What Is System Development Cycle?
A system development cycle refers to a structured model used in the creation of IT and web projects. It is composed of different phases showing how a project would progress from conception to completion. Different IT fields may have different sets of phases, but they all generally have the same core values.
Web System Development Cycle
Developing a website is not as simple as writing HTML code and hoping for the best. To develop a fully functional website, it must go through the phases of system development cycle. Each website is different, but the development process is technically the same for every project.
Phases of Web System Development Cycle
- Planning
Each project has a goal, and this goal is set at the beginning of the journey. The same thing is true in web development. At the first part of the process, the planning stage, the team members determine what their end goal is. This is where they discuss their feasibility study and consider the costs. This stage is where all factors are anticipated and sorted out.
- Analysis
At this point, the team members may continue to refine the plan to make sure that the project is still on the right track. This is also the stage where the team defines the requirements of the project and decides which programming language will be used. This phase is where the plan gets approved for the project to officially begin.
- Designing
The user interface is created at this part of the process. This is also where the team determines how the whole website will function. Details of operations are likewise documented at this stage.
- Implementation
This is where the actual back-end coding happens and where most of the labour is done, including the creation of graphics and the programming of the source code. It’s worth noting that smaller and easier projects may only need one programmer or developer, and bigger projects should have more.
- Testing
As the word suggests, testing means putting the project to the test. This is mainly to discover bugs and get rid of them. Projects are usually subjected to different testing conditions to make sure that every bug is seen.
Most of the time, testing is only done internally. But there are also times when beta testing is likewise needed. When a project goes through beta testing, it gets launched to a selected number of users. This group uses the beta version of the product and reports any bug or issue that they encounter. The team can then fix these problems before launching the website to the public.
- Deployment
As soon as the product passes testing, it is ready to be marked as complete and released for public use. This is the last part of the process. At this point, the plan has been completely executed and all the projected requirements have already been met.
- Maintenance
The whole website has already been completed and every initial issue has already been taken care of. However, this doesn’t mean that no new issues will arise in the future. This is why maintenance is needed.
The team must watch out for technical support requests from users, alongside requests for new features and upgrades. As time passes by, new trends will also emerge which may lead the web development team to feel the need to adjust to what’s popular. Nevertheless, since the whole project has already been completed at this point, the team may only need to make minor changes at the back end of the website.
