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Saturday, December 19, 2009

SAD 1 - Assignment 5

University Life Cycle

Considering our university, of course I don’t know life cycle model is used for the university but I think it is specifically designed for the university. In every organization the kind of SLDC to be used is always considered to fit for that certain organization. I think every model is designed to meet the needs of the users on the organization. Here I have defined what is a SLDC or a systems development life cycle.

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the processes involved, including the waterfall model (which was the original SDLC method); rapid application development (RAD); joint application development (JAD); the fountain model; the spiral model; build and fix; and synchronize-and-stabilize.
Often, several models are combined into some sort of hybrid methodology. Documentation is crucial regardless of the type of model chosen or devised for any application, and is usually done in parallel with the development process. Some methods work better for specific types of projects, but in the final analysis, the most important factor for the success of a project may be how closely the particular plan was followed.

In general, an SDLC methodology follows these steps:

1. If there is an existing system, its deficiencies are identified. This is accomplished by interviewing users and consulting with support personnel.
2. The new system requirements are defined including addressing any deficiencies in the existing system with specific proposals for improvement.
3. The proposed system is designed. Plans are created detailing the hardware, operating systems, programming, and security issues.
4. The new system is developed. The new components and programs must be obtained and installed. Users of the system must be trained in its use, and all aspects of performance must be tested. If necessary, adjustments must be made at this stage.
5. The system is put into use. This can be done in various ways. The new system can phased in, according to application or location, and the old system gradually replaced. In some cases, it may be more cost-effective to shut down the old system and implement the new system all at once.
6. Once the new system is up and running for a while, it should be exhaustively evaluated. Maintenance must be kept up rigorously at all times. Users of the system should be kept up-to-date concerning the latest modifications and procedures.
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http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/methodologies/systems-development-life-cycle.asp

System Development Life Cycle

Life Cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the processes involved including the waterfall model (the original SDLC method), rapid application development (RAD), joint application development (JAD), the fountain model and the spiral model. Mostly, several models are combined into some sort of hybrid methodology. Documentation is crucial regardless of the type of model chosen or devised for any application, and is usually done in parallel with the development process. Some methods work better for specific types of projects, but in the final analysis, the most important factor for the success of a project may be how closely particular plan was followed.
The image below is the classic Waterfall model methodology, which is the first SDLC method and it describes the various phases involved in development.

Briefly on different Phases:


Feasibility

The feasibility study is used to determine if the project should get the go-ahead. If the project is to proceed, the feasibility study will produce a project plan and budget estimates for the future stages of development.

Requirement Analysis and Design

Analysis gathers the requirements for the system. This stage includes a detailed study of the business needs of the organization. Options for changing the business process may be considered. Design focuses on high level design like, what programs are needed and how are they going to interact, low-level design (how the individual programs are going to work), interface design (what are the interfaces going to look like) and data design (what data will be required). During these phases, the software's overall structure is defined. Analysis and Design are very crucial in the whole development cycle. Any glitch in the design phase could be very expensive to solve in the later stage of the software development. Much care is taken during this phase. The logical system of the product is developed in this phase.

Implementation

In this phase the designs are translated into code. Computer programs are written using a conventional programming language or an application generator. Programming tools like Compilers, Interpreters, Debuggers are used to generate the code. Different high level programming languages like C, C++, Pascal, Java are used for coding. With respect to the type of application, the right programming language is chosen.

Testing

In this phase the system is tested. Normally programs are written as a series of individual modules, these subject to separate and detailed test. The system is then tested as a whole. The separate modules are brought together and tested as a complete system. The system is tested to ensure that interfaces between modules work (integration testing), the system works on the intended platform and with the expected volume of data (volume testing) and that the system does what the user requires (acceptance/beta testing).

Maintenance

Inevitably the system will need maintenance. Software will definitely undergo change once it is delivered to the customer. There are many reasons for the change. Change could happen because of some unexpected input values into the system. In addition, the changes in the system could directly affect the software operations. The software should be developed to accommodate changes that could happen during the post implementation period.
http://www.startvbdotnet.com/sdlc/sdlc.aspx

Once upon a time, software development consisted of a programmer writing code to solve a problem or automate a procedure. Nowadays, systems are so big and complex that teams of architects, analysts, programmers, testers and users must work together to create the millions of lines of custom-written code that drive our enterprises.

To manage this, a number of system development life cycle (SDLC) models have been created: waterfall, fountain, spiral, build and fix, rapid prototyping, incremental, and synchronize and stabilize.
The oldest of these, and the best known, is the waterfall: a sequence of stages in which the output of each stage becomes the input for the next. These stages can be characterized and divided up in different ways, including the following:
• Project planning, feasibility study: Establishes a high-level view of the intended project and determines its goals.
• Systems analysis, requirements definition: Refines project goals into defined functions and operation of the intended application. Analyzes end-user information needs.
• Systems design: Describes desired features and operations in detail, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, pseudocode and other documentation.
• Implementation: The real code is written here.
• Integration and testing: Brings all the pieces together into a special testing environment, then checks for errors, bugs and interoperability.
• Acceptance, installation, deployment: The final stage of initial development, where the software is put into production and runs actual business.
• Maintenance: What happens during the rest of the software's life: changes, correction, additions, moves to a different computing platform and more. This, the least glamorous and perhaps most important step of all, goes on seemingly forever.

But It Doesn't Work!

The waterfall model is well understood, but it's not as useful as it once was. In a 1991 Information Center Quarterly article, Larry Runge says that SDLC "works very well when we are automating the activities of clerks and accountants. It doesn't work nearly as well, if at all, when building systems for knowledge workers -- people at help desks, experts trying to solve problems, or executives trying to lead their company into the Fortune 100."
Another problem is that the waterfall model assumes that the only role for users is in specifying requirements, and that all requirements can be specified in advance. Unfortunately, requirements grow and change throughout the process and beyond, calling for considerable feedback and iterative consultation. Thus many other SDLC models have been developed.
The fountain model recognizes that although some activities can't start before others -- such as you need a design before you can start coding -- there's a considerable overlap of activities throughout the development cycle.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/71151/System_Development_Life_Cycle

The System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process applies to information system
development projects ensuring that all functional and user requirements and agency strategic goals and objectives are met. The SDLC provides a structured and standardized process for all phases of any system development effort. These phases track the development of a system through several development stages from feasibility analysis, system planning and concept development; to acquisition and requirements definition; design; development; integration and testing; deployment and acceptance; though deployment and production; and finally to system retirement.
The Records Management (RM) Profile1 recommends that agencies embed records management requirements in the earliest stages of the SDLC. The following document is a checklist to assist agencies to integrate RM into the SDLC. The checklist identifies certain points in the SDLC process where the agency may propose to establish records management review and approval to ensure that sound RM practices are incorporated into the development of its proposed ITsystems. While the attached SDLC diagram demonstrates these stages in a linear “waterfall” systems development methodology, the checklist can be used with other systems development methodologies as well, such as “spiral,” “parallel,” “rapid application development (RAD)” and
“prototyping” by modifying the checklist to fit the phases of the preferred SDLC method used.
The checklist provides three to five basic questions about records management and recordkeeping for each phase of the SDLC lifecycle process. The checklist questions are intended to begin a more detailed discussion with agency records managers, IT and CPIC staff, and program managers and staff that will help identify recordkeeping requirements in each phase, with a great emphasis on identifying records management requirements at the earliest stages of project planning, initiation and requirements gathering. Because individual agency SDLC processes and policies vary widely, the checklist is not designed to be used as the only
checklist an agency might need, or even a “one size fits all” approach to identifying recordkeeping requirements within an individual agency’s SDLC policies. Rather, the checklist demonstrates a widely used methodology to plan and develop new IT systems that can be used as a model or template that individual agencies can revise or tailor to their own unique SDLC process, IT and systems development policies and procedures to identify their unique records management and recordkeeping requirements. For instance, some agencies use a five-step SDLC process, and others use a ten-step process, and they should revise or modify checklist to meet their specific SDLC policy and business needs.
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/initiatives/sdlc-checklist.pdf

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