Requirements analysis in the context of Requirements management

Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of procedures, by writing code in one or more programming languages. Programmers typically use high-level programming languages that are more easily intelligible to humans than machine code, which is directly executed by the central processing unit. Proficient programming usually requires expertise in several different subjects, including knowledge of the application domain, details of programming languages and generic code libraries, specialized algorithms, and formal logic.

Auxiliary tasks accompanying and related to programming include analyzing requirements, testing, debugging (investigating and fixing problems), implementation of build systems, and management of derived artifacts, such as programs' machine code. While these are sometimes considered programming, often the term software development is used for this larger overall process – with the terms programming, implementation, and coding reserved for the writing and editing of code per se. Sometimes software development is known as software engineering, especially when it employs formal methods or follows an engineering design process.

Software requirements for a system are the description of what the system should do, the service or services that it provides and the constraints on its operation. The IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology defines a requirement as:

1. A condition or capability needed by a user to solve a problem or achieve an objective
2. A condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a system or system component to satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed document
3. A documented representation of a condition or capability as in 1 or 2

The activities related to working with software requirements can broadly be broken down into elicitation, analysis, specification, and management.

The waterfall model is the process of performing the typical software development life cycle (SDLC) phases in sequential order. Each phase is completed before the next is started, and the result of each phase drives subsequent phases. Compared to alternative SDLC methodologies such as Agile, it is among the least iterative and flexible, as progress flows largely in one direction (like a waterfall) through the phases of conception, requirements analysis, design, construction, testing, deployment, and maintenance.The waterfall model is the earliest SDLC methodology.When first adopted, there were no recognized alternatives for knowledge-based creative work.