HCOR, after deciding on the one question to rule them all, they had to find the perfect one for all the QA candidates, both automation and manual testers. It was not difficult to find that question though: Could you explain what STLC is? Le answer: STLC is short for Software Test Life Cycle and defines the steps to get the testing process done in SDLC.
Entry and Exit Criteria
Before we dive into (or climb up to) the steps of STLC, we need to know about the Entry and Exit Criteria which apply to all the levels in STLC. Simply, Entry Criteria are the things to be done before starting the particular phase, and Exit Criteria are the things to be done to conclude that phase. Before moving on to the next stage, ideally, the Exit Criteria should be met. Every step has its own criteria, and while we’re learning about them, we will also get to know about their entry and exit criteria.
Stairway to STLC
- System Study
Also called, “Requirement Analysis”. Just like in SDLC, the first step is for the testers to understand the requirements. At this stage, the system is fully understood, the types of testing to be done and the priorities are defined, and the Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) is created. RTM is the scheme to track that each and every requirement is covered. Even though it is prepared at the first stage, delivery of the matrix is done at the last step after all the testing is done.
Entry Criteria: Requirements and the design of the project are given to the testers
Exit Criteria: All the requirements are understood, and the RTM is read - Test Planning
A “Test Plan” is a document, written by the test lead, consisting of all the testing-related activities the team is going to do. Some of the things covered in the test plan are testing strategy, effort estimation, and human force (who is going to test what is there any training required?). We will learn about how to write a proper test plan in detail in a later chapter.
Entry Criteria: Requirement documents and the RTM are ready
Exit Criteria: The test Plan is ready and approved - Test Design
Once the test plan is ready, it is time for the “test cases” to be created, usually on a spreadsheet. A test case is the smallest unit of the testing process and defines a certain functionality to be verified by the testers (e.g., Clicking on the tab title redirects to the corresponding page). It includes such things as the pre-condition, post-condition, and reproduction steps (Don’t worry, all will be covered in the Test Case Writing Tutorial).
Entry Criteria: Test Plan and the RTM are available
Exit Criteria: Test cases are created, reviewed, and vetted - Environment Setup
The testers need to work in an environment where they feel the most comfortable. Research (Not sure what research is it, but there has to be research about it) shows that humans feel the best when they are trees and tame animals around and facing a source of water. This means it is time for the project managers to consider moving their beloved testing team to a lake nearby.
Unfortunately, the only environment we care about in STLC is the “Testing Environment”. The test environment includes the hardware to be used, network connections (some companies will have a different network for testing activities) and builds to be used. In this step, testers set up all of these things to start testing perhaps with the help of IT. Once the environment setup is done, a “Smoke Test” is performed to see if the build is ready for thorough testing.
Entry Criteria: The environment setup plan and the system design documents are available
Exit Criteria: Setup is ready for testing, and smoke testing is done - Test Execution
Test Execution is done on the test scenarios and cases prepared in step 3 according to the test plan. Most of the action of STLC is done in this phase: performing the actual testing, smashing the ugly bugs, clashing with the developers about the bugs, and all the good stuff.
Bug or Defect Tracking can be considered as part of the execution phase as well. It is all about following the bugs from their birth to their death (Bug Life Cycle will be explained in detail in another chapter). It also includes retesting the bugs to verify the fixes.
Entry Criteria: Test Plan, RTM, test cases, and the test environment are ready
Exit Criteria: All the test cases are executed according to the plan, and the defects are closed - Test Closure
End of everything. Towards this phase, ideally, all the cases should be executed, and trackers and defects should be closed. After the testing is done, the “Test Case Execution Record (TCER)” is created to provide what has been done in a statistics format to evaluate the coverage, quality, cost, and time. A defect distribution report is also created for later reference on what areas are the most affected. Lastly, the “Test Closure Report” is prepared to indicate all the work is done. After all, a “Post-Mortem” meeting is held by the Test Manager of the release as a retrospective.
Entry Criteria: All the testing is completed with the defect reports and the results
Exit Criteria: Test Closure Report and the TCER is created
Ideal Testing Environment
So that’s that. Congratulations, the brave testers who were able to make it here to complete the SDLC tutorial. We now know about SDLC and several types of it, Agile Methodology and STLC. We can finally start discovering the mysterious galaxy of testing. May the force be with us!
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