What is the difference between waterfall model iterative waterfall model successive model prototyping model and spiral model?
I will try to answer this quickly as I don't have much time.
As the name suggests, the waterfall model follows the path of an
waterfall. It starts in the first stage of orientation, and ends at
the release. It can only go one way (to the end goal) and the
stages are very strict (you cant go back to a earlier stage).
The Spiral model understands that reality doesn't always follow
theory, and that an project should be designed to follow that
reality. There are multiple prototypes released, and phases can be
repeated until the desired result is reached (hence the
spiral).
The iterative model combines those two, making (IMHO) the
waterfall model more ready for the real world.
You should try googling yourself, I found lots of info about the
differences in this article about the advantages of the waterfall
model:
http://www.waterfall-model.com/the-waterfall-model-avantages-and-disadvantages