skip to main content
column

Software development lifecycle models

Published: 11 May 2010 Publication History

Abstract

This history column article provides a tour of the main software development life cycle (SDLC) models. (A lifecycle covers all the stages of software from its inception with requirements definition through to fielding and maintenance.) System development lifecycle models have drawn heavily on software and so the two terms can be used interchangeably in terms of SDLC, especially since software development in this respect encompasses software systems development. Because the merits of selecting and using an SDLC vary according to the environment in which software is developed as well as its application, I discuss three broad categories for consideration when analyzing the relative merits of SDLC models. I consider the waterfall model before the other models because it has had a profound effect on software development, and has additionally influenced many SDLC models prevalent today. Thereafter, I consider some of the mainstream models and finish with a discussion of what the future could hold for SDLC models.

References

[1]
Benington, H.D. (1956): Production of large computer programs. In Proceedings, ONR Symposium on Advanced Programming Methods for Digital Computers, June 1956, pp 15--27.
[2]
Royce, Winston W. (1970): Managing the development of large software systems. In Proceedings, IEEE Wescon, August 1970, pp 1--9.
[3]
Birrell, N. D. and Ould, M.A. (1988): A practical handbook to software development; Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521347921. pp 3--12.
[4]
Forsberg, Kevin and Mooz, Harold (1991): The relationship of system engineering to the project cycle. At NCOSE, Chattanooga, Tennessee, October 21-23, 1991.
[5]
Doran, George T. (1981): There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives. In Management Review, vol. 70.11.
[6]
Mooz, H and Forsberg, K. (2001): A visual explanation of the development methods and strategies including the waterfall, spiral, vee, vee+, and vee++ models, pp 4--6.
[7]
Boehm, Barry W. (1986): A spiral model of software development and enhancement. In ACM SigSoft Software Engineering Notes, Vol. II, No. 4, 1986, pp 22--42.
[8]
Iivari, Juhani (1987): A hierarchical spiral model for the software process: notes on Boehm's spiral model. In ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes, vol. 12, no. 1, January 1, 1987. Pp 35--37.
[9]
TOGAF 9:The Open Group; http://www.opengroup.org/togaf/.
[10]
Jacobson I., Booch G. & Rumbaugh J. (1999): The unified software development process; Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.
[11]
Raymond, Eric (2001): Cathedral and the Bazaar, 1st Edition; O'Reilly Media; ISBN: 978-0596001087.

Cited By

View all
  • (2025)Drivers and concerns of adopting Artificial Intelligence n managerial accountingAccounting & Finance10.1111/acfi.13404Online publication date: 25-Jan-2025
  • (2025)Challenges of Creating a Peer Support Online Community for Patients With Diabetes—A Case StudyCIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing10.1097/CIN.000000000000119843:2Online publication date: Feb-2025
  • (2024)Evaluating privacy perceptions, experience, and behavior of software development teamsProceedings of the Twentieth USENIX Conference on Usable Privacy and Security10.5555/3696899.3696905(101-120)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
  • Show More Cited By

Recommendations

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes
ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes  Volume 35, Issue 3
May 2010
151 pages
ISSN:0163-5948
DOI:10.1145/1764810
Issue’s Table of Contents

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 11 May 2010
Published in SIGSOFT Volume 35, Issue 3

Check for updates

Author Tags

  1. B-model
  2. RAD
  3. SDLC
  4. SEN history column
  5. Vmodel
  6. incremental
  7. spiral
  8. unified
  9. waterfall
  10. wheel-and-spoke

Qualifiers

  • Column

Contributors

Other Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

  • Downloads (Last 12 months)1,465
  • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)149
Reflects downloads up to 15 Feb 2025

Other Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all
  • (2025)Drivers and concerns of adopting Artificial Intelligence n managerial accountingAccounting & Finance10.1111/acfi.13404Online publication date: 25-Jan-2025
  • (2025)Challenges of Creating a Peer Support Online Community for Patients With Diabetes—A Case StudyCIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing10.1097/CIN.000000000000119843:2Online publication date: Feb-2025
  • (2024)Evaluating privacy perceptions, experience, and behavior of software development teamsProceedings of the Twentieth USENIX Conference on Usable Privacy and Security10.5555/3696899.3696905(101-120)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
  • (2024)MLR-predictor: a versatile and efficient computational framework for multi-label requirements classificationFrontiers in Artificial Intelligence10.3389/frai.2024.14815817Online publication date: 27-Nov-2024
  • (2024)DeepSI: A Sensitive-Driven Testing Samples Generation Method of Whitebox CNN Model for Edge ComputingTsinghua Science and Technology10.26599/TST.2023.901005729:3(784-794)Online publication date: Jun-2024
  • (2024)An Ontology Based Approach to the Software Engineering Lifecycle: Application to Software Quality Assurance in the Aerospace IndustrySSRN Electronic Journal10.2139/ssrn.4703235Online publication date: 2024
  • (2024)Development of educational software for stainless steel selection and evaluating usability using the System Usability Scale (SUS)International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education10.1177/03064190241266978Online publication date: 1-Aug-2024
  • (2024)Using Extension Projects to Improve Software Engineering Education and Software Quality: The Experience of the “Ricardo de Almeida Falbo” Software Engineering Practices LaboratoryProceedings of the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality10.1145/3701625.3701680(552-562)Online publication date: 5-Nov-2024
  • (2024)Self-Collaboration Code Generation via ChatGPTACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/367245933:7(1-38)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2024
  • (2024)Self-Planning Code Generation with Large Language ModelsACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/367245633:7(1-30)Online publication date: 13-Jun-2024
  • Show More Cited By

View Options

Login options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

Figures

Tables

Media

Share

Share

Share this Publication link

Share on social media