STLC (Software Testing Life Cycle) – Overview & Phases

STLC (Software Testing Life Cycle) – Overview & Phases

Software Quality Assurance

Software testing is the most important process done by development teams before release. A testing technique called Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) can assist you in effectively meeting software quality standards. Systematic testing is required by STLC and is carried out in stages. So, continue reading for a detailed analysis of the overview and phases of STLC. If you are new to testing, you can enroll in online QA testing courses to land a job as a QA tester. 

Overview of STLC:

With STLC, teams may improve the efficacy and consistency of the agile testing process. They can improve productivity while establishing defined objectives and standards for every project component.

To ensure that every feature is tested and passed before adding more features, teams can set time limits for project testing. The STLC enables teams STLC to confirm that project requirements are fulfilled. Complete QA testing courses online to learn the basics of QA testing training from scratch. 

Phases of STLC

Requirement Analysis

In this stage, the test team examines and evaluates the requirements from the standpoint of testing.

This stage aids in determining whether or not the requirements may be tested. The test team can communicate with various stakeholders during this phase to establish the mitigation approach if any requirement cannot be tested. 

Requirements, acceptability standards, and the desired product architecture must all be documented for entry criteria. Accepted requirement traceability matrix (RTM) and automation feasibility report are the exit criteria.

Test Planning:

The process of testing begins with test planning. The Test Manager/Test Lead is usually responsible for estimating the effort and costs for the entire project at this phase. Based on the requirements analysis, the test plan will be prepared.

Planning resources, assigning roles and duties, choosing automation tools, assessing training needs, and other tasks are all done during this phase. This phase’s deliverables are the effort estimation and test plan documents.

Entry requirements include an automation feasibility report, requirement analysis, and RTM. The exit criterion is an accepted test plan with schedules and cost/risk evaluation.

Test Design:

In this phase, the test team initiates developing test cases. Testers create test cases, test data, and test scripts (if automation is used). The team lead or other peer reviewers examine the test cases when prepared. This phase’s deliverables include a requirements traceability matrix, test cases, scripts, and test data. 

Entry requirements are accepted test plans with timetables and cost/risk analysis. Accepted test cases and automation scripts are the exit criteria. You can easily get a QA testing job if you complete online QA training courses. 

Test environment setup

The hardware and software prerequisite list is used to guide the test environment creation. The test team must have the smoke test cases ready to verify that the test environment is ready.

Entry requirements are project architecture definitions and system designs. Accepted test cases and a fully operational test environment are the exit criteria.

Test Execution:

The test team begins carrying out the test cases by the scheduled test cases. The team test should update the case’s results in the test cases if they are Pass/Fail.

To resolve the flaws, the Development Team should get the defect report for unsuccessful test cases, which should be produced using a bug-tracking application.

After the flaw was corrected, more testing would be done. All exit requirements from earlier phases are entry requirements. Exit criteria include every test that is run and the outcomes that are recorded.

Test Closure:

In this final stage of the STLC, a report on the test results is created. This report should include a summary of the testing procedure and a comparison of the actual and projected outcomes. These comparisons include goals attained, duration, overall expenses, scope of testing, and any errors discovered. 

Test findings and logs from every earlier stage are the entry criteria. Test closure report delivered and authorized is the exit criteria. 

Final thoughts

Software Testing Life Cycle provides faster results for addressing bugs, higher-quality products, and effective and efficient test results. Join online QA courses if you want a high-paid QA analyst job description