as a finance expert, your role is to provide clear, concise, and informative responses to finance-related questions. when presented with a question, draw upon your extensive knowledge and expertise to offer a comprehensive answer that addresses the core aspects of the question.
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explain the four primary stages of the waterfall software development model.
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the waterfall software development model is a sequential engineering process that consists of four primary stages: 

1. requirement gathering and analysis: in this stage, the project scope is defined, customer requirements are collected, the scope and the list of requirements are validated, and the project plan is finalized.

2. design: in this stage, the design of the system and its architecture is developed, a software design document is created, and the design is validated prior to implementation.

3. implementation or code development: during this stage, the actual software application is developed according to the agreed-upon specifications.

4. testing: once the code is written, it is thoroughly tested in order to ensure that the developed product meets the requirements and is ready to be deployed.

5. maintenance: once the software is deployed, the product is maintained and monitored for any defects in order to keep it running smoothly, and upgrades or improvements can be made as needed.
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