waterfall development

[ waw-ter-fawl di-vel-uhp-muhnt, wot-ter‐ ]

noun

, Digital Technology.

1. a philosophy of linear software development that includes sequential stages, from conception and design through testing and implementation, resulting in one finalized version of the product. Compare agile development.

Word History and Origins

Origin of waterfall development¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

The Waterfall development will comprise 124 homes ranging in price from $200,000 to $2 million.

From Wall Street Journal

“Einstein’s rule is my definition of waterfall development,” Baker quipped, referring of course to the familiar quotation “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

From Forbes

He characterizes traditional IT as working with known vendors, doing waterfall development, focusing on risk-averse governance.

From Forbes

In the past both hardware and software were engineered using Waterfall development, a process that moves through new product development one-step-at-a-time.

From Forbes

Agile Development: Continuous Delivery And Deployment In contrast to Waterfall development, Agile Development delivers incremental and iterative changes on an ongoing basis.

From Forbes