The Software Life Cycle and Waterfall Model
The software life cycle encompasses all stages of a software product, beginning with its conception, execution, and use and ending with its ultimate expiration or extinction. SLC is a comprehensive strategy that outlines how to design, develop, and manage software. Each software development lifecycle step (SDLC) includes processes and outcomes contributing to the later phases. Planning, feasibility, designing, software development, testing, and implementation are the six fundamental phases of the current software life cycle. For instance, SDLC is essential for creating a software system because it provides a foundation for program development, budgeting and estimation, and a structure for a consistent collection of tasks and outputs. The waterfall model is a traditional SDLC paradigm used in designing linear and sequential systems. It is called a waterfall concept because it progresses consistently from one stage to the next in a downward motion. The five phases of this architecture are requirements analysis and description, design, execution and functional testing, integration testing, and operation and service.
The Differences between the Waterfall Model and the Agile Model
The Agile SDLC paradigm is a blend of iterative and incremental modeling techniques that emphasizes process scalability and service quality through the fast turnaround of a functional software package. Each loop entails a group operating through the entire SDLC, including brainstorming, requirements evaluation, architecture, programming, and testing, before presenting the client with a completed prototype. The agile paradigm includes the following phases: Requirements collection, criteria design, development, validation, implementation, and response (Heeager & Nielsen, 2018). First, the agile approach features a high degree of customer engagement since an iterative edition is provided to the consumer after each step. In the waterfall approach, client engagement is minimal because the solution is offered to the client after its whole execution.
Second, the expense for projects utilizing the Waterfall approach is often fixed because the operation is defined from beginning to end; therefore, there is less space for budget adjustments in the middle of the project. Since agile is adaptable, fosters testing, and embraces alterations in direction, budgets tend to be more flexible even in the final stages of the project. Thirdly, the agile model employs an adaptive strategy in which each progressive component is produced iteratively after each set timeframe, whereas the waterfall model employs a sequential planning process. In contrast to the waterfall model, which requires paperwork, the agile technique does not require codified documentation because a functional sample is the best instrument for gathering user evaluation and feedback.
Security Injections
Security injections answer vulnerability catastrophes, helping firms mitigate threats and exert absolute control over their reputation and monetary protection. Injection attacks are a general threat vector category and present a program with untrusted input. For instance, in the development phase of the SDLC, static application scanning tools (SAST) and secure coding are essential security-focused operations. In addition, throughout the testing phase, standard procedures include dynamic scanning, fuzzing, and penetration testing. Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SSLDC) is one of the techniques developed to counteract software risk vulnerabilities. The SSDLC is included in the SDLC through security injections. An SSDLC is a paradigm that specifies the complete development process for constructing a computer application. Figure 4 depicts how each phase of a prototype SSDLC is mapped to security functions.
Differences Between Static and Dynamic Software Analysis
First, dynamic analysis is the evaluation and assessment of a program during runtime, whereas static testing is the examination and appraisal of software by studying its source code without implementing it. Second, dynamic analysis can contribute to enhanced security since its primary objective is error detection and correction. On the other hand, the fundamental benefit of static analysis is the inspection of all possible execution routes and variable parameters, not only those triggered during processing. Thirdly, static testing examines the code, regulatory pressures, and design documentation for errors, while dynamic testing examines the system’s functional properties, memory utilization, and overall quality. Fourth, examples of static testing include covers code review and Walkthrough. In contrast, dynamic testing encompasses functional and non-functional testing as well as ST (System testing), UT (usability testing), IT (integration testing), and UAT (user acceptance testing) (Shahriar et al., 2021).
References
Häring, I. (2021). Models for hardware and software development processes. In Technical Safety, Reliability and Resilience (pp. 179-192). Springer.
Heeager, L. T., & Nielsen, P. A. (2018). A conceptual model of agile software development in a safety-critical context: A systematic literature review. Information and Software Technology, 103, 22-39.
Shahriar, H., Zhang, C., Talukder, M. A., & Islam, S. (2021). Mobile application security using static and dynamic analysis. In Machine Intelligence and Big Data Analytics for Cybersecurity Applications (pp. 443-459). Springer.