Explain the software development lifecycle.

There are seven stages of the software development lifecycle

1.      Initiate the project – The users identify their Business requirements.

2.      Define the project – The software development team translates the business requirements into system specifications and put together into System Specification Document.

3.      Design the system – The System Architecture Team designs the system and write Functional Design Document. During design phase general solutions re hypothesized and data and process structures are organized.

4.      Build the system – The System Specifications and design documents are given to the development team code the modules by following the Requirements and Design document.

5.      Test the system - The test team develops the test plan following the requirements. The software is build and installed on the test platform after developers have completed development and Unit Testing. The testers test the software by following the test plan.

6.      Deploy the system – After the user-acceptance testing and certification of the software, it is installed on the production platform. Demos and training are given to the users.

7.      Support the system - After the software is in production, the maintenance phase of the life begins.  During this phase the development team works with the development document staff to modify and enhance the application and the test team works with the test documentation staff to verify and validate the changes and enhancement to the application software.

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