What is Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)?
It is a structured testing process wherein a particular software goes through different testing phases in order to be bug-free and achieve good quality. There are a series of phases involved and each phase has specific deliverables and objectives.
Phases of STLC:
- Analyzing the requirements: This is the first phase of the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) process. The specific requirements pertaining to testing are analyzed by the software testing team. The Following are the key points covered in this phase:
- The Software Requirements Document (SRD) and other relevant documents are reviewed by the team
- Additional information is gathered by interviewing stakeholders
- Inconsistencies or ambiguities are identified in the requirements.
- Planning the test: In this phase, the testing plans are properly defined. The estimated cost and effort of the testing work are calculated by the testing team. The following are the key points covered in this phase:
- The testing scope and objectives are identified
- A test strategy is developed wherein the testing techniques and methods that will be used are identified
- The testing resources and environment is identified.
- Developing test case: The detailed test cases are noted down by the testing team. The required test data for testing is prepared by the testing team. Once the preparation of test cases is done successfully then the QA team will review it. The following are the key points covered in this phase:
- Those test cases that need to be developed are identified
- Test cases that are concise, clear and easy to understand are written.
- Setting up the test environment: The specific conditions are taken into consideration while setting up the test environment. It can be carried out along with test case development. The customer or developer will be involved in creating the test environment.
- Executing tests: In this phase, those test cases are executed by the testing team that has been prepared in the earlier steps.
- Closing the test: In this Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) phase, all the testing related activities are properly documented. This phase checks whether all the testing related activities have been successfully completed so that the final software product or application can be released.
