How do you add software testing to the software project life cycle?

Software development is not complete till it gets implemented and more importantly utilized for the original requirement(s). Testing is the key component in this entire cycle. I recommend creating POC (proof of concept) to develop and ensure that the solution provided is working and functional. Keeping the development group and the QA group in alignment with the requirements is another very important thing to consider. Communication between the teams and team members needs to be managed effectively. There are already proven techniques in testing and proven methods can be implemented. Automation can be used on large scale projects.

Software Testing matters because a solution "performing as required & designed" matters. If a solution performs as required & designed - that directly translates into a positive customer/user experience. Hence testing is really critical in the overall scheme of software development. It is important to also understand that testing is a manifestation of the quality consciousness and an uncompromising culture of excellence - for the same reason this culture has to permeate across the levels from the end user to project manager to business analyst to designer to developer to tester and back full circle. Testing tools are enablers for efficiency & consistent reliability - but they are enablers. What's more important is the Testing Strategy.

In Current iterative delivery model, feature development (PBI - product backlog) can be completed only when test result is inline to the predefined acceptance criteria. QA is an integral part of any enterprise system that helps to build trust with customer and one forward step towards sustainability.

The customers provide their requirements. These requirements need to be met by the software that the vendor has developed. The requirements are tested before being supplied for end users. These requirements are broken down to use cases and the vendor needs to make sure that they perform as required. Hence, we do several testing such as Unit testing, Integration testing, System Testing and finally Acceptance testing. Acceptance testing is done by the customer in their own environment, while all other testings are done by vebdors in a simulated environment.

As far as I came across professionals, for whom "Testing" Is a positive production activity. Very few were aware of the fact that it also is a pre-production stage. Before even the product is supposed to be built, there are set of testing involving research and analysis, which involve design testing, prototype testing and usability testing. Alas nobody speaks about them and prefer reworks and effort wastages due to severe post-production blunders.

Selecting a software testing model involves: Project Nature: Consider project requirements, complexity, and criticality to determine the level of testing needed. Development Approach: Align with development methodologies like Agile or Waterfall to ensure testing fits the workflow. Resource Availability: Evaluate the team's skills and resources for compatibility with the chosen testing model. Risk Assessment: Identify potential project risks and select a testing model that mitigates those risks effectively. Testing Goals: Opt for a model that aligns with the project's testing goals, such as thoroughness, speed, or cost-effectiveness.

Software testing model typically follows SDLC. Having said that, how much of testing to do at the unit level, API level, and how much testing to be done at the business process level, is the decision point for optimal and effective testing. Also follow modular approach to reduce the number of test cases, and increase re-usability

This article talks about the "waterfall", "V", and "agile" models but these are software development lifecycles not software testing models. Each "model" may have various testing models within. In the end, quality assurance should occur throughout the project lifecycle. The requirements should be documented to be easily tested. Developers should ensure their code meets the requirement(s) with unit testing. Integration testing should occur periodically to identify integration issues as early as possible. All software development lifecycles can incorporate quality in this way.

I have more experience with waterfall, but agile is very popular because even the simplest project is likely to have dynamic requirements. Its just human nature to omit requirements until midway through the project.

Test Scenarios, Cases, Scripts, Data: Create scenarios covering user interactions, derive specific test cases, and automate where possible. Use diverse data including edge cases. Acceptance Criteria and Edge Cases: Set clear acceptance criteria tied to release conditions. Identify and address edge cases to anticipate issues. Testing Tools and Techniques: Select tools, techniques, and frameworks that fit your technology, architecture, and environment. Optimize efficiency and coverage. The other important part of testing activities is saying No. Push back on things that are neither good for the customer or design! This is where QA shines as a first line of defence.

After requirements gathering and some user and usability testing on a low-fidelity version, I often START a software project with a written test plan. You take the I/O list (inputs and outputs) which collectively are a test plan, and re-write them as such. The tests can thereafter be automated or executed manually by the QA/QC team, based on what should happen at each interaction.

Choose an appropriate model, and then go to test design. Make sure to have an optimal test design in place. The test design must cover functional aspects and non functional aspects, UI, API, and Unit Test cases, and edge cases & negative scenarios along with happy path. Then head to test cases writing. Follow BDD approach to standardize test case writing and also to bring in "user-centricity". Once you have written test cases then group them to form smoke test cases and regression suite. You should also plan for automation of testing. This in itself is a huge consideration. There are LowCode NoCode tools available to speed up automation. And automation can be initiated even before a single line of code is written.

Ensure that you have a mix of automated testing and manual testing processes. Automated testing is good for unit tests and some known user journeys. Manual testing add that unknown factor and real life simulation. A good mix of both should be a part of your execution plan.

This will largely depend on the delivery method. For a Waterfall lifecycle you would have pre planned your test schedule and can track progress vs that. Are late entering SIT? Impact to UAT for example. For an agile release progress can be tracked by velocity, aotrh points delivered and what's completed end of sprint. You can track defects in relation to release to gauge how your testing is trending but you don't really track test progress as an isolated metric.

Apdot shift left and shift right principles to your delivery. Consider quality from the start and see testing as means to help achieve good quality.

Integrating software testing into the software project life cycle is crucial for ensuring the quality and reliability of the final product. Here's a general guideline on how to add software testing to the software project life cycle: Requirement Analysis , Test Planning, Design, Implementation/Development , System Testing, SIT , UAT , Deployment and hypercare

Quality assurance can and should be a major concern at all stages of the SDLC/SPLC. Bugs are cheaper when they're caught in early stages like requirements, design, and development. Bugs are most expensive when they're caught in later stages, like production (10x - 100x). Introduce software testing as early in the project as possible. Check understanding often. Adopt short iterations to show progress and gather feedback frequently. Use various kinds of quality assurance activities from requirements analysis to unit tests to acceptance testing.

I would like to add that whether we call it software testing or quality assurance and whatever methodology we follow for software testing, the goals for this activity are: 1. to ensure the software product does what it was built for, that is to provide the users with the power to accomplish what they needed from this tool, namely their business requirements and 2. to ensure that while providing this capability there are no hindering problems in the form of bugs caused by software design or data, usability challenges, limiting design or architecture which prevents scaling up to adapt to changing technology or business needs, slow performance etc. If these two goals are in perspective, it would lead to activities that pave way to success.