What is a Software Development Lifecycle?

What is a Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)?

In short, it’s the process of planning, writing, and modifying software for all stages of development. It’s a term used in the software industry to describe a series of steps a software developer goes through when creating a new software product. These steps could typically be:  

1. Design – Brainstorm, create a plan and design a mock-up of what you want and need your product to do.  

1. Write the code – Time to build your product. Often the most time-consuming phase of the lifecycle.  

1. Test – Ensure it’s free of bugs and errors before release. 

1. Launch – Once testing is complete, it’s time to push your product live so your customers can use it  

1. Manage & Review – One of the most critical stages. This includes fixing bugs, ensuring reliability and adding new features to the existing live product.  

Benefits 

• Identify risks and limitations at an early stage  
• Ensure the right people are involved at the right time  
• Measure your progress to make sure everything is on track  
• Plan how you will deliver your product 
• Analyse earlier lifecycles to see where you can improve for the next one 

Gain the confidence that each release is better than the last with SmartBear

SmartBear is unique in being able to meet you exactly where you are in your software development lifecycle (SDLC). The process has been made as easy as possible to plug their toolset into your current environment, no matter what stage of development you're currently at and what products you have currently integrated 

Each tool has been built to fall into one of the three categories in the diagram below. Making use of tools across the three categories will take challenges out for your software development team and improve the overall quality of the committed code.