Software Testing Life Cycle – STLC

Shobika

9 years ago

Software Testing Life Cycle is a process followed by software industries to test the software products. STLC is the acronym for Software Testing Life Cycle. STLC process is followed strictly to ensure quality products are delivered to the customers within the planned schedule and cost.

Software testers will be highly involved in the testing process to make sure high standard software is developed. Whole Life Cycle defines and improves the overall software quality and test process.

STLC has six stages while each phase has its own deliverables and activities which serve as the entry criteria for the next phase.

Requirement Analysis
Test Planning
Test Case Development
Environment Setup
Test Execution
Test Closure Activity

Let’s explore each stage of STLC one by one with activities and deliverables.

Requirement Analysis

Requirement analysis is the first phase of STLC
QA team interacts with the various stakeholders to understand the requirements
Analyze the requirements and define the scope of testing for the software
Design documents should also be reviewed to avoid potential design issues/bugs
QA also make sure that they are evident about the functional as well as the non-functional requirements
Analysis of the test environment also needs to be done in this phase, so that you will have clear picture about the environment where you supposed to execute tests
Automation testing feasibility for the software could be analyzed during this phase as well

Deliverable: Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM), Automation feasibility Report

2. Test Planning

Test Planning is the second phase of STLC
Test Strategy is identified and test plan is created based on the analyzed requirements
Resources, Budget, Schedule are also planned by Managers for the project and finalize the test plan.
Automation tools are researched and selected (if automation is planned)
Roles and Responsibilities are assigned
Efforts are also estimated so that they can fix a deadline for the project
Identify the testing types for the software

Deliverable: Test Plan, Effort Estimation, Budget & Schedule Allocation, Resources Allocation, Automation tool Selection

3. Test Case Development

Test Case development is the third phase of STLC
Testers design detailed test cases based on requirements
Create test scripts for the test cases created
Identify the test data for the test cases
Developed test cases can be peer-reviewed and reworked based on the feedbacks
Automation test scripts and test cases are scripted using automation tool (if exists)

Deliverable: Test Cases, Test Scripts, Test Data, Automation Scripts (if applicable)

4. Environment Setup

Environment Setup is the fourth phase of STLC
Setup QA environment (Client/Server/Database/Utilities) that replicates end user requirements and needs
Environment setup is an independent activity, can be performed along with test case development phase
Test Environment setup differs, depends upon the company and the software under test
Also, QA team makes sure smoke test cases are in place to check the readiness of the software under test
Create snapshot of your environment, so that you can restore it back when needed (in case if you messed up)

Deliverable: Test Environment, Smoke Test Cases

5. Test Execution

Test Execution is the fifth phase of STLC
Designed test cases are executed based on the requirements
Both functional and non-functional test cases are executed (if applicable)
Validate test cases against the requirements, if test work as expected, mark it as Passed
If validation fails and if it deviates from the expected result, mark it as Failed
Log bugs and assign them to developers
Retest fixed bugs and make sure it has been verified and closed
Link bugs to the test cases (orphan bugs are difficult to track)
Automation test scripts are executed and results are recorded
Document test results for sign off

Deliverable: Test Execution Results, Bug report

6. Test Closure Activity

Test Closure Activity is the Sixth phase of STLC
Lessons learned document is prepared so that in future can be referred
Test Summary report is created
Backup of test cases, scripts and data are taken for future reuse
Best practices are also shared across the team so that it will be useful for future test cycles
Reports are also generated for reporting purposes
Test metrics are also prepared

Deliverable: Test Summary Report, Lessons Learnt Documentation, Defect Metrics, Final Test Results, and Bug Reports

Note: STLC phases do not necessarily should have to be in order, they can be performed simultaneously as well like Test Case Development and Environment setup.

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