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Software Testing Life Cycle STLC

 STC Admin
 October 2, 2013
 Software Testing / Software Testing Process / STLC / Testing Process
Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) is the testing process which is executed in systematic and
planned manner. In STLC process, different activities are carried out to improve the quality of
the product. Let’s quickly see what all stages are involved in typical Software Testing Life Cycle
(STLC).
Following steps are involved in Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC). Each step is have its own
Entry Criteria and deliverable.
 Requirement Analysis
 Test Planning
 Test Case Development
 Environment Setup
 Test Execution
 Test Cycle Closure
Ideally, the next step is based on previous step or we can say next step cannot be started unless
and until previous step is completed. It is possible in the ideal situation, but practically it is not
always true.
So Let’s discuss what all activities and deliverable are involved in the each step in detailed.

Requirement Analysis:
Requirement Analysis is the very first step in Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC). In this step
Quality Assurance (QA) team understands the requirement in terms of what we will testing &
figure out the testable requirements. If any conflict, missing or not understood any requirement,
then QA team follow up with the various stakeholders like Business Analyst, System
Architecture, Client, Technical Manager/Lead etc to better understand the detail knowledge of
requirement.
From very first step QA involved in the where STLC which helps to prevent the introducing
defects into Software under test. The requirements can be either Functional or Non-Functional
like Performance, Security testing. Also requirement and Automation feasibility of the project
can be done in this stage (if applicable)

Entry Criteria Activities Deliverable

Following documents should be
available:
– Requirements Specification.
– Application architectural
Prepare the list of questions or
queries and get resolved from
Business Analyst, System
Architecture, Client, Technical
Manager/Lead etc.
Make out the list for what all Types
of Tests performed like Functional,
Security, and Performance etc.
List of questions with all answ
resolved from business i.e. te
requirements
Automation feasibility report
applicable)
Along with above documents
Acceptance criteria should be well
defined.
Define the testing focus and
priorities.
List down the Test environment
details where testing activities will be
carried out.

Checkout the Automation feasibility

if required & prepare the Automation
feasibility report.

Test Planning:
Test Planning is most important phase of Software testing life cycle where all testing strategy is
defined. This phase also called as Test Strategy phase. In this phase typically Test Manager (or
Test Lead based on company to company) involved to determine the effort and cost estimates for
entire project. This phase will be kicked off once the requirement gathering phase is completed
& based on the requirement analysis, start preparing the Test Plan. The Result of Test Planning
phase will be Test Plan or Test strategy & Testing Effort estimation documents. Once test
planning phase is completed the QA team can start with test cases development activity.
Get the Sample Test Plan Template here.

Entry Criteria Activities Deliverable

Requirements Documents (Updated Define Objective & scope of the Test Plan or Test strategy doc
version of unclear or missing project. Testing Effort estimationdocu
requirement). List down the testing types involved
Automation feasibility report. in the STLC.

Test effort estimation and resource

planning.

Selection of testing tool if required.

Define the testing process overview.

Define the test environment required

for entire project.

Prepare the test schedules.

Define the control procedures.

 Determining roles and
responsibilities.

List down the testing deliverable.

Define the entry criteria, suspension

criteria, resumption criteria and exit
criteria.

Define the risk involved if any.

Test Case Development:

The test case development activity is started once the test planning activity is finished. This is the
phase of STLC where testing team write down the detailed test cases. Along with test cases
testing team also prepare the test data if any required for testing. Once the test cases are ready
then these test cases are reviewed by peer members or QA lead.

Also the Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) is prepared. The Requirement Traceability
Matrix is an industry-accepted format for tracking requirements where each test case is mapped
with the requirement. Using this RTM we can track backward & forward traceability.

Entry Criteria Activities Deliverable

Requirements Documents (Updated Preparation of test cases. Test cases.

version of unclear or missing
requirement).
Automation feasibility report.
Preparation of test automation scripts Test data.
(if required).
Test Automation Scripts (if re
Re-requisite test data preparation for
executing test cases.

Test Environment Setup:

Setting up the test environment is vital part of the STLC. Basically test environment decides on
which conditions software is tested. This is independent activity and can be started parallel with
Test Case Development. In process of setting up testing environment test team is not involved in
it. Based on company to company may be developer or customer creates the testing environment.
Mean while testing team should prepare the smoke test cases to check the readiness of the test
environment setup.

Entry Criteria Activities Deliverable

Test Plan is available.
Smoke Test cases are available.
Test data is available.
Analyze the requirements and
prepare the list of Software &
hardware required to set up test
environment.
Setup the test environment.
Test Environment will be rea
test data.
Result of Smoke Test cases.

Once the Test Environment is setup

execute the Smoke test cases to
check the readiness of the test
environment.

Test Execution:
Once the preparation of Test Case Development and Test Environment setup is completed then
test execution phase can be kicked off. In this phase testing team start executing test cases based
on prepared test planning & prepared test cases in the prior step.

Once the test case is passed then same can be marked as Passed. If any test case is failed then
corresponding defect can be reported to developer team via bug tracking system & bug can be
linked for corresponding test case for further analysis. Ideally every failed test case should be
associated with at least single bug. Using this linking we can get the failed test case with bug
associated with it. Once the bug fixed by development team then same test case can be executed
based on your test planning.

If any of the test cases are blocked due to any defect then such test cases can be marked as
Blocked, so we can get the report based on how many test cases passed, failed, blocked or not
run etc. Once the defects are fixed, same Failed or Blocked test cases can be executed again to
retest the functionality.

Entry Criteria Activities Deliverable

Test Plan or Test strategy document. Based on test planning execute the Test case execution report.
Test cases. test cases. Defect report.
Mark status of test cases like Passed,
Test data. Failed, Blocked, Not Run etc.

Assign Bug Id for all Failed and

Blocked test cases.

Do Retesting once the defects are

fixed.

Track the defects to closure.

Test Cycle Closure:
Call out the testing team member meeting & evaluate cycle completion criteria based on Test
coverage, Quality, Cost, Time, Critical Business Objectives, and Software. Discuss what all went
good, which area needs to be improve & taking the lessons from current STLC as input to
upcoming test cycles, which will help to improve bottleneck in the STLC process. Test case &
bug report will analyze to find out the defect distribution by type and severity. Once complete
the test cycle then test closure report & Test metrics will be prepared. Test result analysis to find
out the defect distribution by type and severity.

Entry Criteria Activities Deliverable

Test case execution is completed
Test case Execution report
Defect report
Evaluate cycle completion criteria Test Closure report
based on Test coverage, Quality, Test metrics
Cost, Time, Critical Business
Objectives, and Software Prepare test
metrics based on the above
parameters.
Prepare Test closure report

Share best practices for any similar

projects in future

Conclusion:
I think I have addressed all major points of Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC). I would like all
of you to please share you experience on STLC in below comment section. To get software
testing articles in your inbox click here to subscribe with your email address. If you really like
the article then please share over below multiple sharing options below.

Happy Testing!!!

Related posts:

1. V Model
2. How To Create Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)?
3. Tips/Guidelines to Improve Software Testing Process
4. What is Software Testing?
5. What is Manual Testing?
6. Why testing should start early in software development life cycle?
7. Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing
8. Difference Between Static Testing And Dynamic Testing
 9. Start Testing Before Testing Starts
10. Software Testing Weekly Status Report
TAGS: SDLC, SDLC VS STLC, SOFTWARE TESTING LIFE CYCLE, STLC, TESTING LIFE CYCLE
Continue Reading
Previous PostWhy testing should start early in software development life cycle?
Next PostStart Testing Before Testing Starts
THIS POST HAS 51 C OMMENTS

1.
sushma
20 SEP 2013
ITS VERY EASY TO LEARN FROM THIS SITE THANKS TO AUTHOR

2.
Amol
4 OCT 2013
very nice explanation. Thanks.

3.
Himanshu
8 OCT 2013
Superb!!!!
Its help a lot..!!!
4.
Kirti
8 OCT 2013
Nice!
Would like to see article on SQL queries.

5.
Ajish
8 OCT 2013
Very useful information in simple lay mans language…Thanks a lot!!!

6.
Maya Shinde
8 OCT 2013
I really like this help,it real useful.
i want to know about database testing?

7.
Pavan Singh
 8 OCT 2013
Hi
I am Pavan, I want to learn about different between STLC and SDLC. Can you please explain
this.
Thanks in advance!
Pavan Singh

8.
Rupin
8 OCT 2013
thanks for sharing this valuable information!

9.
raghu
22 OCT 2013
Very Good Article

10.
Vijay
28 OCT 2013
Really its very useful information to all software tester.
11.
neha
29 OCT 2013
very very nicely explain. thankuu

12.
Satish
26 NOV 2013
Hi,
First i would like to say thanks
This was awesome topic given by you
having full stuff

13.
Saloni
30 NOV 2013
Explained very Well !!!!

14.
 Raghuraman
3 DEC 2013
Thank you so much for your nice explanation..:)

15.
sailaja
25 DEC 2013
very nice article

16.
yogesh
19 JAN 2014
GUD…

17.
Anuja
18 APR 2014
Its very helpful …Thnaks a lot.. I would like to know more about What is test case?, what is test
plan? and examples for the same.
18.
jeetender
18 MAY 2014
can someone please explain what is the software quality assurance? also what is the deference
between the bugs and the product defect?

19.
Divya
4 JUN 2014
Easy to go-through which helps for interview a lot…..

20.
dhirendra
16 JUL 2014
Thank u so much for posting easy process for understanding in STLC

21.
priya
22 AUG 2014
 Really short and easy.. Thank you very much…..

22.
Shri
30 SEP 2014
Thank u so much for posting easy process for understanding in STLC

23.
pooja
16 OCT 2014
Thanks for nice Explanation

24.
Sitakanta Nayak
17 OCT 2014
Nice,its very easy to understand by a common man

25.
Chalapathi Vemula
16 APR 2015
 Very useful information in simple lay mans language…Thanks a lot!!!

26.
vivek
26 JUN 2015
It’s really helpfull for us…thank u so much

27.
Ashok Kumar
5 DEC 2015
I think STLC should also covered bug-regression or retesting cycle.
Kindly validate.

28.
surya prakash
11 JAN 2016
easy to understand this stlc…
thanks to author……

29.
 Sandeep
6 MAR 2016
Can i have Testing Effort estimation document ?

Thank you in advance..

30.
aditya
25 MAR 2016
Good explanation,very useful.

31.
Bindia
28 MAR 2016
Explained very well.

32.
Madhu
24 MAY 2016
What is bottleneck
33.
Mohammad A Hossain
13 JUN 2016
it is a good writing about stlc.Thanks

34.
abhijit
23 JUN 2016
very nice

35.
Yuvaraj
7 JUL 2016
It is easy to learn I got more knowledges thank you

36.
Asha
5 SEP 2016
I want to learn about different between STLC and SDLC. Can you please explain this.
 Thanks in advance!

37.
Roshan Lal
20 SEP 2016
very simple and understandeble tipic.

38.
sush
7 DEC 2016
very helpful…..thanks a lot

39.
vamshi
17 DEC 2016
Thanks and very helpful

40.
Diptesh Raut
27 DEC 2016
 Thamks
_/\_

41.
supriya
28 DEC 2016
superbb job done very well

42.
Nidhi
5 JAN 2017
Too Good. Thanks for sharing!!

43.
shaik basha
15 FEB 2017
Very nice article. Thanks for providing.

44.
 Rp Singh
26 FEB 2017
it is very good and very helpful about STLC.TYSM

45.
Nilam
25 DEC 2017
Such a nice articles. Thank u very much

46.
Mahinder Gupta
8 JAN 2018
it was very helpful to understand the process..

47.
Robert
18 JAN 2018
Thanks for sharing such a nice information on Software testing life cycle.

48.
 Lakshmi
18 JAN 2018
IT IS EASY TO LEARN

49.
Limba
2 MAR 2018
Very usefull

50.
Arman
20 MAR 2018
Great document!!!

51.
Zeeshan Ali
10 MAY 2018
it’s really awesome i visit many website even i see this topic on youtube but i can’t understand
easily here i find solution and getting too much knowledge
Comments are closed.

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