Wednesday 20 January 2010

Waterfall and Whirlpool Development Models

The Waterfall model is a software development process that works sequentially. The diagram below illustrates the path taken using this process.

This model originated from the manufacturing and construction industries, where it was usually impossible for people to go back and change areas once they were thought to be finished. It was applied to software development mostly because there were no existing models already being used. The key to this model is that each step is thoroughly completed before the next one is started. With regards to software I imagine this can be quite a problem, especially if it is being developed for a client. Things can often seem a good idea in theory but turn out differently when in comes to testing, or people can simply change their minds about something.

The Whirlpool model is much like the Waterfall model in terms of structure, but unlike the Waterfall the idea is that modifications can be made. This seems much more useful, logical even, when it comes to things like software development or web design.
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