STLC Life Cycle

 STLC Life Cycle:

• The Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) 
• STLC yields a step-by-step process to ensure quality software
•  It is a process that follows a series of steps or phases, and each phase has specific objectives and deliverables
• The STLC is used to ensure that the software is of high quality, reliable, and meets the needs of the end-users    
• Each of these stages includes specific activities and deliverables that help to ensure that the software is thoroughly tested and meets the requirements of the end users.
• It ensures the quality of software applications and provides a systematic approach to testing          
• the testing team analyzes and defines the scope of testing, entry and exit criteria, and also test cases     
• It helps to reduce the test cycle time and also enhances product quality       

Phases of STLC:

1. Requirement Analysis:

                                           

• QA team understands the requirements like what is to be tested. 
• If anything is missing or not understandable then the QA team meets with the stakeholders to better understand the detailed knowledge of requirements.
• Creating a requirement traceability matrix (RTM) to map requirements to test cases
  

Activities:

1. Reviewing the software requirements document (SRD) and other related documents
2. Interviewing stakeholders to gather additional information
3. Identifying any ambiguities or inconsistencies in the requirements
4. Identifying any missing or incomplete requirements
5. Identifying any potential risks or issues that may impact the testing process

2. Test Planning:

• Is the most efficient phase of the software testing life cycle where all testing plans are defined
• In this phase manager of the testing, team calculates the estimated effort and cost of the testing work
• This phase gets started once the requirement-gathering phase is completed.
  
• At the end of this stage, the testing team should have a detailed plan for the testing activities that will be performed, and a clear understanding of the testing objectives, scope, and deliverables.

Activities:

1. Identifying the testing objectives and scope
2. Developing a test strategy: selecting the testing methods and techniques that will be used
3. Identifying the testing environment and resources needed
4. Identifying the test cases that will be executed and the test data that will be used
5. Estimating the time and cost required for testing
6. Identifying the test deliverables and milestones
7. Assigning roles and responsibilities to the testing team
8. Reviewing and approving the test plan

3. Test Case Development:

• In this phase testing team notes down the detailed test cases
• The testing team also prepares the required test data for the testing

• When the test cases are prepared then they are reviewed by the quality assurance team.

Activities:

1. Identifying the test cases that will be developed
2. Writing test cases that are clear, concise, and easy to understand
3. Creating test data and test scenarios that will be used in the test cases
4. Identifying the expected results for each test case
5. Reviewing and validating the test cases
6. Updating the requirement traceability matrix (RTM) to map requirements to test cases

4. Test Environment Setup:

  

                          The testing team is not involved in the setup of the environment, either the developer or the customer creates the testing environment. but the testing team uses this environment to test the application or software.

Activities:

1. Test the software or application in the same environment
2. checking whether the environment is properly running or not

5. Test Execution:

• the testing team starts executing test cases based on prepared test cases in the earlier step.

Activities:

1. Test execution: The test cases and scripts created in the test design stage are run against the software application to identify any defects or issues.
2. Defect logging: Any defects or issues that are found during test execution are logged in a defect tracking system, along with details such as the severity, priority, and description of the issue.
3. Test data preparation: Test data is prepared and loaded into the system for test execution
4. Test environment setup: The necessary hardware, software, and network configurations are set up for test execution
5. Test execution: The test cases and scripts are run, and the results are collected and analyzed.
6. Test result analysis: The results of the test execution are analyzed to determine the software’s performance and identify any defects or issues.
7. Defect retesting: Any defects that are identified during test execution are retested to ensure that they have been fixed correctly.
8. Test Reporting: Test results are documented and reported to the relevant stakeholders.

6. Test Closure:

• is to ensure that all testing-related activities have been completed and that the software is ready for release
• the testing team should have a clear understanding of the software’s quality and reliability, and any defects or issues that were identified during testing should have been resolved. 
• The test closure stage also includes documenting the testing process and any lessons learned so that they can be used to improve future testing processes

Activities:

1. Test summary report: A report is created that summarizes the overall testing process, including the number of test cases executed, the number of defects found, and the overall pass/fail rate.
2. Defect tracking: All defects that were identified during testing are tracked and managed until they are resolved.
3. Test environment clean-up: The test environment is cleaned up, and all test data and test artifacts are archived.
4. Test closure report: A report is created that documents all the testing-related activities that took place, including the testing objectives, scope, schedule, and resources used.
5. Knowledge transfer: Knowledge about the software and testing process is shared with the rest of the team and any stakeholders who may need to maintain or support the software in the future.
6. Feedback and improvements: Feedback from the testing process is collected and used to improve future testing processes