Module: Information

Systems 1
Module code: INSS101
Topic: Software
Development Life Cycle
(SDLC)

Lecturer: Dr LS Mncube
Email: siphamandlaM8@dut.ac.za
Date: 17 March 2025
 Presentation
overview
• Phases of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Benefits of System Development Life Cycle.
• Planning: Define project goals and feasibility.
• Analysis: Gather and document
requirements.
• Design: Create system architecture and
UI/UX.
• Implementation: Develop, test, and deploy
the system.
• Maintenance: Provide support, fixes, and
updates.
Introduction

• What is SDLC?
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a
systematic process for developing software.
It ensures high-quality software that meets customer
requirements.
• Reduces risks and errors
• Improves project management and efficiency
Benefits of System Development Life
Cycle
• Clear Goal Descriptions: Developers clearly know the goals they need to
meet and the deliverables they must achieve by a set timeline, lowering the
risk of time and resources being wasted.
• Proper Testing Before Installation: SDLC models implement checks and
balances to ensure that all software is tested before being installed in greater
source code.
• Clear Stage Progression: Developers cannot move on to the next age until
the prior one is completed and signed off by a manager.
• Member Flexibility: Since SDLCs have well-structured documents for project
goals and methodologies, team members can leave and be replaced by new
members relatively painlessly.
• Perfection Is Achievable: All SDLC stages are meant to feed back into one
another. SDLC models can therefore help projects to iterate and improve upon
themselves over and over until essentially perfect.
• Breaks the Project: Again, since SDLCs utilize extensive paperwork and
guideline documents, it is a team effort, and losing one even a major member
will not jeopardize the project timeline.
SDLC Develop?
• Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) can be used to
develop or engineer software, systems, and even
information systems.
• It can also be used to develop hardware or a
combination of both software and hardware at the same
time.
• There are new seven phases of SDLC include planning,
analysis, design, development, testing, implementation,
and maintenance:
 Phase 1: Planning
• Define project scope and objectives.
• Identify stakeholders and risks.
• Create a project plan and timeline.
• The planning stage (also called the feasibility stage) is exactly what it sounds
like the phase in which developers will plan for the upcoming project.
• It helps to define the problem and scope of any existing systems, as well as
determine the objectives for their new systems.
• And help to secure the funding and resources they need to make their plan
happen.
• Perhaps most importantly, the planning stage sets the project schedule, which
can be of key importance if development is for a commercial product that
must be sent to market by a certain time.
Phase 2: Analysis
• Gather business and user requirements.
• Document functional and non-functional requirements.
• Identify constraints and potential issues.
Developers may:
• Define any prototype system requirements
• Evaluate alternatives to existing prototypes
• Perform research and analysis to determine the needs of end-users
• Furthermore, developers will often create a software requirement specification
document.
• This includes all the specifications for software, hardware, and network
requirements for the system they plan to build.
• This will prevent them from overdrawing funding or resources when working at
the same place as other development teams.
 Phase 3: Design
Developers will first outline the details for the overall application, alongside specific
aspects, such as its:

• User interfaces
• System interfaces
• Specify hardware, software, and network requirements.
• Network and network requirements
• Databases
They will typically turn the SRS document they created into a more logical structure
that can later be implemented in a programming language.

Operation, training, and maintenance plans will all be drawn up so that developers
know what they need to do throughout every stage of the cycle moving forward.

Once complete, development managers will prepare a design document to be

• This is where Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools come into play.
Product program code is built per the design document specifications.

• In theory, all of the prior planning and outlining should make the actual
development phase relatively straightforward.

• Developers will follow any coding guidelines as defined by the organization

• Programming languages can include staples such as C++, PHP, and more.

• Developers will choose the right programming code to use based on the
Stage 5: Testing Stage
• Building software is not the end. Now it must be tested to make
sure that there are not any bugs and that the end-user experience
will not negatively be affected at any point.
• During the testing stage, developers will go over their software to
find if are there any bugs or defects that need to be tracked, fixed,
and later retested.
• It is important that the software overall ends up meeting the quality
standards that were previously defined in the SRS document.
• Depending on the skill of the developers, the complexity of the
software, and the requirements for the end-user, testing can either
be an extremely short phase or take a very long time
Phase 6: Implementation
• Develop and test the system.
• Integrate system components.
• Conduct initial user training and deployment.
• After testing, the overall design for the software will come together.
• Different modules or designs will be integrated into the primary
source code through developer efforts, usually by leveraging
training environments to detect further errors or defects.
• The information system will be integrated into its environment and
eventually installed. After passing this stage, the software is
theoretically ready for market and may be provided to any end-
users.
Phase 7: Maintenance
• Provide user support and bug fixes.
• Implement software updates and enhancements.
• Optimize system performance.
• The SDLC does not end when software reaches the market.
• Developers must now move into maintenance mode and begin practicing
any activities required to handle issues reported by end-users.
• Furthermore, developers are responsible for implementing any changes
that the software might need after deployment.
• This can include handling residual bugs that were not able to be patched
before launch or resolving new issues that crop up due to user reports.
• Larger systems may require longer maintenance stages compared to
smaller systems
Conclusion
• Ultimately, any development team in both the IT and
other industries can benefit from implementing system
development life cycles into their projects.
• Use the above guide to identify which methodology you
want to use in conjunction with your SDLC for the best
results.
Thank you!!