Stages of Waterfall

There are eight stages in Waterfall and they must all happen in sequential order. For example, the development team can’t go back to the analysis phase if they are in the testing phase.

• Conception: This phase starts with an idea. The concept phase involves a rough assessment of the project, why it’s beneficial, and looks at any initial cost estimates.
• Initiation: Once the idea is formed, you need to hire the project team, and define objectives, scope, purpose, and deliverables.
• Requirement Gathering and Analysis: Requirements are gathered and analyzed to see if the project is actually feasible. All this information is documented in a requirement specification document.
• Design: The design specifications created in this phase are used in the coding phase to actually write the code. The requirements are studied and evaluated, and the design of the system is prepared. The team’s goal is to understand what actions need to be taken and what they should look like.
• Implementation/Coding: The actual coding of the software begins. Any flowcharts or algorithms created in the design phase are translated into a programming language.
• Testing: Once the code is complete, the software needs to be tested for any errors. When the testing is finished, the software is delivered to the customer. Some teams may choose to include user acceptance testing (UAT), where users test the software before it is deployed to the general public.
• Maintenance: Once customers have been using the software in the real world, they may find additional problems. The development team will need to resolve, change, or modify the software to continue to be effective.