Software Testing is the phase that falls under the Software Development Lifecycle where an application is tested to be working according to the expectation and needs of the users. If you’re curious about the exact process of software testing, you’re in the right place. This blog will guide you through every step involved in a software testing process and how it integrates into the wider lifecycle of software development.
The Process of Software Testing
There are many important stages included in the process of software testing, all of them serving the purpose of discovering defects and making the quality of software up to the mark. Although the exact process may vary from methodology or type of software under test, the core process remains quite consistent. Below is the breakdown of the typical software testing:
1. Requirements Analysis
Before any testing begins, one must understand what needs to be tested. Analysis of the software requirements is the first stage of testing. The testers examine the documents to understand the functionality of the software that has to be developed, its performance criteria, and what the users can expect. This builds a solid base for test planning and execution phases.
2. Test Planning
The next step is test planning, which occurs immediately after there is a definite understanding of the requirements. Here, the scope of testing, resources required, and timelines are identified. a test plan document that is going to be used to guide the whole testing process.
3. Test Design
Test design is that software-testing area in which real test cases are designed. The test case is nothing more than a well-documented description of what is to be tested, conditions under which a test should be conducted, the set of inputs to give, and what can be expected from the test. This phase usually covers the designing of both functional and non-functional test cases to ensure complete coverage of all parts of the software. Test design also includes test data. This helps in the precondition of executing the test cases.
4. Test Environment Set-up
Before the start of testing, the test environment is set up. This would include the necessary hardware and software setup and network configuration to carry out the tests. This test environment should be as close as possible to the actual environment to ensure that the results of the test will have more relevance. It would also include the installation of the software and any relevant testing tools within the environment.
5. Test Execution
The next step is test execution. This is the process of running and testing the software according to the written test plan. The testers run the software with various scenarios to find out if it behaves according to their expectations. The results of this kind of testing are recorded, and design flaws and issues found are documented. This is a very important stage because it really will tell exactly how the software performed under real-world conditions.
6. Defect Reporting and Tracking
During test execution, defects or issues spotted are report and tracked. Defect reporting entails documenting what the problem is, how it was learned, and what its materialization impact would have on the software. It is then sent to the development team for rectification. Defect tracking ensures that the concerns are dealt with systematically and consistently, and the same would be helpful in the verification process to ascertain if the rectifications were suitable and appropriate.
7. Test Closure
Once testing is done, the process moves to test closure. This stage is essentially targeted to summarize all the testing activities, identify the overall quality of the software, and ensure a test closure report, which includes the details related to executed test cases, number of defects found and fixed, and the pending issues. It also comprises a retro analysis of lessons learned and areas of improvement.
8. Post-Testing Activities
Though the core testing phases are brought to an end, there are still some post-testing activities that must be taken care of. These involve the archiving of all test artifacts for reference in the future and handing over the outstanding issues to the development team. Besides, experiences from the testing process may be used in the improvement of future testing endeavours and refinement of test strategies and processes.
Importance of Every Step in the Process
It is important for one to understand the whole process of software testing, with the fact that each and every step of that process forms the foundation of ensuring quality in the software and that it functions as expected.
- Requirement analysis states what is to be tested and provides estimates in accordance with user objectives; this is the step that upholds clear testing objectives.
- Test planning defines the goals of testing, the scope, and testing resources towards allowing efficient management and coverage of all aspects of the software.
- This is followed by test design where elaborative test cases are devised to check features and functionalities.
- Setting up the test environment is crucial so that similar processes created in the real world can be mimicked through the test.
- The test execution phase is said to be the nucleus of all phases. It is the phase in which the software is tested to find out defects and verify its performance. This phase discovers and documents the problems.
- Defect reporting and tracking will help manage the issues systematically and resolve them, hence upholding the quality of software.
- Test closure captures the test activities, test results, and experiences for improving testing in the future.
- Last but not the least, post-testing activities are directed toward the completion of all documentation and obtaining feedback for the continuous betterment of testing practices.
This process should ensure that the software applications conform to quality standards and behave exactly as per the needs and wishes of users. The steps involved are requirement analysis, test planning, test design, setting the test environment, test execution, defect reporting and tracking, test closure, and post-testing activities. At each stage, teams can go through the process of finding out and solving issues to create more reliable and effective software.