Quick answer: What is software development? It is the organized methodology used in planning, constructing, testing, releasing and sustaining software, often referred to as the software development life cycle (SDLC). The same teams sequentially perform that work using a model like Waterfall, Agile or DevOps, but with AI support at almost every phase of it, still guided/human project manager and overseen by humans.
What Is Software Development in Plain English
A book about writing software by non-technical people, using plain English.
Software Development: The process of translating an idea or business requirement into an executable software program which can be utilized by people. From web applications to mobile applications, in-house tools and games and the systems that run them. All organizations that ship software, whether they have documented SDLC or have simply grown up in a particular manner, have a structured approach to the planning, building, testing, releasing, and maintaining of software systems.
What is worth noting is that phases are what is done to perform work, while process models, like Waterfall, Agile and DevOps are ways teams can sequence that work.
The Seven Phases
Seven Phases (Original Comparison)
Most of the frameworks present the 7 phases of the lifecycle. The labels are somewhat inconsistent among sources and so common names are used here.
| Phase | What happens | Typical output |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing | What does not happen at all | $0$ |
| Implementing | Create project plan – goals, scope, budget, timeframe | Project plan |
| Requirements or user stories – what is the business and/or the users need? | ||
| UGEC04 Design, Decide architecture, data and interfaces Design documents, mockups | ||
| Write, review and integrate code to the design | Building working software or a working build | |
| Testing: Check functionality, performance and security ; Test results and fixes | ||
| Deployment/ Release to user / production / Live software | ||
| Development | Build new versions, debug and enhance | Patches and new versions |
Every list of this type has one caveat: the actions outlined represent phases and are not necessarily required to be performed in order. Under Agile and DevOps, one or more run at all times. In DevOps, maintenance is an ongoing process that is integrated within the development process.
Common Development Models
| Model | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Rutherford 437RP | Enforces the 18-year-age limit through police checks | Minors |
| Is a variety of projects in which the requirements are known prior to the project and one phase is finished before the next begins. | ||
| V-Model | Waterfall with a corresponding test phase for each dev phase | Regulated or safety-critical software requires intense validation |
| SCRUM | Short cycles with constant feedback and tweaks | Changing requirements and QUICK delivery |
| DevOps | Iterating more often and reliability—Agile plus automation and continuous delivery, which cuts down on the barrier between development and operations. | |
| Agentic or AI-assisted – AI agents participate throughout the planning, development, testing and monitoring stages and humans guide and verify | Teams expand pace while maintaining control |
Agile teams usually practice incremental development, also called sprints, that range from one or four weeks. However, in the event of Agile, it does not surpass the phases of SDLC, rather, it shortens them and restarts them in brief cycles. In reality, hybrid plants are the norm. For regulated organizations, many organizations are utilizing Waterfall for their compliance documentation and governance and implementing Agile for implementation.
What AI Has Changed in 2026
According to one security-vendor analysis, by 2026, AI has transferred from merely being a tool that writes code to a player for every stage of the SDLC, from planning and architecture to testing, security and deployment. One of the most immediate measurable uses is mentioned: Test generation.
That same analysis indicates that the software developer’s job is shifting towards product thinking, architecture, validation, security oversight, and optimizing software workflows aided by AI. It also cautions that AI poses new threats and must be secured to grow and evolve. Another source asserts the same idea but from a different perspective: AI plays a role in every stage, but the SDLC remains unchanged.
Some of these provide the vendor with a product to sell and so claims of speed-ups should be interpreted with caution. The commonality is that the generation and validation of the AI-generated content is part of the work.
Who Does What
Software development is a team pursuit, roles overlap. A typical project is comprised of a set of product managers used to defining needs, followed by designers and then developers who write code; followed by testers/quality engineers who validate products; and then DevOps/content owners, platform engineers who own pipelines, environments, deployment, reliability etc. Some these jobs can be carried out by one member of the team within a small group.
Model Picker
Model Picker (Original Framework) selects the model.
Select a starting model by answering these 4 questions. The editing of this editorial.
- Are there any requirements that tend to change regularly? Predictable and familiar – Waterfall or a V-Model. The world of ever-evolving needs is leading to Agile.
- To what extent is the work regulated? If there is heavy compliance, then there often must be phases, Agile inside of these phases.
- What is your rate of frequency for releasing? The concept of frequent releases is indicative of DevOps practices and automation.
- To what extent do you trust automation and AI? In the case of AI agents, predetermine when humans need to check in.
Software Development Starter Checklist
This is the software development starter’s check-list (which is Linkable Asset).
- Crafted one sentence goal for software.
- Specified the users and the top three users’ needs
- make a deliberate choice of the model of development that should be adopted.
- Set up version control for all code
- Expectation of tests prior to writing activities
- Described how and when to let go
- Included security checks from the start
- Determined location of human reviews of AI generated code
- Create monitoring and Bug reporting system.
- Scheduled a review after the first release
Guest Post Angles
Any of these topics are appropriate for publication in developer or product/technology-career publications:
- Waterfall, Agile & DevOps made easy.
- Is changing code review due to AI coding tools.
- A map or roadmap for software development for the novice programmer.
Ship One Small Thing This Month
This month, send sailing items in the form of one Small Thing.
There is no way to learn software development other than a bit of it from experience on a small project. Choose a small project, like a to-do list, or a basic landing page. Plan it, build it, test it, release it and fix one bug after launch. This one loop, teaches you more than any definition of what is software development!
