Comparing Software Development Life Cycle Models with Multi-criteria Decision Making Approach

Abstract

Various software development life cycle models are adopted in the software domain. The selection of appropriate models is the main concern of this research since many factors affect the selection of these models. Characteristics of models, their advantages and disadvantages, in which projects they will be used, and how important the characteristics of the models have been studied in numerous research. In the scope of this research, first, the most preferred software life cycle development models, their features, and the factors that affect their selection were determined. Second, the study aims to compare the influential factors in selecting these models to determine the critical factors and rank them according to their importance level. An Analytical Hierarchy Process study was adopted and performed to achieve this comparison. Lastly, each software life cycle development model was compared to each other, and the important models were revealed in terms of each factor. According to the research results, the most critical factor in the model selection was "Project size."