Which of the following is NOT one of the approaches to the system development life cycle?

• A. Rapid prototyping
• B. Dynamic development
• C. Waterfall
• D. Object-oriented system development

Answer: (C)

Understanding how the system development life cycle is carried out involves recognizing several distinct approaches. Waterfall is a classic SDLC approach where work moves through defined phases in a fixed sequence with limited overlap. Rapid prototyping emphasizes quickly creating functional models to gather user feedback and refine requirements, often leading to iterative cycles. Dynamic development refers to an agile, timeboxed approach (DSDM) that delivers increments in short, fixed periods with strong stakeholder collaboration. Object-oriented system development focuses on modeling and building the system around interacting objects, aligning design and implementation with object-oriented principles. Since these are all recognized ways to implement the SDLC, there isn’t a valid option that truly isn’t an SDLC approach. If a test item presents Waterfall as not an SDLC approach, that reflects a mismatch between the question and standard practice rather than a flaw in the concept. The key idea is that Waterfall is indeed an SDLC approach, just like rapid prototyping, dynamic development, and object-oriented development.