When programmers build software applications, they just do not sit down and start writing code. Instead, they follow an organized plan, or methodology, that breaks the process into a series of tasks. There are many application development methodologies just as ther are many programming languages. There different methodologies, however, tend to be variations of what is called the program development life cycle (PDLC).

There are various software development approaches defined and designed which are used/employed during development process of software, these approaches are also referred as “Software Development Process Models” (e.g. Waterfall model, incremental model, V-model, iterative model, etc.). Each process model follows a particular life cycle in order to ensure success in process of software development. Software life cycle models describe phases of the software cycle and the order in which those phases are executed. Each phase produces deliverables required by the next phase in the life cycle. Requirements are translated into design. Code is produced according to the design which is called development phase. After coding and development the testing verifies the deliverable of the implementation phase against requirements. There are following six phases in every Software development life cycle model: Requirement gathering and analysis Design Implementation or coding Testing Deployment Maintenance 1) Requirement gathering and analysis: Business requirements are gathered in this phase. This phase is the main focus of the project managers and stake holders. Meetings with managers, stake holders and users are held in order to determine the requirements like; Who is going to use the system? How will they use the system? What data should be input into the system? What data should be output by the system? These are general questions that get answered during a requirements gathering phase. After requirement gathering these requirements are analyzed for their validity and the possibility of incorporating the requirements in the system to be development is also studied. Finally, a Requirement Specification document is created which serves the purpose of guideline for the next phase of the model. 2) Design: In this phase the system and software design is prepared from the requirement specifications which were studied in the first phase. System Design helps in specifying hardware and system requirements and also helps in defining overall system architecture. The system design specifications serve as input for the next phase of the model. 3) Implementation / Coding: On receiving system design documents, the work is divided in modules/units and actual coding is started. Since, in this phase the code is produced so it is the main focus for the developer. This is the longest phase of the software development life cycle. 4) Testing: After the code is developed it is tested against the requirements to make sure that the product is actually solving the needs addressed and gathered during the requirements phase. During this phase unit testing, integration testing, system testing, acceptance testing are done. 5) Deployment: After successful testing the product is delivered / deployed to the customer for their use. 6) Maintenance: Once when the customers starts using the developed system then the actual problems comes up and needs to be solved from time to time. This process where the care is taken for the developed product is known as maintenance.

When programmers build software applications, they just do not sit down and start writing code. Instead, they follow an organized plan, or methodology, that breaks the process into a series of tasks. There are many application development methodologies just as ther are many programming languages. There different methodologies, however, tend to be variations of what is called the program development life cycle (PDLC). The program development life cycle (PDLC) is an outline of each of the steps used to build software applications. Similarly to the way the system development lie cycle (SDLC) guides the systems analyst through development of an information system, the program development life cycle is a tool used to guide computer programmers through the development of an application. The program development lifecycle consists of six steps. > STEP PROCEDURE DESCRIPTION 1. **Analyze the problem**: Precisely define the problem to be solved, and write program specifications – descriptions of the program’s inputs, processing, outputs, and user interface. 2. **Design the program**: Develop a detailed logic plan using a tool such as pseudocode, flowcharts, object structure diagrams, or event diagrams to group the program’s activities into modules; devise a method of solution or algorithm for each module; and test the solution algorithms. 3. **Code the program**: Translate the design into an application using a programming lanaguage or application development tool by creating the user interface and writing code; include internal documentation – comments and remarks within the code that explain the purpose of code statements. 4. **Test and debug the program**: Test the program, finding and correcting errors (debugging) until it is error free and contains enough safeguards to ensure the desired results. 5. **Formalize the solution**: Review and, if necessary, revise internal documentation; formalise and complete end-user (external) documentation 6. **Maintain the program**: Provide education and support to end users; correct any unanticipated errors that emerge and identify user-requested modifications (enhancements). Once errors or enhancements are identiied, the program development life cycle begins again at Step 1.

When programmers build software applications, they just do not sit down and start writing code. Instead, they follow an organized plan, or methodology, that breaks the process into a series of tasks. There are many application development methodologies just as there are many programming languages. There different methodologies, however, tend to be variations of what is called the program development life cycle (PDLC). The program development life cycle (PDLC) is an outline of each of the steps used to build software applications. Similarly to the way the system development life cycle (SDLC) guides the systems analyst through development of an information system, the program development life cycle is a tool used to guide computer programmers through the development of an application. The program development lifecycle consists of six steps. Thanks