What is the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) is a structured process that describes the stages of software creation from idea to decommissioning.

Main stages:

1. Planning: Defining goals, requirements, resources, timelines, and risks of the project.
2. Requirements Analysis: Gathering, documenting, and validating detailed functional and non-functional requirements for the software.
3. Design: Developing the system architecture, components, interfaces, database, and user interface.
4. Implementation / Coding: Writing code according to the design documentation.
5. Testing: Performing various types of testing (unit, integration, system, acceptance) to identify defects.
6. Deployment: Installing and configuring the software in the production environment.
7. Maintenance: Monitoring system operation, fixing bugs, making changes, and updates.

SDLC Models:

• Waterfall: A sequential model where each stage is completed before the next begins.
• Agile: An iterative and incremental model focusing on flexibility and interaction. Popular frameworks: Scrum, Kanban.
• V-Model: A model where each development stage has a corresponding testing stage.
• Spiral: An iterative model combining elements of Waterfall and prototyping, with risk management at each cycle.

Role of QA in SDLC:

QA participates in all stages of SDLC, starting from requirements analysis to prevent defects (Shift-Left Testing), involved in test case design, performing testing during implementation and testing phases, and participating in support.