This photo of someone’s answer to a computer science exam question has been making the rounds:
Click the photo to see it at full size.
I have no idea if they’re still teaching the waterfall model of software development in universities these days, but judging from the exam question, I suspect the “correct” answer to the question was this:
While psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief wasn’t the answer the professor was looking for, I’d have awarded the student a couple of points if I were marking the exam.
Consider these recent stats for major software projects:
- 75% of IT professionals surveyed in 2011 by Geneca said that their projects are either always or usually “doomed right from the start.”
- A 2011 Harvard Business Review study of over 1,400 projects found that the average cost overrun was 27%, and that one in six was a “Black Swan”, with cost overruns of 200% and ran 70% longer than planned.
- For the companies surveyed in the Standish Group’s 2013 CHAOS report, fewer than a third of their projects were completed on time and under budget.
On second thought, I think that student should get full marks for his/her answer.
Thanks to Peach Flambée for the find!
One reply on “The five key phases of software development”
I learned the Waterfall model of development as it applies to military specifications for software, hardware, and firmware development. It’s not really a “method” when it comes to documentation. Rather, it’s a comprehensive set of individually numbered specification documents for the development of a product. Heaven forbid that your engineers discover a roadblock anywhere in the project: The entire set of docs has to be retconned right from the beginning.
By comparision, ISO is a joy.