Software Testing Life Cycle

Introduction on Software Testing Life Cycle

The Software Testing Life Cycle, commonly referred to as STLC, is a flow for testing process performed in a serial order on a software application system, so as to verify and validate the application for its correctness against the requirement provided by the business. It is comprised by six different phases, similar to the software development life cycle. These phases can go parallel to the development process or can be completed as the last step of the software development life cycle process, depending on the methodology used to develop the application software.

Software Testing Life Cycle

Different phases of software testing life cycle are as follows:

1. Requirements analysis
2. Test planning
3. Test case development
4. Test Environment setup
5. Test execution
6. Test cycle closure

Let us discuss the above-mentioned software testing phases in detail for more Understanding

1. Requirement Analysis

This is the first phase of the software testing life cycle. Requirements analysis is the most important phase because it is the base phase for all software development, if we made a mistake in requirements analysis, the wrong software can be delivered to the client.

In this phase quality assurance team first understands the requirements of the software to identify the parts that need to be tested. For more understanding of the requirement QA i.e.quality assurance team may meet different organizations like business organization, stakeholders, development team, technical team, design team, etc. Once the requirements of the software fixed, the QA team identifies the components or parts of the software or system to be tested.

2. Test Planning

This is the second phase of the software testing life cycle. This phase is known for the test strategy because the test strategy is planned in this phase. This activity is carried out by test manager where he is taking care of all the things related to testing like how much effort it requires, how much it cost for testing the whole project, and which types of testing need to be done for which component. Other than this it also involved following task
1. Analyzing software
2. Define the objective of the test
3. Designing a test strategy
4. Planning resources for test
5. Planning test criteria
6. Designing test cases
7. Scheduling and executing test
8. Planning test environment for execution
9. Analyzing test delivery

3. Test Case Development

This is the third phase of the software testing life cycle. Once the test planning is done, the work of test cases begins. In this phase, the testing team designs the test cases for test execution in detail. It also prepares the information i.e data for test cases. After the test cases are designed, they are delivered to peer team or quality control i.e QA team for an examination.
The test case is good if it identifies errors quickly and solves them immediately under the test.
1. The characteristics of a good test case are
2. A test case is transparent and simple.
3. Generate the same result every time for the same test.
4. The test case id contains the name.
5. Covers 100% of software requirements.

4. Test Environment Setup

This is the fourth phase of the software testing life cycle. This phase is a vital part of STLC. Test environment setup is the process of setting up all the resources like software, hardware for the testing team to execute all the test cases. Test environment setup is not done by the testing team rather is done by the customer or the organization. The testing team prepares the smoke test for executing the test environment setup.

5. Test Execution

This is the fifth phase of the software testing life cycle. It is the process of executing the test with code and compared it with the expected result and analyze the report. The testing team executes tests based on test planning and strategies. While the execution of the test, the test analyst marks the test report.
1. If the test case is successfully executed, it is marked as passed.
2. If the test case if failed, it is marked as failed and the corresponding defect is reported to the software developer team
3. If the test case is blocked because of error, then it is marked as blocked. Once the defect is solved, the test cases that are marked as blocked or failed are tested again to ensure that they are fixed.

6. Test Cycle Closure

This is the final phase of the software testing life cycle. In this phase, the meeting of the software testers is carried out to evaluate the test coverage based on the requirements of the software, test cases, cost, time, quality assurance.
Analysis of test cases and the bug report is carried out to find defect distribution by the type. Once the test cycle is completed test cycle closure report is prepared. Test cycle closure is prepared by the test leader.
The standard format of the test cycle closure is as follows
• Test summary report
• Identifier
• Test summary
• Variances
• Comprehensiveness assessment
• Summary of results
• Evaluation
• Summary of activities
• Approval

Conclusion

In this article, we have seen phases of software testing life cycle. I hope you’ll find this article helpful.

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