What is the purpose of traceability in software development?

Traceability in software development serves as a crucial bridge between requirements, business objectives, and implementation artifacts. It involves the systematic linking of requirements throughout the development process, ensuring that every requirement is accounted for and connected to the overall goals of the project. This practice allows development teams to trace each requirement back to its originating business need, thereby validating that the software being developed aligns with what the business intended to achieve.

By establishing this linkage, teams can also ensure that all the necessary functional and non-functional requirements are met, making it easier to manage changes as the project evolves. Traceability helps in assessing the impact of potential changes on requirements, thus providing better control over the development process and ensuring that the final product meets user expectations and business needs.

In the context of the other options, while thorough testing, user feedback documentation, and tracking budgets and timelines are all important aspects of software development, they do not encapsulate the specific role of traceability in connecting requirements to business objectives and implementation.