Software Testing Life Cycle

The Software testing life cycle contains the following components:

• Requirements Analysis - Mainly done by Project Manager and System Analyst
• Use Case Documentation - Again this is done by System Analyst
• Developing Test Plan - Done by Test Lead
• Developing Test Case - Test Lead and Test Engineer
• Test Case Execution - Test Engineer
• Test Report Generation - Test Engineer
• Defect Reporting - Test Engineer
• Defect Retest - Test Engineer

Recommended Resources
• Testing Interview Questions - http://www.coolinterview.com/type.asp
• Testing Tools Interview Questions - http://www.coolinterview.com/type.asp
• What is Software Testing?- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_testing
• Software QA & Testing Resource Center- http://www.softwareqatest.com/
• Testing Faqs- http://www.testingfaqs.org/

A Sample Test Plan

The Test Plan identifies multiple test levels, which are going to be performed for the project. Activities which are going to be performed at each level must be planned in advance and has to be formally documented.

Below I am describing a sample Test plan:

1. Purpose

<The purpose of this document is to describe the various test cases, testing methodologies, environments and the Software/Hardware tools that would be used followed during <unit/integration/system> testing in the ABC project.>
2. Approvals and Authorizations

	Designation	Name	Date
Author
Approved By

3. Distribution

Holder’s Designation	Holder’s Name	Issue Date
Project Manager
Test Lead

4. Amendment Record

No	Date	Section(s)	Issue No.	Description

5. Test Plan
5.1 Objective of Test
<The objective of the integration/system test is to test the interfaces between the modules comprising the ABC product and to meet the performance criteria and benchmarks requirements criteria, if any, which may include volume and stress testing>
5.2 Test Method
<Details of the Test Strategy>

5.3 Entry and Exit Criteria

5.3.1 Entry Criteria
• Unit / Integration / System test plan approved.
• Coding phase / Unit testing / Integration testing complete
5.3.2 Exit Criteria
• Unit / Integration / System testing complete.
• Test records produced.
• Defect reports/Defect Tracking/produced and resolved.
5.4 Test Schedule
<As defined in the Project Management Plan.>
5.5 Defect Reporting and Monitoring Progress
• Defect reports/Defect Tracking will be maintained in line with the Testing Procedure.
• The Test Lead will issue a test report to the team members, Project Lead and Project Manager on a fortnightly basis.
5.6 Build Plan and Build Refresh Criteria
A new build of the software will be made whenever
• A Defect is found which prevents further testing
• All test cases have been executed and some Defects have been corrected
5.7 Resource Requirements
5.7.1 Hardware Requirements

Resource	Description	Qty

5.7.2 Software Requirements

Software	Description	Qty

6. Test Architecture
6.1 Test Architecture/Topology

<Draw the various test architecture/topology required for the testing>

I will try to post a new blog on Test Architecture/Topology very soon. Keep updating and keep visiting... :)

7 Test Environment Set up
< Describe the Testing Environment >

8. Test Cases
<Test cases definition for this testing is documented in the separate Test Case Form.>

For more details on Test Case, please visit the Test Case Form blog :) .

Software Testing in SDLC

The orthodox software process model typically suggest Software testing after development of code. This process is advocated by several process models like:

• Waterfall Model - Linear model
• Prototype Model - Though we have scope to test at early phase.

Several studies has shows that this linear approach amplifies the defects several times.

Accommodating software testing early in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) will reduce errors and in turn save cost and effort. Here I am trying to illustrate a process model which has been derived from popular waterfall model:

If you carefully analyses the above shown process model, you will come to the conclusion that, this is not different from any linear model. The only change is the placement of the testing phase; which has been at the beginning, just after High level design phase. The diagram is quite self defining, so I am not putting any more detail about this.

Note: Ref - CMM in Practice: Processes for Executing Software Projects at Infosys (The SEI Series in Software Engineering) by Pankaj Jalote

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