What is software testing life cycle?

Software testing is a process executed to analyze a software to detect defects and to evaluate the features of a software item. It evaluates the functionality of the software and makes sure that the software works properly as it is designed by the developer.

Software testing can be executed by two methods which are manual and automated. In Manual software testing, the testing of the software is done manually i.e., without the use of any automated tool or script. In this method, the tester acts like an end user and then tests the software to detect unwanted bugs and unexpected behavior. This manual testing is executed in various stages which are unit testing, system testing, integration testing, component interface testing and user acceptance testing. For manual testing, the testers use test plans, cases, scenarios or test software for testing a software’s functionality instead of automated tools and scripts. The other name for manual testing is exploratory testing in this testing the testers explore the software by acting as users to find defects.

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Another method of software testing is automation testing also known as Test automation in which automated tools and scripts are used by the testers to evaluate the functionality of the software item. In Automation testing, the tester writes scripts and use test software to execute the test of the software. In this method, all the manually executed test scenarios are re conducted quickly and repeatedly to ensure that the software works properly as it was designed to perform.

In the automation testing method, a software is tested on many bases like a load of the application, the performance of the application, and stress. By testing a software on all these bases it increases the test coverage, improves the accuracy of the software also saves time and money. Various testing tools that are used for software testing by the software testers are HP Quick Test Professional, Selenium, IBM Rational Functional Tester, SilkTest, TestComplete, Testing Anywhere, WinRunner, LoadRunner, Visual Studio Test Professional and WATIR.

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Software testing is a series of planned tasks that are needed to be executed along with the software development process to ensure that software runs efficiently without errors. Various stages of software testing life cycle (STLC) are Requirement Analysis, Test Planning, Test Case Development, Environment Setup, Test Execution and Test Cycle Closure. In the requirement analysis stage, all the requirements and terms are analyzed by the QA team to understand the terms of testing and to figure out testable requirements. In this phase, the team also analyze whether the requirements can be tested or not. The Test Planning phase is the second phase of STLC but technically it is the first step in the software testing life cycle.

In this phase, all the activities and resources are identified to meet the testing requirements. The third phase of STLC is Test Case Development, this phase includes rework, verification and creation of test cases and test scripts. Environment Setup is the next phase of STLC and it decides the software and hardware conditions of the tested product. The fourth step of the software testing lifecycle is Test Execution, this phase involves the testing of the software by the testers based on the test plans and test cases prepared. The final phase of software testing life cycle is Test cycle closure, this phase is only executed once the test execution phase is completely executed. In this phase, the QA team meets and discuss the testing artifacts for the future.

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