What are "software development lifecycle methodologies"?

I'm thinking this is something pretty simple, but we don't use these terms here. What do companies mean when they say the requirement for a job is "Experience in software development lifecycle methodologies"?

I've been a Business Systems Analyst for 2 years (before that, I was an I.T. Admin for a small company). I've developed application systems in an Oracle environment to do many systems functions for a company with 500+ employees.

I also have a B.S. degree and one of our classes talked about "methodologies", but I just remember it as basic standards for development. We have standards here, but don't have anything called a "methodology".

What do you think they are looking for on that requirement -- in laymen's terms?

You're right. It is pretty simple. Things always sound more complicated in the corporate world.

When you develop software there are many stages involved. Together, these stages form the lifecycle. Methodology is simply "the approach you use to address a certain issue or process, in this case, the life cycle of software development. Look at the wike article I've attached. When you do sw dev you there are a variety of stages that must be occure (ie requirements, assessment, development, testing, implementation, validation, etc). You just can't dive into one, or assume others know about the various stages and why they are ordered that way, and how they are dependent on each other. You need a structured, comprehensive approach for getting the job done. And there are a variety of different methodologies or ways of approaching the challenge. Business analysists or project managers are trained in these approaches.

Official business analyst or project management training would be a benefit. Check out the websites for some direction on how they do what they do.

Quick definition: a specific, structured way of approaching and managing the software development process.