<P> The systems development life cycle (SDLC), also referred to as the application development life - cycle, is a term used in systems engineering, information systems and software engineering to describe a process for planning, creating, testing, and deploying an information system . The systems development lifecycle concept applies to a range of hardware and software configurations, as a system can be composed of hardware only, software only, or a combination of both . </P> <P> A systems development life cycle is composed of a number of clearly defined and distinct work phases which are used by systems engineers and systems developers to plan for, design, build, test, and deliver information systems . Like anything that is manufactured on an assembly line, an SDLC aims to produce high - quality systems that meet or exceed customer expectations, based on customer requirements, by delivering systems which move through each clearly defined phase, within scheduled time frames and cost estimates . Computer systems are complex and often (especially with the recent rise of service - oriented architecture) link multiple traditional systems potentially supplied by different software vendors . To manage this level of complexity, a number of SDLC models or methodologies have been created, such as waterfall, spiral, Agile software development, rapid prototyping, incremental, and synchronize and stabilize . </P>

Another name for the systems development life cycle methodology is