A Software Test Plan is a document describing the testing scope and activities. It is the basis for formally testing any software/product in a project.A document describing the scope, approach, resources and schedule of intended test activities. It identifies amongst others test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks, who will do each task, degree of tester independence, the test environment, the test design techniques and entry and exit criteria to be used, and the rationale for their choice, and any risks requiring contingency planning. It is a record of the test planning process.
It is the main document often called a master test plan or a project test plan and usually developed during the early phase of the project.
IEEE 829 test plan structure
IEEE 829-2008, also known as the 829 Standard for Software Test Documentation, is an IEEE standard that specifies the form of a set of documents for use in defined stages of software testing, each stage potentially producing its own separate type of document.
Let’s take a look at the different parts of the IEEE 829.
| S.No. | Parameter | Description |
| 1 | Test plan identifier | Unique identifying reference. |
| 2 | Introduction | A brief introduction about the project and to the document. |
| 3 | Test items | A test item is a software item that is the application under test. |
| 4 | Features to be tested | A feature that needs to be tested on the test ware. |
| 5 | Features not to be tested | Identify the features and the reasons for not including it as part of testing. |
| 6 | Approach | Details about the overall approach to testing. |
| 7 | Item pass/fail criteria | Documented whether a software item has passed or failed its test. |
| 8 | Test deliverables | The deliverables that are delivered as part of the testing process, such as test plans, test specifications and test summary reports. |
| 9 | Testing tasks | All tasks for planning and executing the testing. |
| 10 | Environmental needs | Defining the environmental requirements such as hardware, software, OS, network configurations, tools required. |
| 11 | Responsibilities | Lists the roles and responsibilities of the team members. |
| 12 | Staffing and training needs | Captures the actual staffing requirements and any specific skills and training requirements. |
| 13 | Schedule | States the important project delivery dates and key milestones. |
| 14 | Risks and Mitigation | High-level project risks and assumptions and a mitigating plan for each identified risk. |
| 15 | Approvals | Captures all approvers of the document, their titles and the sign off date. |
Software Test Planning activities
- To determine the scope and the risks that need to be tested and that are NOT to be tested.
- Documenting Test Strategy.
- Making sure that the testing activities have been included.
- Deciding Entry and Exit criteria.
- Evaluating the test estimate.
- Planning when and how to test and deciding how the test results will be evaluated, and defining test exit criterion.
- The Test artifacts delivered as part of test execution.
- Defining the management information, including the metrics required and defect resolution and risk issues.
- Ensuring that the test documentation generates repeatable test assets.
