Test Plan Introduction

Test plan template, based on IEEE 829 format

Test Plan Identifier (TPI).
References
Introduction
Test Items
Software Risk Issue
Features to be Tested
Features not to be Tested
Approach
Item Pass/Fail Criteria
Entry & Exit Criteria
Suspension Criteria and Resumption Requirements
Test Deliverables
Remaining Test Tasks
Environmental Needs
Staffing and Training Needs
Responsibilities
Planning Risks and Contingencies
Approvals
Glossary

A formal test plan is a document that provides and records important information about a test project, for example:

project and quality assumptions
project background information
resources
schedule & timeline
entry and exit criteria
test milestones
tests to be performed
use cases and/or test cases

A test case is a detailed procedure that fully tests a feature or an aspect of a feature. Whereas the test plan describes what to test, a test case describes how to perform a particular test. You need to develop a test case for each test listed in the test plan. Figure 2.10 illustrates the point at which test case design occurs in the lab development and testing process.

The term 'Black Box' refers to the software, which is treated as a black box. By treating it as a black box, we mean that the system or source code is not checked at all. It is done from customer's viewpoint. The test engineer engaged in black box testing only knows the set of inputs and expected outputs and is unaware of how those inputs are transformed into outputs by the software.

Types of Black Box Testing Techniques: Following techniques are used for performing black box testing

1) Boundary Value Analysis (BVA)

2) Equivalence Class Testing

3) Decision Table based testing

4) Cause-Effect Graphing Technique

This article will provide a brief introduction and overview of software testing, discuss both manual and automated testing, and introduce the concept of blended testing. It is intended as a brief primer on the software testing process.
Software testing is both a discipline and a process. Though software testing is part of the software development process, it should not be considered part of software development. It is a separate discipline from software development. Software development is the process of coding functionality to meet defined end-user needs. Software testing is an iterative process of both validating functionality, and, even more important, attempting to break the software. The iterative process of software testing consists of:

Designing tests
Executing tests
Identifying problems
Getting problems fixed