Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter
2
The Software Development
Life Cycle
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
•
to recognize that an information systems development project follows a well-defined
system development life cycle (SDLC) methodology
to examine the separate data and process models within an SDLC
to identify the more popular SDLC methodologies
to list the key features of the phased development methodology (PDM)
to identify where software testing occurs in the PDM
•
•
•
•
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The development of an information system demands the commitment of valu-
able company resources and time. Large projects often require millions of dollars
of effort and take years to complete. Specifi c sequences of activities have been
devised to guide developers along a path that repeatedly delivers quality software
on time and within budget. In this chapter, we describe how collections of the more
popular software activities have evolved, and then focus on one collection named the
PDM, which is especially effective in providing an overall framework for software
development.
2.2 METHODOLOGIES AND TOOLS
Two terms that one often hears in relation to information systems development are
methodologies and tools. A
methodology
is a recommended way of doing some-
thing, and a
tool
is a device for accomplishing a task. Relating these terms to the
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