When developing a software project you will have to come up with a custom software development life cycle. This helps to have a specific plan to get the job done. The plan must include details describing how to develop, maintain, change or upgrade the software. This is an important factor for the success of software developers. 

Why is the custom software development life cycle important?

If you have been through the software development implementation process then you really know the importance of the cycle. For those who are just starting out will be inexperienced. So they don’t know why the custom software development life cycle is important.

In fact, when doing any job, there are specific steps to go through. Those steps are called a cycle that needs to be completed. This helps you achieve your intended goals. And from there you also come up with the best products.

The same goes for giving a specific cycle in custom software development. It helps ensure the level of accuracy and quality you set for your product.

This process allows you to break down each task and do it. Mainly so that the project has no omission, quality assurance, and on-time schedule. Performing software development in cycles also helps to reduce costs and effort. The cycle brings so many benefits to software development, why not apply?

Details of custom software development life cycle

As introduced, the cycle is a very important factor. It helps business people, custom software manufacturers get a finished product. In fact, each project will have different specific scales. But when starting work, they must go through a cycle of steps:

Collect information and analyze requirements

The main purpose of the collect step is to know what requirements you have for the software and what you are planning to research. During the entire cycle, this first phase is extremely important. And you can’t do it alone, you have to rely on the help of many people.

Give your requirements and ideas for the software to the whole team. Thanks to the support of experienced experts and analysts in the field of software development. They will analyze and make contributions to your ideas. And those people will tell you what they want about the product.

The software analyst also helps to see if the requirements are realistic. This step will help new business people in the software field get the right orientation with the needs of customers.

This is an important step, so a lot of preparation is required. Some specific activities need to be done such as: giving the scope of the project, the budget to be used, the human resources and the deadline for the completion of the project. In which, it is still necessary to make predictions about the crisis and possible risks. Please consult customers for more necessary information.

Bringing requirements into software design

After analyzing and giving the necessary requirements for the project, you will start the design step. Convert user requirements into system specifications. Rely on the analysis and input of experts to build the product. When designing, you also need to go through each specific stage.

First of all, you have to rely on the prototype to design and then adjust. A prototype is an unfinished version that the workgroup will present to you for feedback. Basically, it’s just a graphical sketch of a software application or a blueprint of a user interface.

After a period of work and development, the software business people will change the prototype into a new version with more features. You will do this by using design aids and approval tools for testing. If the prototype doesn’t work at all for the software you plan to develop, discard it. And of course you need to start over.

There are 2 types of designs given to every business person: low-level design and high-level design. High-level design refers to the general view from a distance. It is what wraps around and proceeds before the low-level design. They will be identified both visually and verbally.

Low-level design is the internal components of the project. In this step it is necessary to go into the micro details. You will need customer feedback during this design phase. Everyone involved in the development of the project will have to give their feedback and suggestions. Once this design work is completed, it is time to move on to the software development step.

Start software development

In the custom software development life cycle, this step is also essential. Its main purpose is to build actual software and code the project. Software development is a time consuming phase but easier to do than the design phase.

Programmers will rely on the blueprints and coding of the modules. Based on the expertise of each person in the group that divides specific jobs. You will have to manage and direct your team to do this work. People often use some software to manage projects such as: Jira, Asana, Trello or Cuewel.

You don’t need to spend time learning the details of project management. Which should have access to its project in the project management software. Create important information that helps you motivate people to complete the project.

Software development is the most time consuming stage of the custom software development life cycle. Therefore, it is necessary to closely follow the group’s work progress and complete the plan. If you want your software development project to be completed as quickly as possible, you must ensure the progress of each stage to move on to the next step.

Software testing activities

The main purpose of this phase is to check if the software has met the requirements. The software development team will assist you with testing and quality assurance. A finished product is free from defects. Therefore, it is necessary to check on many aspects to detect errors in time.

First, see if the software meets the stated software requirements. Performance testing in terms of working speed, stability is also very important. This is followed by unit testing each active module individually.

System security is very important so it should also be checked. The most special thing to pay attention to is how the software works. Is it easy to use, easy to understand, and responsive to customer needs?

During testing, if any errors are found. The manager will notify everyone and start fixing and perfecting it. Testing is done all over again, iterations continue until your project is error free. It has to be done continuously ensuring each feature is tested multiple times. When there are no more errors, you can move on to the next step. 

Deploy software to market

Once you’ve done all of the above, it’s time to accept your results. If your software doesn’t have any more flaws, start bringing it to market. It has to go through a lot of testing to get to this step. Released to the market but not the most complete software. You will have to wait for a response from the customer. Then continue to edit to get a complete version that is well received by users.

Alternatively, you may have a plan in place to manage your software once it has been deployed. Because of that, you will not have to spend too much time when there is any error. And of course, in order for your software to get more attention, it is necessary to invest in communication and product promotion. 

Thus, the custom software development life cycle needs to go through 5 stages. The process from ideation to implementation requires a lot of investment. It can also be seen that the life cycle when developing custom software is extremely important. This is at the core of your success when building software.