Difference Between SDLC and Agile Methodology

Key Difference – SDLC vs Agile Methodology

The key difference between SDLC and Agile Methodology is that SDLC is the process of dividing software development work into distinct phases to design and develop high-quality software while Agile Methodology is a SDLC model. Agile Methodology is a combination of iterative and incremental process models that focus on process adaptability and customer satisfaction by rapid delivery of working software product.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is SDLC
3. What is Agile Methodology
4. Relationship Between SDLC and Agile Methodology
5. Side by Side Comparison – SDLC vs Agile Methodology in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is SDLC?

SDLC stands for Software Development Life Cycle. When building software, there are certain phases that should be followed. Every software development organization follows SDLC for the software project. There are various phases in SDLC. A basic understanding of the problem is identified in the planning stage. Discovering the risks associated with the project, technical difficulties, resources, development efforts are also identified in this phase.

In requirement phase, the first activity is to gather and analysis requirements. Gaining customer inputs, meeting the senior managers and get details about sales, and marketing happens in requirement gathering. The gathered requirements should be documented properly. This document is known as the Software Requirement Specification (SRS). It contains the product requirements to be designed and developed during the project life cycle.

The software design is derived from the SRS. More than one design approach for the product architecture is proposed and documented in a Design Document Specification (DDS). In this phase, all the architectural modules, the data flow representation with the external modules etc is designed.

In the implementation, the project is implemented using the suitable programming language. Various programming tools such as compilers, interpreters, code editors, IDEs, and debuggers can be used to write and test the programs. The programming language can be chosen according to the application. The unit testing for the developed module is done in this phase.

Testing is the process of verifying and validating that a software program works as expected. It is used to find out whether the final project has come to the expected requirements. Testing involves the integration testing, system testing etc. Integration testing is to perform testing between two modules. The system testing is the complete project testing.

Finally, the product is released to the market. Depending on the customer feedback, new features can be added to the product. The maintenance and required services are provided to the existing customers. Those are the major phases of SDLC.

What is Agile Methodology?

During the software development process, a software development life cycle model should be followed. These models are known as Software Development Process Model. Each process follows a certain number of steps unique to its type to successfully complete the software project. Some examples of SDLC models are waterfall model, iterative model, spiral model, v model, prototype model, Rapid Application Development, etc.

Agile methodology is also a SDLC model. It is a combination of iterative and incremental process models. This model helps to adapt to the changes in the requirements. In this model, the project is broken down into several modules. Assume that the project is broken into three modules as A, B, and C. First module A goes through the planning, requirement gathering and analysis, designing, implementing and testing. When it is completed, the B module starts. It also goes through the same phase like the module A. When B finishes, the module C starts. At the end of the iteration, a working module can be provided to the customer.

There are many advantages of Agile. In the traditional waterfall model, once the requirements are defined, they cannot be changed. But in Agile, the requirements can be changed. There is also more collaboration between the developer and the customer. It improves teamwork and makes the project easy to manage. Overall, Agile is a popular SDLC model because of its flexibility and adaptation. It might not suitable for a complex project. Other drawbacks are that the customer can change the requirements always and it is necessary to have an agile leader to guide the project.

What is the Relationship Between SDLC and Agile Methodology?

• Agile methodology is a SDLC model.

What is the Difference Between SDLC and Agile Methodology?

Summary – SDLC vs Agile Methodology

This article discussed the difference between SDLC and Agile. The difference between SDLC and Agile Methodology is that SDLC is the process of dividing software development work into distinct phase to design and develop a high-quality software while Agile Methodology is a SDLC model.

Reference:

1.“Software Development Process.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Mar. 2018. Available here
2.“SDLC Agile Model.” Www.tutorialspoint.com, Tutorials Point, 8 Jan. 2018. Available here