▁en comp ass es ▁all ▁the ▁activities ▁of ▁the ▁project , ▁while ▁the ▁systems ▁development ▁life ▁cycle ▁focus es ▁on ▁real izing ▁the ▁product ▁requirements ". ▁ ▁Systems ▁Development ▁Life ▁Cy cle ▁( SD LC ) ▁is ▁used ▁during ▁the ▁development ▁of ▁an ▁IT ▁project , ▁it ▁describes ▁the ▁different ▁stages ▁involved ▁in ▁the ▁project ▁from ▁the ▁drawing ▁board , ▁through ▁the ▁completion ▁of ▁the ▁project . ▁ ▁The ▁SD LC ▁is ▁not ▁a ▁method ology ▁per ▁se , ▁but ▁rather ▁a ▁description ▁of ▁the ▁phases ▁in ▁the ▁life ▁cycle ▁of ▁a ▁software ▁application . ▁These ▁phases ▁( bro ad ly ▁speaking ) ▁are , ▁investigation , ▁analysis , ▁design , ▁build , ▁test , ▁implement , ▁and ▁maintenance ▁and ▁support . ▁All ▁software ▁development ▁method ologies ▁( such ▁as ▁the ▁more ▁commonly ▁known ▁water fall ▁and ▁sc rum ▁method ologies ) ▁follow ▁the ▁SD LC ▁phases ▁but ▁the ▁method ▁of ▁doing ▁that ▁var ies ▁vast ly ▁between ▁method ologies . ▁In ▁the ▁Sc rum ▁framework , ▁for ▁example , ▁one ▁could ▁say ▁a ▁single ▁user ▁story ▁goes ▁through ▁all ▁the ▁phases ▁of ▁the ▁SD LC ▁within ▁a ▁single ▁two - week ▁s print . ▁Con tr ast ▁this ▁to ▁the ▁water fall ▁method ology , ▁as ▁another ▁example , ▁where ▁every ▁business ▁requirement ▁( record ed ▁in ▁the ▁analysis ▁phase ▁of ▁the ▁SD LC ▁in ▁a ▁document ▁called ▁the ▁Business ▁Re quire ments ▁Spec ification ) ▁is ▁translated ▁into ▁feature / function al ▁descri ptions ▁( record ed ▁in ▁the ▁design ▁phase