Software testing is a process of checking if the actual software behavior meets requirements and matches the expectations. These tests are performed based on the documented requirements of a customer.

But how the software testing (STLC) life cycle looks like?

What is software testing life cycle (STLC)?

Does it have something in common with the software development life cycle (SDLC)?

What benefits do tests provide both to the customer and the team?

Answering these questions and understanding the raised issues may prevent you from software bugs caused by the use of wrong approaches.

The Role of Software Testing in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Implementing QA at every step of the software development process, you can significantly improve the quality, performance, and reliability of the future app. Performing the testing process, the QA team checks if software performs all documented features and doesn’t make what it wasn’t initially designed for.

To guarantee the high quality of software, the testing activities should be included in the development process. It’s particularly important to implement testing at the early stages of development because it helps to decrease the amount of effort required for fixing the found bugs.

Let’s check the main advantages of testing during the whole development process:

  • Testing performed at the early stages of development significantly decreases the cost of bugs;
  • Keeping in mind characteristics of the modern market, we can conclude that only the high-class software has enough competitive qualities. Therefore, investing your resources in software development, you must assure that the final product will be good enough to compete with the existing solutions. Software testing during the development process is one of the major factors affecting the quality of the final result;
  • The environment that developers use during work on the project differs from the one in which it will eventually run. Testing allows checking how your software works in different environments which eventually can help to increase user satisfaction

Tests You Should Perform at Each Stage of the Software Development Life Cycle

Let’s consider the main stages of SDLC and consider the tests that allow increasing the quality of software. Also, we’ll discuss what benefits these tests can provide to a customer. According to the chosen software development methodology, the whole life cycle can consist of a different number of phases. To simplify the whole story, we’ll focus on four main development process stages which are common for almost any project

The software testing process is based on the software development process. Software development life cycle (SDLC) includes the following steps:

  1. Requirements analysis
  2. Design process
  3. Development
  4. Testing process and debugging
  5. Operation and maintenance

As it is shown in the list above, we should perform the required tests is the fourth stage of the life cycle. But usually, if the main goal is to get high-quality software and minimize the cost of bug-fixing, we can apply tests during the requirements analysis phase. The earlier you start the tests, the better results you get.

Let us show in detail what benefit you can derive by applying the software testing on each phase of the software development life cycle, starting with the first one.

Phase One. Requirements Gathering & Analysis

Let’s start with the first phase of the software development life cycle: requirements analysis. Product requirements are usually outlined by the customer or project manager. These requirements can be functional or nonfunctional. They are formed during the process of communication with the customer or the analysis of standards and normative documents.

The main task at this point is to gather the business requirements for the final product. In outline, these requirements usually look like this: who will use the software and what kind of data will be used in what way.

At this step, the QA team performs the requirements testing. Its main purpose is to find the errors in the business logic of the software product. After the full documentation is compiled, the QA team can assess it by the following criteria:

  • completeness;
  • redundancy;
  • unambiguousness;
  • lack of inconsistency;
  • rankability;
  • traceability;
  • verifiability.

Thorough testing of software documentation allows developers to find errors at the early stages of the process which results in the decreased cost of their fixing and, as a result, lower costs on development. More qualitative documentation reduces the laboriousness of the project and lowers the overall time of development. Unambiguous and complete business requirements allow the software development team to assess the amount of work more accurately and better compile the technical task. Thanks to careful detailing and reduced the risks, the cost of the development process can be decreased.

Why do we need to perform software testing into this phase of the life cycle, and what benefits we can derive?

Let’s imagine a situation when the existing requirements weren’t tested, but we’ve used them during the design and development stages of the life cycle. Only after development is finished, requirements and the product itself go to the QA team. As it was mentioned above, during the software testing process we check if the actual behavior of the product meets the requirements.

That’s why the QA team finds bugs not only in the product but in the project documentation as well. As you can imagine, in this case, the bug fixing will cost much more comparing to the approach that includes tests into the earliest stages of the software life cycle, like the requirements analysis phase. If you analyze the requirements, you can gather the information that can help you improve the working process from the very first days.

As a rule, requirements testing takes place during the requirements analysis phase. This activity implies checks that based on the characteristics such as completeness, consistency, unambiguousness, etc. The main aim of such approach is to make sure that the customer’s requirements were interpreted correctly and remain correct, understandable and consistent. It is important to note that clear and precise documentation helps to set the right goals for the testing process.

Read Also Software Testing Methodologies: Which One To Choose?

Phase Two. Design Process

The next phase of the software development life cycle is the design process. At this stage of the process, developers use the documentation created in the previous step. On its basis, the application prototype is created. Also, developers design the architecture of software.

Prototype testing process helps to assess the quality of software and its commercial prospects. Testing the prototype, we can make important changes according to the documented requirements. Testing the software project at the phase of prototype creation, you can save time and effort since everything will be analyzed in details long before the first code line is written. The QA team pays particular attention to identification of logical errors in the prototype. These errors can lead to system failures in case of their migration to the latest stages of development process. Also, the prototype can be compared to the similar systems available on the market which will allow you to offer some improvement options. Prototype testing process helps to assess the approximate development cost for each stage of development which allows choosing the best development and quality assurance methodologies.

Moreover, a usability audit should be held during this phase. Prototype usability audit allows appreciating the usability of the future app. The QA team studies the prototype provided by the customer. In case of need, testers can offer some recommendations on prototype improvements. As a result, there’s a possibility to increase the usability of software. Such testing usually takes the following steps:

  • Testing of a schematic prototype at the first stage of design
  • Testing the prototype of medium detail
  • Testing the finished prototype with the approved design

One of the main advantages of prototype usability audit at this stage of the development process is significantly reduced costs of bug fixing compared to the latest steps.

Phase Three. Development Phase

During the development phase of the life cycle, it is necessary to hold module, integration, and system testing.

The component testing process helps you check each component of the application (object, module, class, etc.) and check if it works correctly. Such process implies the testing of all newly implemented functionality that appears during the software development. Each component is tested isolated within the artificially created environment. The QA team creates a list of test cases describing the steps to be performed and expected results. Also, testers generate a list of usage scenarios containing sequences of user actions and expected system reactions. The component testing process is performed during the creation of each separate module of the software product. In case of detected bugs, such approach allows redesigning only the tested module instead of the whole system. The component testing process allows finding shortcomings in system architecture and helps to evaluate the performance of particular parts of software at each step of development.

Cross-browser and cross-platform testing process allow you to check the working capacity of software launched in different browsers or platforms. The features of those or other browsers can change the look-and-feel of launched applications and sites. Therefore, the QA team should test websites and applications in different browsers. Moreover, it’s crucial to check if the app works correctly on platforms specified by a customer in the list of requirements.

Such testing implies manual and automated testing. In case of automated testing, the QA team uses a virtual machine that allows checking the work of software in different environments. Usually, it’s not enough to run only automated tests because such approach doesn’t allow checking all scenarios of user interaction with the application or website. That’s why it’s crucial to perform manual testing simulating the actions of users.

The automated testing process should be implemented when the QA team deals with a big project. Such situation leads to a vast amount of tests to be performed. Moreover, there’s a need for frequent regression testing of complex calculations and scenarios. The QA team creates use cases for the application and a check-list of required checkings on which basis the functional tests are built. These tests are running daily with automated generation of test reports during the whole process. The QA team maintains the existing tests and creates the new ones if needed.

The automated testing allows finding bugs which are hard to find manually. Using this approach, we can increase the speed and quality of complex tests related to all types of calculations. For example, we can use this approach for checking complex formulas. The accuracy and reliability of tests increases as well. For a customer, the automated testing process is essential because it allows decreasing the time required for regression testing which reduces the overall time spent on the project. Since automated testing provides the possibility to run scenarios that can’t be tested manually, there’s the possibility to perform tests in any quantity without increasing labor costs. Also, such approach allows avoiding the human factor.

Phase Four. Testing Process and Debugging Phase

This stage of software development process usually consists of two steps: beta-deployment and final deployment. The process of beta-deployment is required for providing the QA team with time for finding the bugs before the product release. The reports generated during the testing process can be used by developers to make the last fixes before the application deployment. That’s is the stage when the QA team checks the correctness of bug fixings made during the previous phases and tests the software stability. Full functional and GUI testing should be performed, and all founded defects should be documented in a bug-tracking system.

The regression testing process allows ensuring that all the found bugs were fixed correctly and the new ones haven’t appeared. The QA team performs a comprehensive checking of the whole application. First of all, we should perform the checking of the fixed bugs. After that, the QA team tests all functions of software according to the check-list. During the regression testing process, testers don’t search for the new bugs. Instead of that, they check the performance of what worked before and what was fixed. In case regression testing has been finished successfully (if all functions operate according to documentation and there were no high-priority bugs), we can assume that the application works according to the initial plan. After the testing process is finished, the current version of the app can be moved to production. Regression testing allows reducing the probability of quality degradation with increasing software functionality and a customer can be assured of the product quality.

Security testing process takes place when the development company creates the whole application from scratch or when a customer already has an application to be tested. According to the available budget, the QA team can perform brief or full software testing. The brief testing process implies the usage of the application that checks the main security-related bugs. This app is constantly updated and fully compliant with OWASP standards. Such kind of testing covers the major part of potential security issues. More thorough testing implies not just automated testing but also a set of manual tests. During this stage, the QA team checks if your software is compliant with the current security standards. Thanks to these tests, increases the possibility that in case of hacking with the use of automated applications, the program will stand longer. Security testing process is especially necessary for the customer because it decreases the probability of unauthorized access to the system and subsequent leakage of data. A software company provides the customer with a detailed analytical report containing the list of all potential security vulnerabilities along with recommendations for their fixing. Such approach allows a customer to assess the approximate costs of fixing security issues.

Stress testing allows identifying the issues with application or website performance that potentially can lead to system malfunction. During the stress testing, the QA team simulates the high load on the system which allows checking the stability of the application, its scalability and fault tolerance. Stress testing takes places at the stage of software development before the application launch, and before releasing a new version. Such approach helps to identify bugs leading to the failure of operability and allows developers to begin correcting them in time.

The further software development process brings more modules together. After the development is over, there is time to perform the system tests. At this step, you should perform tests whether they were or were not performed during the previous phases of the life cycle. This stage of the life cycle implies an overall system check in term of the interaction of its components. It means that if the system consists of different modules, we should check how good or how bad each of them works within the system.

Phase Five. Operation and Maintenance

Even after the product release stage of the life cycle is reached, there’s still a necessity in testing, which is performed during the operation and maintenance phase. Users can work in absolutely different environments. Thus, it’s always possible that some new defects, that was not detected earlier will be identified during the user’s’ product management. Moreover, users may use the application in some unforeseen way. It can cause some unexpected defects and a QA to review for such cases may require.

Read Also Why Software Testing Plays a Key Role in a High-Quality Software Product Development

Conclusions

It’s obvious that the software testing management process passes through all phases of the software development life cycle. It implies a comparison between the actual state of the product and the one that was planned and documented in the project test plan. Preparation of interim documentation and deliverables is also included in this process. The testing process, analysis, and monitoring help to plan and change further activities properly.

As you can see, the software testing life cycle is a process that cannot be avoided. It’s ongoing, continuous, and requires the QA team experienced enough to perform different QA types of testing. This essential part of modern software development processes helps the customer, team, and end-user to get a high-quality product. If you need a high-quality software system, contact us, and we will help you.