Waterfall Model: Cycle Model. It Is Very Simple But Idealistic. Earlier This Model Was Very

Waterfall Model
The classical waterfall model is the basic software development life

cycle model. It is very simple but idealistic. Earlier this model was very
popular but nowadays it is not used. But it is very important because all
the other software development life cycle models are based on the
classical waterfall model.
The classical waterfall model divides the life cycle into a set of phases.
This model considers that one phase can be started after the completion
of the previous phase. That is the output of one phase will be the input
to the next phase. Thus the development process can be considered as a
sequential flow in the waterfall. Here the phases do not overlap with
each other. The different sequential phases of the classical waterfall
model are shown in the below figure:
Waterfall Model
Waterfall Model
Let us now learn about each of these phases in brief detail:

1. Feasibility Study: The main goal of this phase is to determine whether it would be
financially and technically feasible to develop the software.
The feasibility study involves understanding the problem and then determining the
various possible strategies to solve the problem. These different identified
solutions are analyzed based on their benefits and drawbacks, The best solution is
chosen and all the other phases are carried out as per this solution strategy .

2. Requirements analysis and specification: The aim of the requirement analysis and
specification phase is to understand the exact requirements of the customer and document
them properly. This phase consists of two different activities.
Waterfall Model
• Requirement gathering and analysis: Firstly all the requirements
regarding the software are gathered from the customer and then the
gathered requirements are analyzed. The goal of the analysis part is to
remove incompleteness (an incomplete requirement is one in which
some parts of the actual requirements have been omitted) and
inconsistencies (an inconsistent requirement is one in which some part
of the requirement contradicts some other part).
• Requirement specification: These analyzed requirements are
documented in a software requirement specification (SRS) document.
SRS document serves as a contract between the development team and
customers. Any future dispute between the customers and the
developers can be settled by examining the SRS document.
Waterfall Model
1. Design: The goal of this phase is to convert the requirements
acquired in the SRS into a format that can be coded in a
programming language. It includes high-level and detailed design as
well as the overall software architecture. A Software Design
Document is used to document all of this effort (SDD)
2. Coding and Unit testing: In the coding phase software design is

translated into source code using any suitable programming
language. Thus each designed module is coded. The aim of the unit
testing phase is to check whether each module is working properly or
not.
Waterfall Model
6.Integration and System testing: Integration of different modules are undertaken
soon after they have been coded and unit tested. Integration of various modules is
carried out incrementally over a number of steps. During each integration step,
previously planned modules are added to the partially integrated system and the
resultant system is tested. Finally, after all the modules have been successfully
integrated and tested, the full working system is obtained and system testing is
carried out on this.
System testing consists of three different kinds of testing activities as described
below :
• Alpha testing: Alpha testing is the system testing performed by the development
team.
• Beta testing: Beta testing is the system testing performed by a friendly set of
customers.
• Acceptance testing: After the software has been delivered, the customer
performed acceptance testing to determine whether to accept the delivered
software or reject it.
Waterfall Model
7. Maintenance: Maintenance is the most important phase of a software
life cycle. The effort spent on maintenance is 60% of the total effort spent to
develop a full software. There are basically three types of maintenance :
• Corrective Maintenance: This type of maintenance is carried out to
correct errors that were not discovered during the product development
phase.
• Perfective Maintenance: This type of maintenance is carried out to
enhance the functionalities of the system based on the customer’s request.
• Adaptive Maintenance: Adaptive maintenance is usually required for
porting the software to work in a new environment such as working on a
new computer platform or with a new operating system.
Waterfall Model
Advantages of Classical Waterfall Model

The classical waterfall model is an idealistic model for software
development. It is very simple, so it can be considered the basis for
other software development life cycle models.
Waterfall Model
Below are some of the major advantages of this SDLC model:
• This model is very simple and is easy to understand.

• Phases in this model are processed one at a time.
• Each stage in the model is clearly defined.
• This model has very clear and well-understood milestones.
• Process, actions and results are very well documented.
• Reinforces good habits: define-before- design,
design-before-code.
• This model works well for smaller projects and projects where
requirements are well
understood.
Waterfall Model
Drawbacks of Classical Waterfall Model
The classical waterfall model suffers from various shortcomings, basically, we can’t use it
in real projects, but we use other software development lifecycle models which are based
on the classical waterfall model. Below are some major drawbacks of thismodel:
No feedback path: In the classical waterfall model evolution of software from one phase
to another phase is like a waterfall. It assumes that no error is ever committed by
developers during any phase. Therefore, it does not incorporate any mechanism for error
correction.

Difficult to accommodate change requests: This model assumes that all the customer
requirements can be completely and correctly defined at the beginning of the project, but
actually customers’ requirements keep on changing with time. It is difficult to
accommodate any change requests after the requirements specification phase is complete.

Waterfall Model
No overlapping of phases: This model recommends that a new phase can
start only after the completion of the previous phase. But in real projects, this
can’t be maintained. To increase efficiency and reduce cost, phases may
overlap.
Waterfall Model

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Waterfall Model

The classical waterfall model is the basic software development life

2. Coding and Unit testing: In the coding phase software design is

Advantages of Classical Waterfall Model

• This model is very simple and is easy to understand.

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