Software Development Life Cycle

Anatomy of SDLC

Requirement Analysis and Planning

This phase entails gathering requirements from stakeholders and/or customers of what this application should do and what issues it should try to solve. This is where the Software Requirement Specifications (SRS) document is written.

Design

High-Level Design

This is where architects and engineers decide on the tech stack, database structure, and how different modules interact.

Low-Level Design

This focuses on the internal logic of each module, API definition, and dependency flow.

Implementation (Coding)

This is where the writing of the code begins. If planning was done meticulously, then this part should be straightforward—though it is probably the most time-consuming.

Testing

Before the world sees the application, it must go through a series of tests to ensure there are no breaks.

• Unit Testing: Do individual modules work in isolation?
• Integration Testing: Do the pieces play nicely together?
• User Acceptance Testing: Does the final product actually meet the customer’s needs?

Deployment

Code moves from development to the end user. Modern systems use a CI/CD pipeline to deploy smaller changes faster. CI/CD pipelines include automated testing, and only if all tests pass does deployment occur. This allows developers to deliver new features rapidly—sometimes in hours instead of weeks—while maintaining reliability.

Maintenance

Once the application has been deployed, bugs and other issues might arise, or users may request additional features. Software is never truly finished unless nobody uses it anymore. Maintenance is needed to fix unforeseen errors and make improvements over time.