STLC - Test Case Development

Once the Test Plan is ready, the QA Team initiates the development of test cases. The main objective of this phase is to prepare test cases for an individual unit. These functional and structural test cases cover the functionality, points of verification and validation mentioned in the Test Plan.

The following points need to be considered for Test Case Development in STLC.

• In this phase, the QA team writes the test case with a stepwise approach. The Test Case is then signed off by a Business Analyst after reviewing or rework on test cases in case modifications are required.

• Once test cases are ready, the QA team prepares the Test Data based on preconditions.

• The entry criteria of this phase is that the activities in test planning should be finished and the test plan should be ready.

• The exit criteria of this phase is that the test cases should be signed off, the test data should be ready and the test scripts prepared if automation is in scope.

• Test cases should be mapped with the Requirement Traceability Matrix to follow up on coverage of requirements if anything is missed.

Activities in the Test Case Development Phase

Following are the three activities that are carried out in the Test Case Development phase −

Test Scenarios Identification

Scenarios ease the testing and evaluation of a complex system. The following strategies help in creating good scenarios −

• Enumerate possible users, their actions and objectives.

• Evaluate users with hacker's mindset and list possible scenarios of system abuse.

• List the system events and how does the system handle such requests.

• List benefits and create end-to-end tasks to check them.

• Read about similar systems and their behavior.

• Studying complaints about competitor's products and their predecessor.

Test Cases Writing

A test case is a document, which includes test data, preconditions, expected results and post conditions, developed for a particular test scenario in order to verify compliance against a specific requirement.

Test Case acts as the starting point for test execution. After the a set of input values is applied; the application has a definitive outcome and leaves the system at some end point which is also known as execution post condition.

Test Data Preparation

Test Data is used to execute the tests on test ware. Test data needs to be precise and exhaustive to uncover the defects. To accomplish these three objectives, it is followed by a stepwise approach as given below −

• Identify test resources or requirements
• Identify conditions/functionality to be tested
• Set priority test conditions
• Select conditions for testing
• Determine expected result of processing of test cases
• Create Test cases
• Document test conditions
• Conduct test
• Verify and correct test cases based on modifications

Activity Block Diagram

The following diagram shows the different activities that form part of Test Case Development.