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.

Strengths of SDLC

Methodologies incorporating this approach have been

well tried and tested

Divides development into distinct phases:

Makes tasks more manageable

Offers opportunity for more control over development

process

Provides standards for documentation

Much better than trial and error

Weaknesses of SDLC

Fails to see the “big picture” of strategic management

Too inflexible to cope with changing requirements

Emphasis on “hard” thinking (which is often reflected in

documentation that is too technical)

Unable to capture true needs of users

Pure Waterfall

This is the classical system development model. It consists of discontinuous phases:

Concept

Requirements

Architectural design

Detailed design

Coding and development

Testing and implementation

Strengths

Minimizes planning overhead since it can be done up front.

Structure minimizes wasted effort, so it works well for technically weak or inexperienced staff.

Weaknesses

Inflexible

Only the final phase produces a non-documentation deliverable.

Backing up to address mistakes is difficult.

More information is available at the website below