Components and Attributes of Test Plan

There is no hard and fast rule for preparing a test plan but it has some standard 15 attributes that companies follow:

1. Objective: It describes the aim of the test plan, whatever the good process and procedure they are going to follow to give quality software to customers. The overall objective of the test is to find as many defects as possible and to make software bug-free. The test objective must be broken into components and sub-components. In every component following activities should be performed.

• List all the functionality and performance to be tested.
• Make goals and targets based on the application feature.

2. Scope: It consists of information that needs to be tested concerning an application. The scope can be divided into two parts:

• In-Scope: The modules that are to be tested rigorously.
• Out Scope: The modules that are not to be tested rigorously.

Example: In an application A, B, C, and D features have to be developed, but the B feature has already been designed by other companies. So the development team will purchase B from that company and perform only integrated testing with A, B, and C.

3. Testing Methodology: The methods that are going to be used for testing depend on application to application. The testing methodology is decided based on the feature and application requirements.

Since the testing terms are not standard, one should define what kind of testing will be used in the testing methodology. So that everyone can understand it.

4. Approach: The approach of testing different software is different. It deals with the flow of applications for future reference. It has two aspects:

• High-Level Scenarios: For testing critical features high-level scenarios are written. For Example, login to a website, and book from a website.
• The Flow Graph: It is used when one wants to make benefits such as converging and merging easy.

5. Assumption: In this phase, certain assumptions will be made.

Example:

• The testing team will get proper support from the development team.
• The tester will get proper knowledge transfer from the development team.
• Proper resource allocation will be given by the company to the testing department.

6. Risk: All the risks that can happen if the assumption is broken. For Example, in the case of wrong budget estimation, the cost may overrun. Some reason that may lead to risk is:

• Test Manager has poor management skills.
• Hard to complete the project on time.
• Lack of cooperation.

7. Mitigation Plan: If any risk is involved then the company must have a backup plan, the purpose is to avoid errors. Some points to resolve/avoid risk:

• Test priority is to be set for each test activity.
• Managers should have leadership skills.
• Training course for the testers.

8. Roles and Responsibilities: All the responsibilities and role of every member of a particular testing team has to be recorded.

Example:

• Test Manager: Manages the project, takes appropriate resources, and gives project direction.
• Tester: Identify the testing technique, verify the test approach, and save project costs.

9. Schedule: Under this, it will record the start and end date of every testing-related activity. For Example, writing the test case date and ending the test case date.

10. Defect Tracking: It is an important process in software engineering as lots of issue arises when you develop a critical system for business. If there is any defect found while testing that defect must be given to the developer team. There are the following methods for the process of defect tracking:

• Information Capture: In this, we take basic information to begin the process.
• Prioritize: The task is prioritized based on severity and importance.
• Communication: Communication between the identifier of the bug and the fixer of the bug.
• Environment: Test the application based on hardware and software.

Example: The bug can be identified using bug-tracking tools such as Jira, Mantis, and Trac. 

11. Test Environments: It is the environment that the testing team will use i.e. the list of hardware and software, while testing the application, the things that are said to be tested will be written under this section. The installation of software is also checked under this.

Example:

• Software configuration on different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.
• Hardware Configuration depends on RAM, ROM, etc.

12. Entry and Exit Criteria: The set of conditions that should be met to start any new type of testing or to end any kind of testing.

Entry Condition:

• Necessary resources must be ready.
• The application must be prepared.
• Test data should be ready.

Exit Condition:

• There should not be any major bugs.
• Most test cases should be passed.
• When all test cases are executed.

Example: If the team member reports that 45% of the test cases failed, then testing will be suspended until the developer team fixes all defects.

13. Test Automation: It consists of the features that are to be automated and which features are not to be automated.

• If the feature has lots of bugs then it is categorized as Manual Testing.
• If the feature is frequently tested then it can be automated.

14. Effort Estimation: This involves planning the effort that needs to be applied by every team member.

15. Test Deliverables: It is the outcome from the testing team that is to be given to the customers at the end of the project.

Before the testing phase:

• Test plan document.
• Test case document.
• Test design specification.

During the testing phase:

• Test scripts.
• Test data.
• Error logs.

After the testing phase:

• Test Reports.
• Defect Report.
• Installation Report.

It contains a test plan, defect report, automation report, assumption report, tools, and other components that have been used for developing and maintaining the testing effort.

16. Template: This is followed by every kind of report that is going to be prepared by the testing team. All the test engineers will only use these templates in the project to maintain the consistency of the product.

In software testing, documentation is very important. Testing should be documented to provide efficient resource control monitoring. For successful testing, a test plan plays a very important role. Here, we will discuss the following points:

1. What is Test Plan.
2. Why are Test Plan Important.
3. Objectives of the Test Plan
4. Components and Attributes of Test Plan.
5. How to create a Test Plan.
6. Types of Test Plans.