Page 154 - SOFTWARE TESTING & QUALITY ASSURANCE

Unit 10: Test Planning Fundamentals

10.2 Goals

The testing process cannot take place without prior communication with the programmers of the
software. This is because the testers cannot start testing the software unless they know what the code
does and how it works. Similarly, communicating with other software testers is also important. It helps
to understand:
1. What to test?
2. What resources will be needed?
3. What will the schedule be?
Hence, without proper communication, the project will have little chance of succeeding. The software
test plan is the principal way through which software testers communicate their intent to the code
developers.
The IEEE Standard 829 for Software Test Documentation states that the purpose of a software test plan
is: “To prescribe the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of the testing activities. To identify the
items being tested, the features to be tested, the testing tasks to be performed, the personnel responsible
for each task, and the risks associated with the plan.”

A test plan is a written document. It is a by-product of the detailed planning process. It describes and
summarizes the results of the planning process. This document is also used as reference for future use.
The main goal of the test planning process is to communicate and not just record the software test
team's intent, its expectations, and its understanding of the testing that is to be performed.

Points to be considered during testing:

1. An appropriate software quality standard must be ensured.
2. The software testing strategy must be clear

Everything included in a software product need not necessarily be tested. There may be parts of the
software which were previously released and have already been tested. Alternatively, the component
may have been reused from another software company or a pre-tested component may have been
sourced from another company.

It is important to identify each component of the software during the planning process and make
known whether it will be tested. There should be a reason for deciding to not test a component. This is
because it can be disastrous if a piece of code gets released untested from the development cycle due to
any misunderstanding.

A software package for a patient monitoring system in a hospital requires the
highest software quality standard, considering the possibility of severe
consequences of software failure.

10.3 Test Phases

To plan the test phases, the test team first analyzes the chosen development model and decides whether
particular phases or stages of testing should be performed over the course of the project. Typically, in a
code-and-fix model, there is only one test phase, that is, test until asked to stop. There can be several test
phases in the waterfall and spiral models, which may begin from examining the product specification
and continue till acceptance testing. Test planning is also one of the test phases.
During the test planning process, each proposed test phase is identified and communicated to the
project team. This process helps the team to understand the overall testing approach.

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