Software Test Life Cycle (STLC)

STLC (Software Test Life Cycle): It is testing process which carried out different activities in multiple phases to improve the quality of the product (software) known as STLC.

Different phases of Software Test Life Cycle:

i) Requirement Analysis/Design Review
ii) Test Planning
iii) Test Design
iv) Environment Setup
v) Test case/scenario Execution
vi) Test Closure




i) Requirement Analysis/Design Review: Tester (Test Team) try to understand/analyze requirements/designs (if design available). QA communicate with Client, Business Analyst, technical lead, System Architecture to understand requirements.

Purpose: Understand what needs to be tested.
Activities:
Study functional and non-functional requirements
Identify testable requirements
Identify types of testing required (functional, performance, security)

ii) Test Planning: In this phase, Senior Tester/QA involve in scheduling the testing details like feature to be tested, approach, pass/fail criteria, responsibilities, test deliverable, environment need, staffing and training, Test team lead would prepare the test plan.

Purpose: Plan the testing approach.
Activities:
Define test strategy
Estimate effort, time, and cost
Select testing tools
Assign roles and responsibilities
Identify risks

iii) Test Design: In this phase, Tester identify the test scenarios and write/review test cases. Create test data on the basis of test design technique.

Purpose: Create test cases and test data.
Activities:
Write test cases
Prepare test scripts (for automation)
Prepare test data
Review and update test cases

iv) Test Environment Setup: On the basis of requirement/software and hardware set up environment. Sometimes client/ developer team provide the environment details.

Purpose: Prepare the environment for testing.
Activities:
Set up hardware and software
Configure test servers and databases
Perform smoke testing

v)Test Execution: In this phase, Tester execute the written test scenarios/cases in the test environment. Raise a defect/bug and assign to developer team. Re-testing defect/bug once bug fixed.

Purpose: Execute test cases.
Activities:
Execute test cases
Compare actual and expected results
Mark test cases as pass/fail
Log defects in defect tracking tool

vi) Test Closure: Prepare a deliverable (Report) document for the stakeholders/client.

Purpose: Complete the testing process.
Activities:
Evaluate test completion criteria
Analyze test results
Document lessons learned
Prepare test summary report

Note: There are no restriction to follow the same order of STLC.