Schaum's Outline Series

The Software Life Cycle
1.1 Introduction
The software life cycle is the sequence of different activities that take place during
software development. There are also different deliverables produced. Although
deliverables can be agreements or evaluations, normally deliverables are objects,
such as source code or user manuals. Usually, the activities and deliverables are
closely related. Milestones are events that can be used for telling the status of the
project. For example, the event of completing the user manual could be a milestone.
For management purposes, milestones are essential because completion of
milestones allow, the manager to assess the progress of the software development.
1.1.1 TYPES OF SOFTWARE LIFE CYCLE ACTIVITIES
1.1.1.1 Feasibility—Determining if the proposed development is worthwhile.
Market analysis—Determining if there is a potential market for
this product.
1.1.1.2 Requirements—Determining what functionality the software
should contain.
Requirement elicitation—Obtaining the requirements from the
user.
Domain analysis—Determining what tasks and structures are
common to this problem.
1.1.1.3 Project planning—Determining how to develop the software.
Cost analysis—Determining cost estimates.
Scheduling—Building a schedule for the development.
Software quality assurance—Determining activities that will help
ensure quality of the product.
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