A Strategy for Comparing Alternative Software Development Life Cycle Models

The classic waterfall model of software engineering is used throughout the production software development community. The escalating costs associated with software development and the unsatisfactory reliability, performance, and functionality of the resulting software have motivated software engineers to develop new alternate models of software development including prototyping, software synthesis, and reusable software. It is difficult to compare and contrast these new models of software development because their disciples often use different terminology, and the models often have little in common except their beginnings (marked by a recognition that a problem exists) and ends (marked by the existence of a software solution). This paper provides a framework which can serve 1) as a hasis for analyzing the similarities and differences among alternate life cycle models; 2) as a tool for software engineering researchers to help describe the probable impacts of a new life cycle model; and 3) as a means to help software practitioners decide on an appropriate life cycle model to utilize on a particular project or in a particular application area. ’