Application Development Life Cycle: Everything You Need to Know

Are you planning to create a successful application?

Congratulations! You’ve landed in the right place.

As we can see, apps are no longer just high-class tools for the geekier or more tech-focused sectors. It is now more important than ever to go for application development, for your businesses regardless of whether your company maintains a strong online presence.

Apps offer additional features and functionalities for your business operations, customer retention, marketing strategies, and many more. They also let your customers connect with you or make purchases while on the go.

As per the Market Research Future Report, it is estimated that the application development market worldwide will outgrow and reach USD 9,336 million by 2023.

The Statista report reveals that total revenue in the Application Development Software market is projected to reach USD 179.90bn in 2024. The revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 6.87%, resulting in a market volume of USD 234.70bn by 2028.

Given the increasing use of app design and development across all sectors of the economy, the statement is doubly true. In this digitized world, most smartphone users devote their time to using apps of one form or another. In essence, you require an app if you want your business to succeed with flying colors.

Are you feeling confident already?

However, creating a top-notch application will be challenging if you don’t know what you’re doing. Understanding all the basic aspects of the app development process is important. When understanding them, you’ll know what to expect from the whole process, how to create successful apps without making mistakes, and how much it may cost for application development.

So, mentioned below are the different checkpoints we will discuss and learn in this article.

Let’s get started with the most fundamental question of our topic – What is application development?

What is Application Development?

Application development is the process of planning, creating app design, and putting applications into proper use. Both large organizations with multiple teams working on different projects and a single freelance web developer can carry out the application development process. Moreover, application development outlines the development process of the application and commonly adheres to a set of methodologies.

Furthermore, the app development process is influenced by numerous factors. You need to take into account the project’s size, the specificity level of your requirements, the customer’s willingness to request changes, the number of members in your development team, the level of expertise of your team members, and last yet very important factor – the project’s deadline.

So, considering these factors is important for an efficient application development process.

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What is Application Development Life Cycle?

The Application Development Life Cycle (ADLC) is a set of procedures or steps that coordinates the development of an application. It helps you complete the app development project as rapidly and effectively as possible. The overall development cycle can vary based on the type of your business, clients, specific requirements, and even the current trends in application development.

The app development steps include the actual coding of the application software and the logic as well as app design processes on which the code is based.

Furthermore, the ideas and phases of the application development life cycle are remarkably similar to those of other development cycles.

In essence, it is worth noting when discussing IT development, there are two key terms frequently used: SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) and ADLC (Application Development Life Cycle)

So, before moving forward, let’s clarify these terminologies.

Software Development Life Cycle, or SDLC, is the complete software development procedure. However, the development stages are identical to those for the Application Development Life Cycle, or ADLC. The statement illustrates how every professional IT company creates applications: discovery, design, development, launch, and maintenance.

Now let’s witness them closely.

Phases of Application Development Life Cycle

These are the significant stages of app development that every digital project must include:

1. Discovery Phase

You believe that you understand exactly how your project should be accomplished. However, when you finally meet your developer, you’re obligated to answer confusing questions such as, ‘How many users with different permissions should your app have for signing in? What OS are you looking for it to support? What mobile screen resolutions do you want your app design to support?’ etc., etc.

Therefore, your organization’s development team or the developers you hire must be capable of interpreting human language into technical information during the discovery phase.

Hence, the following steps should be included in a properly designed discovery phase:

• Feature Mapping
• Technical Requirements Formulation
• Competitive Analysis
• Cost Estimation
• Deadline Setting

2. Design Phase

Now, it’s the right time to give your digital project a distinct appearance and feel. The designers rely on these three steps to make your app stand out from others.

• Sketch – The initial step is to sketch. The designers now work on the concept of application.
• Wireframe – The next step is to display it on a tablet and make a black-and-white replica of each screen. Without the actual text and color scheme, these already resemble a finished design in one way or another.
• Prototype – The design process ends at this point. A clickable form of an app closely resembles the final result known as a prototype. It doesn’t work, though, because it does not include backend development.

On a lighter note, the design stage doesn’t necessarily require programming knowledge or experience.

3. Development Phase

The design is now all set; creating a functional product requires much effort. At this point, programmers enter the picture and code all the necessary elements.

The development process can be further classified into two stages:

• Front-End Development – This is, so to put, the user interfaces or program face that users interact with. The front-end developers ensure the interface is user-friendly and visually pleasing.
• Back-End Development – This is the core functional component of the entire system that ensures proper operation. The backend is commonly referred to as the server-side of the application. It manages all the operations, calculations, and, in the climax, the app’s efficiency.

The programmers are now ready with the initial version or the Minimum Valuable Product (MVP).

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4. Quality Assurance Phase

Some development companies postpone or omit this step in application development just to speed up the release phase. However, it is impossible to be sure of the success of your app without testing it automatically or manually. It’s similar to posting content on social media without proofreading; you can’t ensure that it’s error-free.

Adequate testing covers 90% of all possible risks. Some tests can be performed using automatic testing, while others need manual testing to optimize the testing process.

It’s always simpler to resolve bugs before the release than to return to this stage after publishing the app and receiving negative user feedback.

5. Release Phase

Finally, you can launch the application to the market or make it available to the company owner to use in their facilities in the case of a web application.

It’s critical to realize that the stages of application development don’t end here if you want your app to stand out and meet the expectation of end users.

6. Maintenance Phase

You keep improving and enhancing the application by adding advanced features and functionalities gathered in the project’s wish list.

Every conscience developer promises to provide technical support for any unexpected circumstances.

So, no need to worry!

Advantages of Application Development Life Cycle

The main justification for adopting the ADLC approach is to control and manage the complete development process. Other notable benefits of the application development life cycle include a working plan, budget management, and user conflict management.

• Consequently, the application development life cycle enables the following:
• Complete control over the process of developing applications
• Optimizing cost-effectiveness and resource management
• A detailed action plan for your development team
• Encouraging the participants to cooperate

However, it’s crucial to remember that your team cannot fully benefit from and enjoy the advantages of the application development life cycle on its own. The cycle will break down and affect the final result if anyone lacks competence or does not efficiently follow the process.

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Quality Features of Application Development

The eight application quality characteristics outlined by ISO 25010 are as follows:

1. The application software should be functionally sound, i.e., adequate and comprehensive.

2. Developing reliable applications, i.e., accessible, fault-tolerant, and recoverable.

3. Effective performance, i.e., appropriate timing, capacity management, and efficient utilization of resources.

4. Maximum security, including data protection and integrity, authentication that cannot be manipulated, and safe administration.

5. Substantial equivalency in terms of the correlation and compatibility with other software systems.

6. Perfect usability, which results in good serviceability, ease of access and learning, a beautiful interface with ideal brand recognition, and security from user errors, all contribute to operability.

7. Easy maintenance due to the modular design, various test options, reusable components, effective analysis tools, and simplicity of modifications.

8. Easy installability, portability, and adaptability to make something accessible.

Many desirable qualities are also evident in the development of applications. For instance, every user desire high functionality, solid dependability, and user-friendly interfaces. Applications should always be simple to maintain and capable of running on various hardware.

If you’re interested in learning better ways to develop a mobile app, you can also read our article on tips for mobile app development.

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ADLC Models and Approaches Explained

Almost all the approaches for creating applications fall into one of these three categories:

1. Waterfall Approach

Planning and sequence are the two fundamental components of the Waterfall approach in application development.

The method is known as Waterfall because once you get down, there is no way to come back up; everything flows downward. Over a set period, the development team collaborates to create what is planned according to the specifications precisely.

So, when is the Waterfall methodology the most effective approach for developing applications?

• When you don’t expect many changes to occur
• Strict budgets are set for the project
• You’ve gone through a similar project before
• The client is pretty clear and doesn’t want to participate heavily till the end

2. RAD Approach

To our utter surprise, the waterfall approach posed significant issues. So, to prevent such issues, Rapid Application Development or RAD, emerged as a novel method to ease application development stages. RAD was, in many ways, the polar opposite of the Waterfall approach.

Since RAD mostly focuses on prototypes, its objective is to create a functioning version of the application as quickly as possible. Throughout the app development process, the customer and development team collaborate closely. RAD teams are often small and consist solely of professional developers with broad expertise.

When is RAD the most effective approach for developing applications?

• When you have a team of experienced developers
• A passionately dedicated customer
• A flexible deadline for delivery
• Critical business matters

3. Agile Approach

Agile application development and RAD are extremely similar, although Agile has been modified to be more appropriate for bigger projects. Agile is progressive, similar to RAD, but it emphasizes building features simultaneously.

The Agile development methodology uses sprints or a designated amount of time during which a certain feature should be developed, tested, and delivered. Each sprint aims to include every step of the feature’s software development life cycle. The process helps you follow a timetable while allowing for frequent reviews.

Agile doesn’t emphasize prototypes; instead, it only provides finished solutions after completing each sprint.

When is Agile the most effective approach for developing applications?

• The project can be divided into several sprints due to its size
• You have experts who can collaborate as a team
• The majority of the project is predetermined and can be planned
• You’ve got professional project managers on board

4. DevOps Approach

The DevOps approach is rather new to the ADLC scene. To speed up the development process and implement high-quality software solutions, the development and operations teams collaborate closely- and occasionally as one team. In this methodology, products undergo minimal yet frequent updates.

The DevOps paradigm is characterized by discipline, continuous feedback, cost-effective development, and automation of manual development procedures.

So, when should you opt for DevOps consulting services to build applications?

• When you need faster time-to-market
• You’ve got a team with broader roles and skills
• When you require less downtime
• Need rapid improvement based on feedback

Summing Up!Thanks to the application development life cycle, you can witness what happens in every phase of the development process. Intending to create top-notch business applications, ADLC seeks to evaluate and enhance the software development process, which must be like other business processes.However, you must wonder: Is application development that smooth?Nah, not really!It’s somewhat challenging to develop an application if you’re new to the world and have little to less knowledge of the technologies. There can be little bumps on the road for you. Nevertheless, a guide accompanying you on the entire voyage is unquestionably beneficial.Radixweb is, therefore, delighted to help!We at Radixweb, one of the most well-known app development firm in the IT universe, have been developing web and native mobile apps for customers worldwide for the past 25 years.Consequently, if you’re looking for the ideal app development company, you’ve come to the perfect place.Reach out to us, and let’s get started!