Waterfall development is a traditional, linear approach to software development. It's characterized by a sequential progression through a set of distinct phases, with each phase building upon the outputs of the previous one.
Waterfall Phases
1. Requirements Gathering
The first phase of waterfall development involves gathering and documenting all the requirements for the software product. This includes detailed specifications of what the software should do, how it should look, and how it should perform. This phase typically involves discussions with stakeholders, users, and subject matter experts to define the project's scope.
2. System Design
Once the requirements are well-defined, the system design phase begins. In this phase, architects and designers create high-level and low-level design documents that outline the system's structure, components, and data flow. The goal is to establish a detailed plan for how the software will be built.
3. Implementation
With the design in hand, developers start coding the software based on the design specifications. This phase involves writing the actual source code for the application, creating databases, and integrating various software components.
4. Testing
After the coding phase, the software is handed over to the testing team. Testing involves a series of checks and tests to ensure that the software meets the specified requirements and is free of defects or bugs. This phase includes unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and user acceptance testing.
5. Deployment
Once the software has been thoroughly tested and approved, it's deployed to the production environment. This is the phase where the software becomes available for end-users.
6. Maintenance and Support
After deployment, ongoing maintenance and support are required to address any issues that arise, apply updates, and make improvements as needed.
Key Characteristics
Waterfall project management follows a sequential process. Each phase must be completed before the next one begins, making it a rigid and linear process.
The waterfall methodology requires minimal customer involvement. Customer feedback is typically sought only at the beginning (during requirements gathering) and at the end (during user acceptance testing) of the project.
There is a typically a longer delivery time for waterfall projects. This is due to the fact that the entire development process is completed before the software is delivered. A considerable amount of time may pass before a working product is available.
Waterfall is not well-suited for projects where requirements are likely to change or where the development team needs to respond quickly to market shifts or new insights.
While Waterfall has been widely used for many years, its rigid nature and lack of adaptability have led to the adoption of more flexible methodologies like Agile, which allows for iterative development and better responsiveness to changing requirements.