Software development is the process of designing, creating, testing, and maintaining software applications or systems. It involves several stages, typically grouped into the following phases:

  1. Requirement Analysis: Understanding and gathering requirements from stakeholders to define the software’s functionality and goals.

  2. System Design: Structuring the software architecture and defining how the components of the software will work together.

  3. Coding/Programming: Writing the actual code to implement the design using programming languages such as Python, Java, C++, or JavaScript.

  4. Testing: Ensuring the software works as expected by identifying and fixing bugs, and performing unit, integration, and system tests.

  5. Deployment: Installing and configuring the software in the production environment, making it available to users.

  6. Maintenance: Continuously improving and updating the software, fixing any issues, and adding new features as needed.

The development process can follow different methodologies such as:

  • Waterfall: A linear and sequential approach.
  • Agile: An iterative approach, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration.
  • DevOps: A culture of collaboration between development and IT operations, aiming for faster and more reliable software delivery.