Which phase follows the completion of unit tests in development?

The phase that follows the completion of unit tests in development is "Ready to Deploy." This phase indicates that the unit testing has been successfully completed, validating that individual components of the application function as expected. After unit tests, the next logical step involves ensuring that the application is fully prepared for deployment into a production environment.

During the "Ready to Deploy" phase, developers and teams finalize the preparation necessary for a smooth transition of the code base. This includes preparing documentation, ensuring that any integration points are correctly defined, and verifying that the code is stable and meets the required quality standards. It sets the stage for subsequent activities such as integration testing, which is focused on how various units work together beyond the individual tests that have already been completed.

Other choices involve different processes or stages that occur at various points in the software development lifecycle. Code deployment generally would happen after the "Ready to Deploy" phase is confirmed, while release planning pertains to the broader scheduling of features and releases rather than the immediate readiness of specific code after unit testing. Integration testing directly follows unit tests but is conducted as part of validating interactions between modules, rather than signifying that the code is ready for production deployment.