Software Design and Development

Waterfall Processes: Best-known Among Software Development Systems
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios


Defined Tag: Software Development Systems.

Software development systems or processes are the standardized structure imposed by the leaders in software engineering on the development of software programs. These structures are strictly implemented in order to have a uniform software development system anywhere in the world.

Software development systems are a very technical matter. They require knowledge in the software engineering to understand them fully. If you are, however, consider venturing into web or software development business, you need to know the basics of software development systems even if you will not be involved in the development process. This way, you will be aware of your product's stability and whether or not the process in which it was created meets the current standard.

There are three basic software development systems to consider. One is the Waterfall Processes, two is the Iterative Processes, and three is the Formal Method. The best-know and oldest among software development systems is the Waterfall Process.

The waterfall model called as such because the manner in which the software development is executed can be likened to that of a waterfall: the eight (8) basic activity processes or steps are done from top to bottom like a falling waterfall. These eight (8) basic processes or steps are: (1) Requirement Analysis, (2) Specification, (3) Software Architecture, (4) Implementation (Coding), (5) Testing, (6) Documentation, (7) Software Training and Support, and (8) Maintenance.

In some software development systems, these eight (8) steps are done interchangeably and not 1 to 8 as is done with the waterfall model. Some software developers argue that the waterfall model, although the oldest process model there is, is still the most stable model around. This is because following the process in its sequence helps in determining the problem or bugs early on (as early as the requirement analysis), before the actual coding and deployment of the software. Programmers found, through experience, that it is harder to fix a code (or insert fixes) when it is already in its finished stage than when it is still under development.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.