SDLC
Software development lifecycle. The path from requirement to retirement; validation is its GxP-flavored shadow.
The SDLC names the phases software passes through: concept, requirements, design, build, test, release, operation, retirement. Every validation framework is essentially an SDLC with evidence expectations attached at each phase.
The practical insight is that validation should ride the lifecycle the team actually uses, including agile ones. GAMP 5's second edition explicitly blesses iterative development; the evidence must exist, but it does not have to pretend the work was waterfall.
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