Why should test cases be prioritized?

As the size of software increases, the test suite also grows bigger and requires more effort to maintain the test suite. To detect bugs in software as early as possible, it is important to prioritize test cases so that important test cases can be executed first.

Types of Test Case Prioritization :

• General Prioritization: In this type of prioritization, test cases that will be useful for the subsequent modified versions of the product are prioritized. It does not require any information regarding modifications made to the product.
• Version-Specific Prioritization: Test cases can also be prioritized such that they are useful on a specific version of the product. This type of prioritization requires knowledge about changes that have been introduced in the product.

As the name suggests, test case prioritization refers to prioritizing test cases in the test suite based on different factors. Factors could be code coverage, risk/critical modules, functionality, features, etc.