Spiral Model, advantages and disadvantages of the spiral model in software engineering.
What is a spiral model?
The spiral model is a combination of waterfall, incremental, iterative and prototype model. It is mostly used for big projects where continuous changes are required.
Phases of the spiral model
- Planning
- Risk analysis
- Engineering and Construction
- Evaluation
| Phase | Activities | Deliverable |
| Planning | ≡ Requirement gathering
≡ Requirement analysis ≡ Requirement specification ≡ Requirement negotiation ≡ Requirement modeling ≡ Requirement Management |
Software Requirement Specification document |
| Risk Analysis | ≡ Risk identification
≡ Prioritization of risk ≡ Risk reduction (Mitigation) ≡ Risk impact reduction ≡ Risk monitoring  |
Risk detailed document |
| Engineering | ≡ Development
≡ Testing |
≡ Code
≡ Test cases document, Test report document ≡ Fault report document |
| Evaluation | ≡ Initial Validation by stakeholders
≡ Final Validation by customer |
Evaluation report document |
What are the advantages of the spiral model?
≡ Ensure risk reduction
≡ Useful for large projects
≡ Changes can be handled in the next iteration/loop.
≡ Most suitable for real-time systems
What are the disadvantages of the spiral model?
≡ Expert required for risk reduction
≡ More costly
≡ Not suitable for small projects
≡ Project duration can be infinite because of its spiral behavior.
≡ Project cost can be infinite because of its spiral behavior
≡ Documentation can be very large
arial, helvetica, sans-serif;”>≡ Not suitable for the projects with low risk
When to use the spiral model?
≡ When the risk is medium or high
≡ When software is to be used in a very sensitive and dangerous environment.
≡ For real-time systems
≡ For large projects
≡ When requirements are not clear
≡ When changes in the software can be expected at any time.
Comparison of spiral model and waterfall model
| Properties | Spiral | Waterfall |
| Objectives | High Assurance | High Assurance |
| Planning in early stage | Yes | Yes |
| Returning to an earlier phase | Yes | No |
| Handle Large-Project | Appropriate | Not Appropriate |
| Time-Frame | Long | Very Long |
| Working software availability | At the end of every iteration | At the end of the life-cycle |
| Risk Involvement | Medium to high risk | High |
| Software Team size | Large Software Team | Large Software Team |
| Customer control over administrator | Yes | Very Low |
| Maintenance | Typical | Least |
| Time Duration | Long | Long |
| Re-usability | To some extent | Least possible |
| Framework Type | Linear + Iterative | Linear |
| When Testing? | At the end of the engineering phase | After completion of development phase |
| Maintenance | Yes | Least Maintainable |
| Detailed Documentation | Yes | Necessary |
| Overlapping Phases | No | No |
Comparison of spiral model and incremental model
| Properties | Spiral | Incremental |
| Objectives | High Assurance | Rapid Development |
| Planning in early stage | Yes | Yes |
| Returning to an earlier phase | Yes | Yes |
| Handle Large-Project | Appropriate | Not Appropriate |
| Time-Frame | Long | Long |
| Working software availability | At the end of every iteration | At the end of every iteration |
| Risk Involvement | Medium to high risk | Low |
| Software Team size | Large Software Team | Not Large Software Team |
| Customer control over administrator | Yes | Yes |
| Maintenance | Typical | Promotes Maintainability |
| Time Duration | Long | Very long |
| Re-usability | To some extent | To some extent |
| Framework Type | Linear + Iterative | Linear + Iterative |
| When Testing? | At the end of the engineering phase | After every iteration |
| Maintenance | Yes | Maintainable |
| Detailed Documentation | Yes | Yes but not much |
| Overlapping Phases | No | Yes |
Comparison of spiral model and RAD
| Properties | Spiral | Rad |
| Objectives | High Assurance | Rapid development |
| Planning in early stage | Yes | No |
| Returning to an earlier phase | Yes | Yes |
| Handle Large-Project | Appropriate | Not Appropriate |
| Time-Frame | Long | Short |
| Working software availability | At the end of every iteration | At the end of the life cycle |
| Risk Involvement | Medium to high risk | Low |
| Software Team size | Large Software Team | Small Software Team |
| Customer control over administrator | Yes | Yes |
| Maintenance | Typical | Easily Maintained |
| Time Duration | Long | Short |
| Re-usability | To some extent | Yes |
| Framework Type | Linear + Iterative | Linear |
| When Testing? | At the end of the engineering phase | After completion of development |
| Maintenance | Yes | Easily Maintainable |
| Detailed Documentation | Yes | Limited |
| Overlapping Phases | No | Yes |
More MCQs on Software Process Models
