should be considered environmental factors or boundaries within which the SDLC methodology emerged. Rare is the organization in which best practices actually exist-they are goals that serve as milestones for organizational growth. The chapter concludes that, most underdeveloped software development environments can be improved in ways that allow technical teams to govern themselves by choosing which phases need improvement, then modestly adapting their approach over time. Controlled Vocabulary Terms Organizational behavior; Systems development life cycle