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Software Testing Life Cycle

Software Testing Life Cycle

This blog is about the various phases of the Software Testing Life Cycle.

Let's understand the sequence of the testing process which helps to meet Software Quality Goals via following the STLC process.

Each activity is carried out in a planned and systematic way. So let's continue understanding STLC from end to end as given below.

But first, let’s begin with the basic question i.e

What is Software Testing?

A process of scanning the software to detect the differences between the existing and the expected requirements OR to find out that the existing features match the Expected requirements and to evaluate the features of the software.

 

What is Lifecycle?

The life cycle means stages of testing which a QA/Tester performs on the software during the entire Testing Process.

 

Now, that we know what is software testing, let’s move forward with STLC.

 

WHAT IS SOFTWARE TESTING LIFE CYCLE (STLC)?

STLC is a series of certain phases executed to perform the Software Testing or to make sure that the required software/application or any website is as functional as required.

There are 6 different phases in the Software Testing Life Cycle. STLC is a testing process which is executed in a sequence, in order to meet the quality goals. STLC is followed by the QA team. STLC is mainly similar to the SLDC. STLC can also run alongside the SDLC.

Main Objectives of STLC.

STLC helps the Testers to decide priorities for what steps to be carried out for testing, and when to accomplish the testing. Each of the phases mentioned below has some Entry Criteria and Exit Criteria and on the basis of that, the Testing Team can decide whether to move forward to the next phase of the Life cycle or not.

* Entry Criteria is a minimum set of conditions that should be considered before starting the testing.

* Exit Criteria is also a minimum set of conditions that are to be completed in order to stop the testing.

Phases of STLC:-

So in this process, each step is carried out in a systematic manner. There are different phases in STLC which are given below. The testing activities start from the requirements analysis phase and goes through all the phases one by one before completing the Test cycle closure phase.

Each phase varies from organization to organization.

But the most common phases are as below:-

 

Phases of STLC Model

 
Requirement Analysis:-

In this phase, the QA Team coordinates with the Developer/Client to understand the requirements for the particular project in detail and understand what the team will be testing.

The test team understands the requirements from the testing point of view for testable points.

Below are the Types of Requirements:-

=> Business Requirements

=> Architectural Requirements

=> System & Integration Requirements

Test Planning:-

Test Planning is known as the most important phase on Software Testing Life Cycle.

In this, the QA Manager will decide the estimate for the cost and the testing effort required to test a particular project.

QA Manager will also prepare the Test Plan also known as Test Strategy and will finalize it.

Test Case Development:-

This is the phase where the testing team makes a sheet of the detailed test cases. The Test data is also prepared by the testing team if required. The Test cases and Test data created are then reviewed by the QA Manager and then reworked as well.

Points to be kept in mind while creating Test Cases:-

=> Test cases are needed to be kept simple.

=> They are prepared by keeping the End-Users in mind.

=> Test Case repetition needs to be avoided.

Test Environment Setup:-

Test Environment Setup is a vital part of the STLC.

A Test Environment is a setup of Software and Hardware for the testing teams to execute test cases.

* Steps to Setup the Test Environment:-

=> To set up a Test Environment, a list of required Software and Hardware needs to be prepared after analyzing the requirements.

=> Setup the Test Environment.

=> Execute the Smoke Test Cases.

 

Test Execution:-

Test Execution is the process to compare the expected and actual results. The test plans and test cases prepared by the testing team will be carrying out the Test Execution.

During this, if any Bugs are found, they will be assigned back to Development to rectify/or to be modified via any Bug Tracking Tool. When bugs will be fixed, retesting would be performed by the tester.

Test Cycle Closure:-

A Test Team meeting will be arranged to discuss and analyze the testing strategies which are needed to be followed to prevent the blockers in the future,  which are occurred in the current cycle.

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