Chapter 4
Software
Development Life Cycle
The System
Development Life Cycle is the process of developing
information systems through investigation, analysis, design,
implementation, and maintenance. The System
Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is also known as Information Systems
Development or Application Development.
At AsiaSoft we followed this life cycle strictly to ensure the
quality of the output and at each level approval from the
management is needed to proceed to the next.
Below are the steps involved in the System Development Life
Cycle. Each phase within the overall cycle may be made up of
several steps.
Fig
4.1 Software Development Life Cycle
4.1
Software Concept
The first step is to identify a need for the new system.
This will include determining whether a business problem or
opportunity exists, conducting a feasibility study to determine if
the proposed solution is cost effective, and developing a project
plan.
I
was able to get practical experience in this area when I was
working on AsiaSoft Security System. There our team identified the
main features to be included in the system and its cost
effectiveness Vs buying it off the shelf.
4.2 Requirement Analysis
This is the process of identifying the actual requirements of
customers or users and presenting it in a more formal technical
way. I was involved in developing the requirements of AsiaSoft
Security System. In the process we identified the technology
required to implement the project in effective and efficient way.
4.3 Architectural design
This is the actual design of the system and it starts with System design
by drawing the DFD
(Data Flow Diagram) and forming the logic behind the programming.
4.4 Coding and Debugging
After finalizing on System Design Documents as programmers we code the
programs in IDE’s
(Integrated Development Environments) and by using debuggers we
check the codes for any errors while compiling if necessary.
4.5 System Testing
This is the final step to ensure the quality of the product and
this could be broadly categorized into 2 tests namely Black Box
Testing and Glass Box Testing. I was involved in QuickAccountant.com’s
testing and since it was a web product it required some special
techniques. We tested for response time, Time out errors, Browser
compatibility and run time errors.
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