Creating a test strategy assists QA and development teams in ensuring successful and thorough testing of their product. Engineering departments may organize and track their testing with a software test plan, guaranteeing that their test scripts are written to match their product goals. Here , we will discuss the function of test planning in the SDLC and how to create an effective software test strategy. Then, we will learn how to create a robust test plan.
Software Test Planning Explained
A test plan is a strategy document that covers all necessary information about testing software for the latest release or sprint.
A thorough test strategy will ensure that the product is released on schedule without sacrificing overall quality. This is accomplished by:
Creating a testing plan and objectives.
Choosing the scope of the testing.
Creating a testing schedule.
Identifying the primary tasks of each member of the testing team.
Identifying the work and resources necessary to complete a comprehensive test cycle.
Outline the planned outcomes.
Presenting the expected outcomes.
Assisting the QA and development teams in identifying and overcoming any potential roadblocks or issues that may arise during the testing phase.
The software test plan is frequently communicated with the other stakeholders such as the Managers, Engineers and Analysts in order to offer insight into the testing methodologies to be employed and to assure that everyone involved in the project is on a similar path. The QA manager responsible for the testing process, is in charge of overseeing all of the actions specified in the test plan.
Test Planning, SDLC, and STLC
The process of developing, producing, and distributing a well-crafted software product is known as software development. Engineering firms use a Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) framework to oversee the stages of software development. The SDLC structure splits software development into stages, allowing for monitoring and transparency into all development tasks and their owners. This ensures that the finished product fulfills the business needs.
The SDLC is often divided into eight stages: planning, specifications, design, implementation, documentation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Each stage has its own collection of best practices and approaches. The “Testing” phase is no exception, and it even has its own thorough life cycle, dubbed the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC).
The STLC is responsible for ensuring that all quality criteria for the built application are satisfied. It also ensures that the created software contains no unresolved issues or patches, allowing releases to be released more often and seamlessly.
The STLC is often divided into six stages: requirements analysis, planning, test case development, platform setup, execution, and analysis and reporting.
Why Software Test Planning is Crucial
Testing is essential in software development. Engineering departments maintain high-quality code and limit the possibility of mistakes and problems by shifting testing left and testing software before release.
Bugs, mistakes, and bottlenecks have a detrimental influence on customer happiness and development pace. The foundation of a good testing technique is the creation of a comprehensive and complete test plan.
A test plan guarantees that all testing operations are handled and completed so that software is only deployed after it has been tested and fixed. Without a good test plan, testing objectives cannot be properly established, testing procedures are not supervised, and critical features and characteristics of the software product may not be adequately tested.
Furthermore, a methodical, thorough, and effective test strategy will assist the testing team in prioritizing their responsibilities while also ensuring that no time is spent in the preparation of test cases that are not needed.