Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) - Testing process

Step-1:Requirements

Step-2:Test planning

step-3:Test case writing

step-4:Test case execution

step-5:Test sign-off


Requirements

First and most important input for testing is requirement. Requirements are mostly gathered by the Business development team. These requirements are really not of technical requirements. Language is very much understood by non-technical users. Later on Project Manager/Programme Manager comes up with the requirements in proper format commonly known as functional specifications/business requirement specifications. These documents generally are doc format.

Tester's role:It's really important for test team to participate in requirement review process.This helps the entire product team to start in right track from the beginning. Output expected from a tester here in review meetings are:

• See if requirements are testable?

Example: If Requirement says "Web pages must look beautiful". How will you test if web pages are beautiful? Can you answer this? So test team points out these kind of issues in requirement reviews.

• Make sure requirements are clear,concise and not contradictory.
• Understand the requirements clearly,ask questions.As later in cycle tester's need to test the application against the requirements.

This is the first stage where tester test the requirements.

Test Planning

Once you are done with requirement reviews then PM/PO will come up with the final version of requirement specs.

Now based on the final requirement specs test team will plan there testing activities like coming up with test strategy, test plan writing etc.

Test plan is mostly developed by test lead or senior test member. The test planning will mainly answer the following:

• What to cover :functional testing, performance testing, load testing, accessibility testing, regression testing etc..?
• Time line for above.
• who will do what?
• Only manual testing or Automation?
• If Automation then what percentage?
• Dependencies?
• Test activities & timeline: like test case writing,test execution,bug bash,test sign off etc
• test sign off criteria.

Test case writing

Once test plan is written it go through some review process and final document gets publish in the team. Now testers start writing test cases for the features/functionality. Good way of writing test cases is to first write test case outlines (TCO's) and then convert those tco's in detail test cases.
TCOs are basically one line statement about a test scenario that test intend to test.

Further tester breaks the TCOs in multiple test cases with all details like "Steps", "Expected results", "Priority" etc.

• To see if there is a good test coverage for scenarios.
• To see if steps provided in test cases are clear and concise."
Tools used for Test case writing : Some companies use word or excel format and rest uses Test management tools.

Other activities that always go along with test case writing is test case update where testers Add/edit/delete test cases because of following reasons:

o Wrong test cases written by a tester.
o Some changes in existing requirement which may require editing of existing test case or adding new test cases.
o Missed scenarios by testers.

Test Execution/Test Pass/Test Run

Once the Developer are done with coding. Test team starts the action:
o Developer release a build for testing.
o Test team will now run BVT tests.
o Once the BVT tests are pass. Test team will accept the build.
o Now the actual test pass starts.
o Test team will run the tests they have written.
o Test will mark the test cases Pass/Fail accordingly.
o Test will log bugs for the failed test cases.
o Test will verify the fix for resolved bugs and accordingly close the bugs.
o Test team will do the complete test pass again if required or do a test of some selective test cases to make sure that there are no regression bugs.
etc.

These activities are part of every milestone or iterations. Once test passes are complete.Next step is Test Sign-off.

Test Sign-Off

Now the time comes when test team will do the test sign-off. Normally the test sign-off criteria is mentioned in the test plan. It's being done by the QA head/test manager/lead.