What’s the spiral model?

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The spiral model is a four-step process that repeats until software is complete. Developers discuss goals, find ways to complete objectives, program features, and show the customer for acceptance or rejection. Planning, discussing features, programming, and testing are the four steps.

The spiral model is a software design philosophy that, instead of being a linear process, is a four-step process that repeats itself continuously until the software is complete. In the first stage of the spiral model, developers discuss goals. Next, the developers find ways to complete the objectives as quickly and safely as possible. When developers know what they’re doing, they do the actual programming to put functionality into the software. At the end of this process, the customer is shown the software for accepting or rejecting the changes.

Planning is the first step of a spiral model and begins before any programming is done. At this point, the developers discuss the features that need to be added to the software. For example, if the program is built for group collaboration, the developers might discuss the need for a group interface that makes it easy for many people to use the program simultaneously. The developers only discuss the features they need, not discussing how to build them.

Once developers know what features are needed, they start discussing ways to complete them. In this phase of the spiral model, developers will discuss different programming practices and methods to complete the task. While there may be many ways to add functionality, developers will often choose the one that is fastest to build and process. Security can also be an issue, as the developers don’t want the program to crash during use.

After selecting a method, developers will start programming features. This programming will go according to the method selected in the second phase and will not be changed unless there are major problems. Unlike the other two parts of the spiral model, there is very little discussion here.

Once the discussed features are finished, the customer will be contacted to test the software in its current condition. The software will rarely be complete at this point, and this step is more about testing the programmed features than it is about declaring that it has been run. If the software is not built for a specific customer, potential customers may be asked to try the program. Whether the customer accepts or rejects features, the spiral model goes back to the first step, planning, where new features are discussed or denied, and features are patched. This will continue sequentially until the software is ready for distribution or completed to customer specifications.




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