Software Development Models

1. Waterfall Model

Waterfall approach was first Process Model to be introduced and followed widely in Software Engineering to ensure success of the project. In "The Waterfall" approach, the whole process of software development is divided into separate process phases. The phases in Waterfall model are:
(a) Requirement Specifications phase, (b) Software Design, (c) Implementation and Testing & (d) Maintenance.

All these phases are cascaded to each other so that second phase is started as and when defined set of goals are achieved for first phase and it is signed off, so the name "Waterfall Model". All the methods and processes undertaken in Waterfall Model are more visible.

The stages of "The Waterfall Model" are: Requirement Analysis & Definition: All possible requirements of the system to be developed are captured in this phase. Requirements are set of functionalities and constraints that the end-user (who will be using the system) expects from the system. The requirements are gathered from the end-user by consultation, these requirements are analyzed for their validity and the possibility of incorporating the requirements in the system to be development is also studied. Finally, a Requirement Specification document is created which serves the purpose of guideline for the next phase of the model. ii. System & Software Design: Before a starting for actual coding, it is highly important to understand what we are going to create and what it should look like? The requirement specifications from first phase are studied in this phase and system design is prepared. System Design helps in specifying hardware and system requirements and also helps in defining overall system architecture. The system design specifications serve as input for the next phase of the model. iii. Implementation & Unit Testing: On receiving system design documents, the work is divided in modules/units and actual coding is started. The system is first developed in small programs called units, which are integrated in the next phase.
i.

Each unit is developed and tested for its functionality; this is referred to as Unit Testing. Unit testing mainly verifies if the modules/units meet their specifications. iv. Integration & System Testing: As specified above, the system is first divided in units which are developed and tested for their functionalities. These units are integrated into a complete system during Integration phase and tested to check if all modules/units coordinate between each other and the system as a whole behaves as per the specifications. After successfully testing the software, it is delivered to the customer. v. Operations & Maintenance: This phase of "The Waterfall Model" is virtually never ending phase (Very long). Generally, problems with the system developed (which are not found during the development life cycle) come up after its practical use starts, so the issues related to the system are solved after deployment of the system. Not all the problems come in picture directly but they arise time to time and needs to be solved; hence this process is referred as Maintenance.
1. Iterative Model

An iterative lifecycle model does not attempt to start with a full specification of requirements. Instead, development begins by specifying and implementing just part of the software, which can then be reviewed in order to identify further requirements. This process is then repeated, producing a new version of the software for each cycle of the model. Consider an iterative lifecycle model which consists of repeating the following four phases in sequence:

A Requirements phase, in which the requirements for the software are gathered and analyzed. Iteration should eventually result in a requirements phase that produces a complete and final specification of requirements. A Design phase, in which a software solution to meet the requirements is designed. This may be a new design, or an extension of an earlier design. An Implementation and Test phase, when the software is coded, integrated and tested. A Review phase, in which the software is evaluated, the current requirements are reviewed, and changes and additions to requirements proposed. For each cycle of the model, a decision has to be made as to whether the software produced by the cycle will be discarded, or kept as a starting point for the next cycle (sometimes referred to as incremental prototyping). Eventually a point will be reached where the requirements are complete and the software can be delivered, or it becomes impossible to enhance the software as required, and a fresh start has to be made.

Iterative and Incremental development is at the heart of a cyclic software development process developed in response to the weaknesses of the waterfall model. It starts with an initial planning and ends with deployment with the cyclic interactions in between. A common mistake is to consider "iterative" and "incremental" as synonyms, which they are not. In software/systems development, however, they typically go hand in hand. The basic idea is to develop a system through repeated cycles (iterative) and in smaller portions at a time (incremental), allowing software developers to take advantage of what was learned during development of earlier parts or versions of the system. Learning comes from both the development and use of the system, where possible key steps in the process start with a simple implementation of a subset of the software requirements and iteratively enhance the evolving versions until the full system is implemented. At each iteration, design modifications are made and new functional capabilities are added.
1. V-Model

The V-model is a software development model which can be presumed to be the extension of the waterfall model. Instead of moving down in a linear way, the process steps are bent upwards after the coding phase, to form the typical V shape. The V-Model demonstrates the relationships between each phase of the development life cycle and its associated phase of testing.

1. Verification Phases 1.1 Requirements analysis 1.2 System Design 1.3 Architecture Design 1.4 Module Design 2. Validation Phases 2.1 Unit Testing 2.2 Integration Testing 2.3 System Testing 2.3.1 Reasons for system test 2.4 User Acceptance Testing
2.4.1 Procedures

i. Define the acceptance criteria a. Functionality requirements. b. Performance requirements. c. Interface quality requirements. d. Overall software quality requirements.

ii. Develop an acceptance plan a. Project description. b. User responsibilities. c. Acceptance description. d. Execute the acceptance test plan.
1. Spiral Model

The steps in the spiral model iteration can be generalized as follows A. The system requirements are defined in as much detail as possible. This usually involves interviewing a number of users representing all the external or internal users and other aspects of the existing system. B. A preliminary design is created for the new system. This phase is the most important part of "Spiral Model". In this phase all possible (and available) alternatives which can help in developing a cost effective

project are analyzed and strategies to use them are decided. This phase has been added specially in order to identify and resolve all the possible risks in the project development. If risks indicate any kind of uncertainty in requirements, prototyping may be used to proceed with the available data and find out possible solution in order to deal with the potential changes in the requirements. C. A first prototype of the new system is constructed from the preliminary design. This is usually a scaled-down system, and represents an approximation of the characteristics of the final product. D. A second prototype is evolved by a fourfold procedure a. Evaluating the first prototype in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, and risks; b. Defining the requirements of the second prototype; c. Planning and designing the second prototype; d. Constructing and testing the second prototype.
1. RAD (Rapid Application Development) model 2. Prototyping Model