The 6 Stages of the Software Development Process

With every new day we see a development in the software industry. as the world becomes more technology orients the need for high-functioning software becomes imminent.

In fact, if you think about it, every machine that we currently use is powered by software. The software development services arena is constantly bustling with new developments and raging competition which threatens to leave every slacker behind.

What Is Software Development And Why Is This Process Important For Your Business?

The software development process is crucial for every digital project you embark on. Whether we are shopping online, chatting with friends, or doing simple tasks like sharing a document with a colleague. All of this relies on software. Software plays an integral role in a lot of the applications that we use. Making a simple phone call is possible thanks to software development.

However, developing software is not an easy feat. Other than the nitty-gritty of the process itself, the entirety of this technical entity needs careful attention. This is why in software development there are different systems employed within the process of the software’s generation. These systems are called software development models.

Common Software Development Process Models

The Spiral Model, V-model, and the Agile model are some of the most common software processing systems in use. These models ensure that the completion of the software application development goes full term. This goes along with website and mobile applications.

Currently, there are approximately 7 software process models: 

• Spiral Model
• V Model
• Waterfall Model
• Agile Model
• Incremental Model
• RAD Model
• Rational Unified Process

Regardless of the team, software development typically goes through several stages. It is called the software development lifecycle. It is divided into 6 various steps. The software development lifecycle methodologies (SDLC) or the Systems Development Life Cycle method aids in the design process of the software. It makes sure that the team, through their production, meets the requirements of the client. A properly segregated methodology will always support the maintenance of software long term.

Each phase of the SDLC will introduce deliverables that are needed to administer the next step of the process. The requirements are eventually transformed into designs. Codes are then relayed according to the plans that are called the development phase. Every stage is contrived with the assistance of software development services experts who are important for every step. No phase is possible to complete without the other running.

But Why are These Stages Important?

Before we look at the details of the software development life cycle, let us see why they are so important.

SDLC phases ensure that there is a level of transparency within the software development process. This is necessary because it allows the team to get a proper idea of who is responsible for what. This allows the project process to run like a well-oiled machine.

A properly set process allows for clear communication between the team and its clients. This removes any possibility of misunderstandings, missed deadlines, or rework.

Requirement Gathering and Planning

You need to make sure that you have all the information on your client’s requirements before you commence product development. Requirement gathering is a fundamental step in both software development and website development services. gives the team a quick mind map of what the product will look like and how it should perform.

This stage typically takes up a lot of time since there will be several discussions between the team and the client. The team will ask a lot of open-ended questions with the customers to make sure that they are getting the concept down right.

Not only that, discussions between members of the team will take up a lot of time as well. Here, the team will gauge whether they have the skills and resources to bring client's objectives to fruition.

The requirement gathering stage forces the team and the clients to get to know the audience being targeted. This helps answer questions like what the purpose of the product would be and how it directly relates to audience needs. In short, you will need to put into words the problem that the product is trying to solve.

Product Prototype Design

This step will consist of the development of the product that culminates from the specifications laid out by the client. the product design will help the team in understanding the hardware specifications necessary to deploy the product. This also marks out the general architecture of the product while depicting the software modules needed and their links.

This is also when the team makes the choice of the development platform they will be using. Whether it is .NET, Java, Laravel, FileMaker, or Ruby on Rails. While these choices will depend significantly on client requirements, it will also depend on team preferences.

Furthermore, the user interface and user experience will be designed during this step as well.

Coding Software

Once the product design has been approved the development team will move on to the coding and implementation phase. After acquiring the required specifications and design needs documents, the developers will begin programming.

Other than coding, the developers will also administer module/unit testing so that they can detect potential problems. By identifying problems at an earlier stage, the team prevents reworking the entire project late on.

Testing the software

After coding and implementation, the team will then move on to integration and validation testing. The teams consistently release different software applications to test them against the set requirements. they also test the product in various parameters to check its resilience in the long run.

This phase in turn exposes the bugs that need to be eradicated which the team corrects instantly. Integration testing will be the next step in the testing process. This is where the interaction between individual modules and external systems is evaluated. This is followed by validation testing which tests the end product from the user's point of view.

Product Deployment

Once the software has passed the testing stage, product deployment commences. The first batch of the readied product is rolled out and exposed to the public. This is called beta testing. The team gathers consumer responses and feedback on the product and fixes any bugs that have been missed previously.

The deployment stage consists of setting up the Production server which will run the software. This can either be the company’s own server or a cloud service like Amazon Web Service.

Software Maintenance

Once the software product has been released in the market it has to be kept operational and up to date. This involves fixing important issues and keeping the architecture updated with the newest trends. The team also handles the expansion of the product when it experiences higher traffic. Similar is the case when the business is looking to grow and add more products. They will add the options and maneuver the backend operations accordingly.