Software systems come and go through a series of passages that account for their inception,initial development, productive operation, upkeep, and retirement from one generation toanother. This article categorizes and examines a number of methods for describing or modeling how software systems are developed. It begins with background and definitions of traditional software life cycle models that dominate most textbook discussions and current software development practices. This is followed by a more comprehensive review of the alternative models of software evolution that are of current use as the basis for organizing software engineering projects and technologies.
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