Everything about STLC (Software Testing Life cycle)

Basic Terminology

Entry Criteria

For Instance, to start the Test Cases development phase, the following conditions should be met:

 · The requirement document should be available.

 · Complete understanding of the application flow is required.

 · The Test Plan Document should be ready.

Exit Criteria

Exit criteria are a set of expectations; this should be met before concluding the STLC phase.

For Instance, to conclude the Test Cases development phase, following expectations should be met: · Test Cases should be written and reviewed.

· Test Data should be identified and ready.

· Test automation script should be ready if applicable.

Acceptance criteria

It means the expected behaviour of a functionality, module and application as listed in the requirement documents. The main purpose of this test is to evaluate the system's compliance with the business requirements and verify if it has met the required criteria.

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STLC stands for Software Testing Life Cycle. STLC is a sequence of different activities performed by the testing team to ensure the quality of the software or the product.

 · STLC is an integral part of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). But, STLC deals only with the testing phases.

 · STLC starts as soon as requirements are defined or SRD (Software Requirement Document) is shared by stakeholders.

 · STLC provides a step-by-step process to ensure quality software.

· In the early stage of STLC, while the software or the product is developing, the tester can analyze  and define the scope of testing, entry and exit criteria and also the Test Cases. It helps to reduce the test cycle time along with better quality.

 · As soon as the development phase is over, the testers are ready with test cases and start with execution. This helps to find bugs in the initial phase. Below are phases of STLC

Requirement Analysis – When the SRD is ready and shared with the stakeholders, the testing team starts high level analysis concerning the AUT (Application under Test).

·         The entry criteria of this phase is the provision of SRS (Software Requirement Specification); it is also recommended that the application architecture is handy

·         In this phase, the QA team analyzes at a higher level what to test and how to test.

·         The QA team follows up with various stakeholders like Business Analyst, System Architecture, Client, Test Manager/Lead in case any query or clarification is required to understand the requirement.

·         The exit criteria of this phase is to complete the RTM document, automation feasibility report and a list of questions if applicable to be more specific on the requirements

·         Defining the Scope >>> Prepare RTM >>> Automation Analysis

·         RTM: The Matrix is bidirectional, as it tracks the requirement forward by examining the output of the deliverables and backward by looking at the business requirement that was specified for a particular feature of the product.

· Test Planning – Test Team plans the strategy and approach.

·         It is the first phase of actual testing tasks.

·         This phase answers “WHAT is to be tested” and “WHAT RESOURCES are required to test”

·         The basic entry criteria of this phase are provision of Requirement Documents (updated version of unclear/missing/clarified requirements) along with Requirement Traceability Matrix.

·         If automation is in scope, Automation Feasibility Report should be prepared before entering in this phase.

·         The exit criteria of this phase is completion of Test Strategy/Test Plan Document and Test effort Estimation document.

·         Scope of Deliverables(testing scope, testing process, defect management, risk analysis, automation solution and candidates) >>> Effort estimation(Size of AUT, MANday calculation,  project cost)  >>> Resource Plan (by project manager)

· Test Case Designing – Develop the test cases based on scope and criteria’s.

·         Entry criteria- activities in test planning should be finished and the test plan should be ready

·         Exit criteria -test cases should be signed off, the test data should be ready and the test scripts prepared if automation is in scope.

·         Test cases should be mapped with the Requirement Traceability Matrix to follow up on coverage of requirements if anything is missed.

·         Test Scenarios Identification(use hacker mindset,lookup complaints for competitive product) >>>  Test Cases Writing >>> Test Data Preparation

· Test Environment Setup – When integrated environment is ready to validate the product.

·         It is a combination of hardware and software environment on which the tests will be executed.

·         Unavailability or faulty environment setup can ruin all the testing efforts.

·         It is and independent activity and can be started along with test case development.

·         Readiness of the test environment can be validated by smoke testing, and performed by the QA team

·         Entry Criteria - provision of Test Plan, readiness of Smoke Test cases and preparation of test data.

·         Exit criteria - the test environment should be ready and smoke testing should be performed successfully with expected results.

· Test Execution – Real-time validation of product and finding bugs.

·         The QA team performs actual validation of AUT based on prepared test cases and compares the stepwise result with the expected result

·         System Integration Testing >>> Defect Reporting >>> Defect Mapping >> Re-testing >> Regression Testing

·         Entry criteria - completion of the Test Plan and the Test Cases Development phase, the test data should also be ready

·         Exit criteria - successful validation of all Test Cases; Defects should be closed or deferred; test case execution and defect summary report should be ready.

· Test Closure – Once testing is completed, matrix, reports, results are documented.

·         No showstoppers or critical defects

·         Entry criteria - execution of the test case is complete, test results are available and the defects report is ready.

·         Exit criteria - provision of test closure reports and preparation of matrices which are later signed off by the client.

·         Test Completion Report >>> Test Completion Matrix >>> Test Result