International Journal of Engineering Research ISSN:2319-6890)(online),2347-5013(print) Volume No.4, Issue No.4, pp : 188-191 01 April 2015 IJER@2015 Page 188 Comparative Study of Various SDLC Models on Different Parameters Prateek Sharma 1 , Dhananjaya Singh 2 1 Department of BCA, BIT, Meerut-250103, India 2 Department of Computer Science and Engineering, AIACT&R-110031, Delhi-110031, India 1 Psharma524@gmail.com , 2 Dhananjaya1987@gmail.com Abstract: The success of a software development project greatly depends upon which process model is used. This paper emphasizes on the need of using appropriate model as per the application to be developed. In this paper we have done the comparative study of the following software models namely Waterfall, Prototype, RAD (Rapid Application Development) Incremental, Spiral, Build and Fix and V-shaped. Our aim is to create reliable and cost effective software and these models provide us a way to develop them. The main objective of this research is to represent different models of software development and make a comparison between them to show the features of each model. Keywords: SDLC, RAD, Adhoc, Risk Analysis, Verification and Validation, Comparative analysis of SDLC models. I. INTRODUCTION The need and importance of computers have grown to a very large extent in today world. Computers are being used in many areas like in banking, education, medicine etc. These areas require specialized software according to the applications they need. Hardware alone is not sufficient to do some useful work. Software and hardware are complementary to each other. Software engineering[6] is an engineering discipline whose aim is development of quality product, a product which is reliable, within estimated budget and within a given time framework. Development of sound software projects requires a proper process to be followed by the organization. This software process which is required to produce software differs from company to company. Software lifecycle model provides a method for developing a software product. A proper software life cycle model can help an organization not only in building a software product but it also serves as a basis for planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating and directing various other software development activities. Software process is properly written out and managed in organizations which are mature while organizations which are immature there is no provision for writing the software process properly. There are various software Engineering models. The adoptability of them depends upon project requirements. In IEEE standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology, the software Life Cycle is: “The period of time that starts when a software product is conceived and ends when the product is no longer available for use”. The software life cycle typically include the following activities which are as follows:  Requirements Analysis  Specification  Software architecture  Implementation  Testing  Documentation  Training and Support  Maintenance The above activities form part of framework activities and are performed in every software development project. Figure1: Various SDLC Models II. SOFTWARE PROCESS MODELS General software process models are 1 Waterfall model 2 Prototype model 3 Rapid application development model (RAD) 4 Incremental model 5 Spiral model 6 Build and fix model 7 V-shaped model III. SEVEN MODELS 3.1 Waterfall Model This model is named “Waterfall” because its diagrammatic representation looks like a cascade (flow) of Waterfall. This is also known as classical lifecycle model. This is one of the oldest process model defined by Rocye[9] in 1970.The model begins with requirement analysis and continues with design, coding and testing. All the phases of waterfall model are independent of each other and developer must complete each phase before the next phase could begin.