High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A software development process, also known as a software development life cycle (SDLC), is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Similar terms include software life cycle and software process. It is often considered a subset of systems development life cycle. There are several models for such processes, each describing approaches to a variety of tasks or activities that take place during the process. Some people consider a lifecycle model a more general term and a software development process a more specific term. For example, there are many specific software development processes that `fit` the spiral lifecycle model. ISO/IEC 12207 is an international standard for software lifecycle processes. It aims to be the standard that defines all the tasks required for developing and maintaining software.