Role of STLC In SDLC

Software is being developed every now and then across the globe. And applications like Snapchat, and Whatsapp, have been successfully turning businesses into multi-dollar ventures. So what about you? Now have you ever wondered how this profit-spinning realm works? Well, the following post gives a crisp idea about the software development life cycle and more importantly the significance of the software testing life cycle.   

First and foremost, let us understand what is SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle)

What is the Software Development Lifecycle?

Most non-technical businesses have this weird notion of jumping into the software development project without understanding its crux. As a result, they simply end up over budgeting, facing unnecessary delays and misfortunes. And that’s where a proper SDLC or Software Development Life Cycle strategy comes into play.

Basically, the Software Development Life Cycle is a full-fledged procedure of developing intimidating, robust and highly scalable, and secured software at a pretty low price and of course in less time. When one follows SDLC strategies, one can offer high-quality software in a seamless and organizational manner. Some of the popular and recommended SDLC models include:

●      Waterfall Model

Often known as the linear sequential model, the waterfall model is pretty much in vogue since the time of its inception and there seems to be no turning back. How do things work here, you may wonder? Well, first all the requirements and needs are gathered and analyzed thoroughly. As soon as the requirements are frozen, the stage is completed. And you know what here one can only move to the next phase after its completion and not before that. After gathering and analyzing requirements software design software architecture begins. The next comes seamless implementation and coding. After that, the process is followed by testing. Here developers deliberately look for proper defects in the software and try to fix them as soon as possible.  Bug logging, retesting, and Regression testing activities are conducted in this phase. Then Deployment, in other words, the production phase begins. And then support and maintenance. 

• This is time-consuming
• It is simple to use
• Easy to get started with
• Each phase is well-defined
• It cannot be recommended for projects with uncertain requirements

●      Agile Model

The next interesting and popular software development lifecycle model is the agile model. Now this model turns out to be a beautiful combination of iterative and incremental models. It focuses more and more on flexibility and ensures seamless development of the product instead of requirements.

In this particular model, the entire project is broken into small incremental builds. So do not expect the project to be accomplished in one go. All the iterations here are termed sprints. Each one lasts for at least 4 weeks and in the end, the product is verified each and every time. Also, here customer feedback is taken and testing is done every now and then during the course of each sprint. As a result, the overall risk of failure decreases significantly.  

• Enables more flexibility
• New features can be added significantly
• Seamless customer satisfaction
• The only issue is the lack of documentation

●      Spiral

Again this one is a beautiful combination of iterative and prototype approaches. The model comprises a wide range of loops representing different phases of the entire software development lifecycle process. Again from gathering significant requirements to analyzing them, designing, developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining, everything takes place here.

The benefit of considering the spiral model is that:

• Risk analysis is done pretty comprehensively
•  Any kind of enhancements or change can be taken care of right away
• Highly recommended for large-scale products only

However, this is not it. There are so many other software development life cycles models such as Iteration, V model, RAD model, software prototyping, evolution, and the list goes on. The aforementioned ones are pretty popular and recommended for almost every software development project. Now which so ever model you choose for a software development lifecycle, every model comprises a few common stages such as:

• Requirement gathering and analyzing
• Planning
• Architectural design
• Software Development
• Testing
• Deployment
• Maintenance

Now Trust me I can go on and on with the concept of a software development life cycle. But the post is not about that, here comes the big question: what is the significance of the software testing life cycle in the entire software development life cycle? 

Software Testing in Software Development LifeCycle

There was a time when software testing was not taken seriously at all. Most of the time not considered at all or considered as an afterthought. Fortunately, that’s not the case anymore! Also, it was found that resolving issues, in the end, could lead to a significant amount of losses. And that’s the reason one must know the importance of software testing in the software development lifecycle. 

What is the software testing life cycle? Well, it’s an important strategy that can assist well in meeting software quality standards. STLC is thoroughly performed in different phases even though it focuses on testing.

Here in simple words when software is being tested and ensured that it has met all the predetermined quality standards then it is called software testing. All the tests are carried out in a systematic manner. It may quite interest you to know that software testing can be carried out multiple times in a single phase just to make sure that the product is suitable for release.

What happens when you conduct a software testing life cycle seamlessly and accurately?

• All the agile testing procedures can be refined
• Seamless consistency and effectiveness
• Time constraints can be applied well
• Each and every feature is tested (this includes additional features as well)
• Ensured that all the predetermined project requirements are met
• Everything is done within the time

Now many of you have this misconception that the software testing life cycle and software development life cycle is the same. Of course, both procedures play a significant role in the development of software but they differ to a great extent. STLC is one of the core aspects of the software development lifecycle.

SDLC begins with collecting requirements to planning, designing, developing, testing, deploying and maintaining. Whereas STLC is all about conducting relevant tests and verifying that the software has met all the requirements, features, and functionalities or not. The only common aspect here is that both cycles require DevOps and software testing service providers. Without this, all the phases conducted can lead to numerous misconceptions.

So SDLC

• It focuses on the end product
• The parent process
• SDLC includes testing
• In the end, a high-quality product is developed

As for STLC

• Focuses on Testing a product
• An aspect or child of the SDLC process
• Understanding the development requirements
• Finding bugs and reporting them is what it takes

Different Phases of Software Testing

#1 Analyzing Requirements

The first and foremost step in the software testing phase is to analyze requirements. You see as a software tester one cannot just get started doing the tests right away. Here one requires to view, study all the predetermined requirements and analyze each specification and then make a decision. Now there are basically two types of requirements: functional and non-functional requirements.

In this particular phase, software testers are asked to brainstorm as much as they can to identify crucial requirements and then test them. They need to choose very carefully which requirements should be considered for automated testing and which for manual testing. For example, what happens when you click a specific button, in the contact form does the text field accept alphabets or not?

All these things are universal and shouldn’t be neglected at all. In other words, understanding the requirements and determining if the outcome will be the same or not, identifying relevant loopholes or issues and proceeding to solve them, collecting priorities, performing automation feasibility checks and so more. All these aspects are taken care of in this phase.

#2 Planning different tests

Here the strategy is being made. Everything is planned properly. Right from what tools are needed to what testing steps will be conducted further, roles and responsibilities of different software testers involved here, everything is well taken care of in this particular stage of the software testing life cycle. Here the team of quality analysts tends to outline the scope and objectives after going through the requirement phase. Apart from objectives, what are the specific risks involved, time schedules, test environments, etc can be successfully taken into account here.

Once all this is done, the management assigns different tasks, roles and responsibilities so that the work begins right away. In addition to all this, precise test plan documentation is also being prepared.

#3 Preparing test cases for designing and development

Now this is the stage where all the implementation works begin. So nothing to sit tight to simply let your creative juices flow. Depending on the test plan, different test cases are developed and implemented. Now all the test cases have to be extensive and must be capable of covering almost all the possibilities in a single go. Time to gather all the permutations and combinations. Though, you can prioritize them accordingly the key is to allow each one to perform. Also, verify and validate them simultaneously.

Here activities such as reviewing, updating, and approval of automation scripts are conducted every now and then. 

#4 Test environment setup

Now one cannot conduct test cases or perform different test activities just like that. You need a precise environment to do so. By specific environment I mean proper servers, frameworks, hardware and software needs, etc. For example, if you are planning to conduct a smoke test then it won’t be possible without incorporating specific bug reporting tools.

After all, you don’t want to hear, software running successfully on their systems and not yours. There are times when some features tend to work well on Google Chrome but not on internet explorer. So you need to understand the requirements thoroughly, jot down all the equipment required and set the environment correctly, prioritize different testing environments, and then proceed further.

#5 Executing all the tests

The next step is to execute all the tests in a proper manner. Now this is the time when the application is ready for testing. So all the planning and test cases execution takes place here. Right from identifying bugs and errors to detecting and logging/ reporting them, all these aspects are well taken care of here. So what happens when bugs are found? Well, they are reported or documented right away and rectified by the team of software developers. 

After all this, regression testing begins. Now you might be wondering why regression testing is done. Well, just to make sure that the software is working well even after the error or bug is fixed. You see there are times when even a fixed bug can end up creating some issues leading the product to fail.

• Running all the test cases
• Looking out whether the product is behaving in an expected manner or not
• Test again to fix bugs

#6 Test Closure

The last but not least step is giving a proper closure. Once this is done the entire Software Testing Life Cycle is accomplished. The QA team looks out for test results and brainstorming sessions are conducted among them. Several aspects such as product quality, test coverage, and project cost are taken into account.

• All the tests are verified
• The conclusion is well documented
• A proper test closure report is prepared

Conclusion

So that’s all for now! I hope now you know what the software development life cycle is, what the software testing life cycle is, and how the software testing life cycle is important in the entire development of your product. In case of any doubts or confusion, feel free to reach out in the comment section below. We will surely get back to you as soon as possible. Also, it would be great if you help us in reaching more and more readers by sharing the post with your peers.

Good luck with your upcoming software development venture.