Refresher: SDLC

July 22nd, 2024

I recently had a job interview and was asked some great quickfire questions. Some were about programming principals and basic OOP knowldge. I thought I'd explain how I see SDLC.

Simple SDLC

One term that any Senior of Full Stack developer should be familiar with is the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). This is a way that developers follow a standard process to reduce complications and work together better.

The specifics will be different for different teams or companies.

SDLC Phases

I have usually worked on small teams or solo so the lines are blurred . There are generally six phases but on most teams I've worked on there are more like four.

SDCL 6-Steps	SDCL 4-Steps (Example)
1. Plan	1. Plan/Define
2. Define
3. Design	2. Design/Build
4. Build
5. Test	3. Test
6. Deploy	4. Deploy

I find in most small to medium cases that things seem to go with 4 steps. This isn't an official thing to memorize. It's just an idea of how to have a smooth process. Small to medium teams often do not have dedicated resources for Project Managers and Q/A Testers.

Developer Point of View

In my shoes when I think of SDLC as a Sr. Developer or Full Stack Developer (whichever title I have at the time) I look at it a bit like follows..

Documentation
- Write basic summary of plan (markdown)
- Write important instructions (markdown)
- Write code comments as I go
Front/Backend
- Git Branches:
  - Deployment Branches: main, develop, staging
  - Ticket Branches: #-issue, #-feature, #-bug
- Peer Review
- Branch Merging
Testing
- Unit Testing
- Autorun Before Commmit `(eg: husky)
Deployment
- Continuous Deployment (CD)
  - Based on Deployment Branch.
  - GitHub Actions

phpoop