Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) is the process of testing a software application to make sure it meets the requirements and doesn’t have any defects. It is a process that has specific goals and deliverables for each phase. The STLC makes sure that the software is good, safe, and meets the needs of the people who use it.
The primary objective of the Software Testing Lifecycle Management (STLC) is to identify and document any defects or issues in the software application at an early stage of the development process. This allows problems to be fixed before the software is released to the public.
The stages of the STLC include Requirement & design review, Test Planning, Test Design, Test Environment Setup, Test Execution, Test Reporting. Each stage has specific tasks and results that make sure the software is tested thoroughly and meets the needs of the people who will use it.
In summary, the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) is a significant procedure that aids in ensuring the quality of software applications and provides a systematic approach to testing. It enables organizations to develop top-notch software that caters to the demands of their clients, ultimately resulting in client contentment and business accomplishment.
Characteristics of STLC
- The Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) is an essential component of the software development life cycle but consists of only the testing phases.
- The STLC begins as soon as requirements are defined or a software requirement document is shared with stakeholders.
- STLC provides a step-by-step process for ensuring quality software development.
The testing team defines the scope of testing, entry and exit criteria, and test cases during the initial stages of STLC. It significantly improves product quality and reduces the test cycle time. After the completion of the development phase, the testing team will be equipped with test cases and commence the execution process. This helps to find bugs in the early stages of development.
How STLC Works? | Software Testing Life Cycle | ITLearn360 – YouTube
Phases of STLC
Requirement & design review
The initial phase will consist of a review of the requirements and design. The test team studies and analyzes the requirements from a testing perspective during this phase.
This phase helps us determine whether the requirements are testable. The test team will communicate with various stakeholders if a requirement is not testable during this phase.
Test Planning
After completing the requirement phase, the subsequent phase is referred to as the test planning phase. During this stage, test managers and leaders work to figure out how much work and money it will take to complete the project. The requirement analysis will be used to prepare the test plan. Now we are moving on to the next step, which is designing tests.
Test Design
In the realm of test design, the testing team commences with the development of test cases. Once the test cases are ready, they are reviewed by the other members of the team or the team leader.
Testing helps prepare the RTM(Requirements Traceability Matrix), which is also called the comment traceability matrix.
Test environment setup
This phase can be started at the same time as the test design phase. The setup of the test environment is carried out based on the list of hardware and software requirements. In certain instances, the test team may not be involved in this phase, and the development team provides the complete testing environment. Moving forward, the main phase, which is the test execution, begins.
Test execution
This phase involves the test team starting to execute the test cases based on the planned test cases.
If a test case is deemed scattered or fails, it’s crucial to update the information in the subsequent tests. It is advisable to prepare defect reports for failed test cases and submit them to the development team through bug tracking tools such as JIRA. After the test execution is complete, then the test reporting or some other form of closure is called.
Test Reporting
Now this is the last step. Here we prepare test closure report, test matrices. The test team will have a meeting to evaluate the whole process and decide what needs to be done based on how much work was done, how long it took, how much it cost, what the software does, what the business wants, and what the test team thinks. In order to identify these strategies, it is imperative that they are implemented in the future, as it will aid in eliminating impediments in the forthcoming projects.
