Waterfall Lifecycle

The Waterfall Lifecycle

When working in software development organisations follow software development systems to ensure the project is a success. The waterfall lifecycle is one such system.

Waterfall lifecycle

The waterfall lifecycle has a series of stages that each have to be completed before moving to the next one.
Each stage is large and thorough and produces a large amount of documentation.

Stage 1: Requirements

To define requirements, the project team will work with the client to set out the requirements for the whole project.
These will be very difficult to change after this stage is completed.

Stage 2: Analysis

Analysis is where the project team analyses:
- What solutions they have ready to implement.
- What they can use or adapt to help produce a solution.

Stage 3: Design

The design stage is where the project team produce a solution design to meet all of the users requirements.

Stage 4: Implementation

Implementation takes place once the design is completed and signed off by the user and the project team.
This is when the developers write the code and build the designed solution.

Stage 5: Testing

Testing happens after implementation.
Testing involves checking that:
- The system itself works.
- The system meets the user requirements.

Stage 6: Deployment

Installation or deployment is when the system is put into place within the client's organisation.

Stage 7: Maintenance

The system then moves into maintenance where they fix any bugs to the system and ensure it works as intended.

Merits and Drawbacks of the Waterfall Lifecycle

Different software development methodologies are suitable for different projects.

Merits of waterfall lifecycle

The waterfall model is very easy to understand and follow and each stage can only be started when the previous one completes.
Waterfall is very easy to manage as the team is only focusing on one stage at a time.
Waterfall has fewer production issues during development due to the amount of time invested in user requirements, analysis and design.

Drawbacks of waterfall lifecycle

Waterfall is inflexible and doesn’t cope with changing requirements part way through the project.
- This can cause delays and significant cost increases as additional work will be required.
Waterfall doesn’t work very well for very complex or long term projects as it would take too long to get through each stage of the process.

Drawbacks cont.

It can be very difficult or impossible for a project team to capture all of the user requirements in one go.
- Often the client doesn’t know what they want, and this would cause big issues for the rest of the process.

Usage

Waterfall works well for small to medium projects.
Waterfall is especially effective when the client has a very clear and precise picture of what they want to be developed.

1Components of a Computer

1.1Structure & Function of the Processor

1.1.1Structure of the CPU

1.1.2Fetch, Decode, Execute Cycle

1.1.3Factors Affecting CPU Performance

1.1.4CPU Architecture

1.2Types of Processors

1.2.1CISC & RISC

1.2.2Multicore & Parallel Cores

1.3Input, Output & Storage

1.3.1Computer Systems

1.3.2Magnetic Storage

1.3.3Optical Storage

1.3.4Types of Optical Storage

1.3.5Types of Memory

1.3.6Flash Memory

1.3.7Virtual Memory

2Software & Software Development

3Exchanging Data

4Data Types, Data Structures & Algorithms

4.1Data Types

4.1.1Data Types

4.1.2Arrays & Strings

4.1.3Representing Numbers

4.1.4Binary Arithmetic

4.1.5Hexadecimal

4.1.6Converting Binary Numbers

4.1.7Floating Points in Binary

4.1.8Floating Point Arithmetic

4.1.9Bitwise Manipulation

4.1.10Character Sets

4.2Data Structures

4.2.1Arrays, Linked Lists & Queues

4.2.2Graphs, Hash Tables & Stacks

4.2.3Trees

4.3Boolean Algebra

4.3.1Computational Logic

4.3.2Boolean Logic

4.3.3Karnaugh Maps

4.3.4Boolean Identities

4.3.5Flip Flops & Adder Circuits

5Legal, Moral, Cultural & Ethical Issues

5.1Computing Related Legislation

5.1.1Data Protection Act (1998)

5.1.2Computer Misuse Act (1990)

5.1.3Copyright Designs and Patents Act (1988)

5.1.4Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000)

5.2Moral & Ethical Issues

5.2.1Online Activity Tracking

5.2.2Censorship

5.2.3Cultural Issues

5.2.4Environmental Issues

5.2.5Layout, Colour Paradigms & Character Sets

6Elements of Computational Thinking

6.1Thinking Abstractly

6.1.1Abstraction

6.2Thinking Procedurally

6.2.1Decomposition

6.3Thinking Logically

6.3.1Pseudocode & Flow Diagrams

7Problem Solving & Programming

7.1Programming Techniques

7.1.1Programming Fundamentals

7.1.2Modularity

7.2Programming Construction

7.2.1Integrated Development Environments

7.2.2Testing

8Algorithms

8.1Algorithms

8.1.1Interpreting, Correcting & Completing Algorithm

8.1.2Sort Algorithms

8.1.3Insertion & Merge Sort

8.1.4Search Algorithms

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