Waterfall Development: A Better Way for Software Development

Waterfall Methodology Success Rate:

According to the CHAOS report, the success rate of the waterfall is 26%

Phases of the Waterfall model:

Requirement Analysis:

During the requirement stage, the developers analyze all the details and information about the software or project. It includes the gathering and documentation of the software requirements. This document defines what it should contain? How would it work? etc.

Design:

At the design stage, developers have categorized this into two types of design like logical or theoretical. The logical design includes the analysis and estimation of the design of the software, whereas the theoretical model means implementing the design.

Development:

In the waterfall methodology, after the designing phase, the project enters into the coding or development phase, where developers focus on the implementation and error handling. Developers can get references from the requirement and designing stages for better implementation.

Testing:

During the testing phase, all the individual units are integrated into the singular project to ensure the working and proper functionality. QA, beta testers, and all other testers report errors and other issues in the software that need to be resolved.

Maintenance:

After deployment, the software is analyzed to determine the errors in the releasing patches and updates. So, to ensure the proper working, the maintenance phase is introduced to handle the issues.

Advantages of the Waterfall Model:

Although the waterfall methodology is one of the traditional software development models, it still has numerous benefits to the software development process.

Clear structure:

Waterfall methodology uses a clear and straightforward structure sequentially, just like a waterfall in real life. It goes through several steps like requirement analysis, design, development, testing, deployment, etc. Unlike other waterfall model of software development, waterfall methodology doesn’t require certified project managers.

Ease in management:

Waterfall methodology experienced as the simplest and easiest one for project management. The project managers’ waterfall flow can be easily managed, and it is very easy to shift from one phase to another phase.

Well documented:

Transfer the information well:

The waterfall model works on a linear mechanism. Every stage relies on its previous stage for better functioning. Due to the well-documentation, the waterfall methodology conveys the information from one phase to another.

Speed up the project:

The waterfall methodology initializes with the documentation of the requirement analysis, which makes the development process smoother and quicker.

Clearly-defined milestone:

The requirement analysis and documentation before the design and development help the developers to focus on the goals of the project.