Waterfall method

I’m studying a Masters Degree in ‘Advanced Computer Systems Design’. I have an upcoming exam in project management. One of the areas I’m studying is SDLC [software development life-cycles]. This is a short post on the waterfall method.

These are my study notes:

Waterfall:
The waterfall SDLC method is the traditional software design pattern. It compromises of the following stages:

  • Analyse
  • Specify
  • Design
  • Code
  • Test
  • Maintain

Waterfall provides:

  • Well defined stages
  • Document driven process
  • Sequential build process
  • Limited backtracking incase something goes wrong.
  • Classic, one-shot approach to building software.

Pros + cons of waterfall:
The waterfall method is Common and Orderly and follows a sequential design approach. However, Flow is un-realistic and you require Specification up-front. Waterfall is among the less flexible approaches to software design.

It is hard to specify requirements up-front if there are any un-known factors / uncertainties.

Sources:
Wikipedia

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