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Waterfall & SDLC

During the MSIS program

Before the conclusion of the APA module, you will be required to learn both agile and waterfall, two methodologies that are used across development lifecycles. These two methodologies will serve you well across the various assignments and projects you work on throughout the program. However, you must understand the advantages and disadvantages of using each one. You will work through a handful of assignments, including a simulation by the end of the module to ensure you can effectively identify and use the two methodologies. For now, we will focus primarily on waterfall, its concepts and main uses. If you are interested in learning more about agile, please refer to the appropriate module.

Major concepts

You should be have an understanding of the waterfall development methodology and understand when it is best to apply it over other potential development methodologies.

  1. Explain the seven phases of waterfall.
  2. Understand the benefits and disadvantages of utilizing waterfall over agile.
  3. Be able to determine if your project would be best served using the methodology.
  4. Recognize the history of the methodology.

Components Explained

Disclaimer: There is oftentimes debate on if the waterfall methodology has between five (5) or seven (7) phases. This is a direct result of phases being combined, below we have ensured they are broken out but the subsequent resources may not do the same.

  1. Phases of waterfall Before the conclusion of the APA module, you will be required to learn both Agile and Waterfall, two methodologies that are used across development lifecycles. These two methodologies will serve you well across the various assignments and projects you work on throughout the program. However, you must understand the advantages and disadvantages of using each one. You will work through a handful of assignments, including a simulation by the end of the module to ensure you can effectively identify and use the two methodologies. For now, we will focus primarily on Waterfall, its concepts and main uses. If you are interested in learning more about Agile, please refer to the appropriate module.

Major concepts

Please note: There is oftentimes debate on if the Waterfall methodology has between five (5) or seven (7) phases. This is a direct result of phases being combined, below we have ensured they are broken out but the subsequent resources may not do the same.

  1. Phases of Waterfall
    1. Planning: Focuses on determining project goals and crafting a high-level plan for the intended project. This is the most fundamental and critical phase.
    2. Analysis: This phase analyzes end user requirements and project goals and converts them into the defined system functions the organization intends to develop.
    3. Design: Builds directly off of the first two phases and requires no coding to occur. This phase is primarily focused on establishing the technical needs of the project.
    4. Construction/Build: Involves the main build-out of the desired solution, this phase tends to be code heavy and aims to meet the requirements set fourth throughout the previous three phases.
    5. Testing: Occurs once main software development has concluded; issues may arise causing you to revert to the previous phase.
    6. Implementation/Deployment: Product development has concluded and the final deliverable will now be put into use throughout an organization. This signals the move to post-development support.
    7. Maintenance/Support: Occurs once the final product has been delivered and is actively being used within an organization. When, not if, issues arise, your team must be ready to respond and update the software to address those issues. On occasion issues may require you to roll back the product version to a previously stable version.

  2. Primary advantages of waterfall

    1. Simple, easy to utilize on small projects
    2. Centralized, great for communication throughout the SDLC
    3. Easily managed
    4. Defined end goal throughout project duration

  3. Primary disadvantages of waterfall

    1. Working software is not produced until late during the SDLC
    2. Not well suited for large, complex projects
    3. Lack of performance measuring techniques, due to lack of sprints and meetings
    4. Difficult to accommodate changing requirements during SDLC
    5. Big-bang Deployment; may lead to extensive deployment problems (High Risk)

Waterfall Methodology Lifecycle .

Resources

What is Waterfall?

Waterfall vs. Agile

Practice

Below you will find a small number of questions; these are meant to simply test your knowledge of the material previously outlined. The best way to learn waterfall is to begin applying it within your day-to-day projects. Answers Provided

  1. List out the seven main phases of the waterfall methodology:
  2. Within the Waterfall methodology, are you able to revisit phases as time goes on?
  3. Which projects are generally best suited for Waterfall?
  4. Are potential issues identified and addressed as you go when using the waterfall methodology?
  5. Given the nature of Waterfall, is documentation produced throughout the development of a project?

  1. “SDLC - Waterfall Model” ↩

  2. “Agile Vs Waterfall: Know the Difference Between Methodologies. Guru99 ↩

  3. Eby, Kate. “Using Waterfall Project Management Over Agile.” Smartsheet, 28 Sept. 2016 ↩

  4. Codeacademy. “Software Development Methodology: What is Waterfall?” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Feb 2019. Web. 6 November 2020. ↩

  5. edureka!. “Agile vs Waterfall | Which Software Development Approach Would You Choose? | Edureka” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 15 Aug 2019. Web. 6 November 2020. ↩