Seven Steps of Software Testing Process

What is software testing process?

Software testing is a process that helps to make quality software. It helps to find out the quality and defects of the software. A good process for software testing will help the developer or the tester to find the defects or issues in the software faster. If you want to fix the defects, you should know the process if you want to fix them fast. In this blog I am going to discuss 7 steps in software testing process and why it is necessary to follow them.

Seven Steps of Testing Process

1) Test planning

In test planning, we write the test plan, which includes the activities that will be carried out throughout our test process. The main work product that is delivered as part of test planning is the “Test plan”. Test plan writing is mainly the responsibility of the test leader.

2) Test monitoring & control

In test monitoring, we compare our progress and what is stated in the test plan. If there is a deviation between what was planned and what is actually done, we perform control activities to resolve this deviation. In test monitoring & control we may write a “Test progress report” that is used by stakeholders to monitor the progress of testing and decide whether the software is ready to be delivered or not.

3) Test analysis

In test analysis, we review the work products [requirements-user stories-design] in order to define our test scenarios. If you remember, we talked about test scenario writing earlier and specified it as one of the most important skills that a successful software tester should possess. We will discuss writing test scenarios later.

4) Test design

In test design, we turn the test scenarios into test cases. Test cases are more detailed than test scenarios and take more time to write. In some projects, we just use test scenarios, and in some other projects, we skip the test scenario writing step and just write test cases.

5) Test implementation

In test implementation, we ask ourselves the question “Are we ready to execute our tests?”, and if the answer is no, we begin to work on turning this “No” into a “Yes”. Test implementation includes many activities like setting up the test environment that we will execute our tests on.

6) Test execution

In test execution, we execute our test scenarios or test cases. When defects are found, we write defect reports and report them to developers.

7) Test completion

In test completion, we make sure that all defects are fixed and we write test summary reports which summarize all testing activities that happened during the test process.