Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)
2.1.
Phase 1: Requirement Analysis
2.2.
Phase 2: A Feasibility Study
2.3.
Phase 3: Design
2.4.
Phase 4: Building or Developing the Product
2.5.
Phase 5: Testing
2.6.
Phase 6: Deployment
2.7.
Phase 7: Maintenance
3.
STLC (Software Testing Life Cycle)
3.1.
Phase 1: Requirement Analysis
3.2.
Phase 2: Test Planning
3.3.
Phase 3: Test Design
3.4.
Phase 4: Test Environment Setup
3.5.
Phase 5: Test Execution
3.6.
Phase 6: Test Closure
4.
Difference between SDLC and STLC
4.1.
SDLC
4.2.
STLC
5.
Frequently Asked Questions
5.1.
What are the functions of the requirement analysis phase?
5.2.
What is Test Cycle Closure?
5.3.
What do you mean by Equivalence Partitioning?
6.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024
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Difference between SDLC and STLC

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Introduction

Hello Ninja, I hope you are doing great. Do you know about Software Development Life Cycle and Software Testing Life Cycle? If not, don't worry. We are here to enrich your knowledge and clear all your doubts.

Difference between SDLC and STLC

This article will discuss Software Development Life Cycle and all its phases. We will also cover the Software Testing Life Cycle, its phases, and the differences between STLC and SDLC.

Also read,  V Model in Software Engineering

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)

The Software Development Life Cycle is a process the software industry uses to design, develop, and test software. Certain phases in the Software Development Life Cycle include Requirement Analysis, Design, Development, Testing, and Maintenance.

Phases of SDLC

Phase 1: Requirement Analysis

It is the initial stage of the software development life cycle, during which all the data required to create the software in accordance with the customer's requirements is gathered from them.

Therefore, the primary goal of this phase is to gather specifics about each customer demand so that the developers will understand exactly what they are producing and how to satisfy customer expectations.

Phase 2: A Feasibility Study

In this phase, the organization discusses the cost and benefits of the software. It is a crucial phase because profit plays a vital role. If the software's price is very high, the company may face losses. This phase determines how beneficial the product is for the organization.

Phase 3: Design

In this phase, the architects start working on the logical design of the software. The document called System Requirement Specification contains the logical details of the software, like how the software will look, the database design of the software, modular structures, etc. This phase provides the prototype of the final product.

Phase 4: Building or Developing the Product

When the software's design is completed, a group of developers starts writing the programs. All the software components, like the software's interface and internal features, are implemented in this phase.

Phase 5: Testing

The testers receive the software when it has finished development. The testing team starts by checking the system's overall functionality. During this phase, the software is examined for flaws and problems. Every time a bug is discovered, the software is sent back to the development team for correction before being tested again as a whole

Phase 6: Deployment

After comprehensive testing of the software and checking that it is bug-free, the software is launched and available for users to use. Even after the deployment of the software, if any bugs are still found, the maintenance team re-evaluates the software, and then it is redeployed with a new version.

Phase 7: Maintenance

The maintenance team looks over the software usage and user feedback. Maintenance is necessary to eliminate errors in the system during its working life. The maintenance team looks over the software's bug fixing, upgrade, and enhancement.

STLC (Software Testing Life Cycle)

The Software Testing Life Cycle identifies what activities to carry out and when to accomplish those test activities. Even though testing differs between organizations, there is a testing life cycle. Certain phases of the Software Testing Life Cycle include Requirement Analysis, Test Planning, Test Design, Test Environment Setup, Test Execution, and Test Closure.

phases of STLC

Phase 1: Requirement Analysis

During this phase, the test team studies and analyze the requirements from a testing perspective. This phase helps to identify whether the requirements are testable or not. 

Phase 2: Test Planning

In this phase, Test Lead typically involves determining the project's cost estimate. Preparation of the Test Plan will be done based on the requirement analysis. Activities like determining roles and responsibilities, training requirements, etc., are carried out in this phase.

Phase 3: Test Design

The Test team begins developing test cases during this phase. Test cases, test scripts, and test data are created by the test team. As soon as the test cases are prepared, the team leader reviews them. The Requirement Traceability Matrix, or RTM, is also created by the test team. 

Phase 4: Test Environment Setup

This phase can be started in parallel with the Test design phase. Based on the list of hardware and software requirements, the test environment is set up. In some cases, the test team may not be involved in this phase. Development team or customer provides the test environment. To verify that the provided test environment is ready, the test team should begin preparing smoke test cases.

Phase 5: Test Execution

The test team executes the test cases based on the planned ones. If a test case result is a pass/fail, then the same should be updated in the test cases. For failed test cases, a detect report should be created and sent via bug tracking tools to the development team for fixing the detects.

Phase 6: Test Closure

In this stage, the testing team will be called out for a meeting to evaluate the cycle completion criteria based on the Test Coverage, Quality, Time, Cost, Business Objectives, etc. The test team analyses the Test Cases and Defect Reports to identify the strategies that have to be implemented in the future. The Test closure report will be prepared based on the above criteria.

Also check out - Phases of Compiler

Difference between SDLC and STLC

SDLC

STLC

The main objective of the Software Development Life Cycle is to develop successful software including testing and many other phases.

The main objective of the Software Testing Life Cycle is to test the product.

It helps to develop a good Software product.

It helps to make a product free of bugs or flaws.

It includes various teams including development, design, testing and maintenance.

Primarily, it involves only the testing team.

It is a continuous process from planning to deployment.

It is a finite process that starts after development and ends before the release of a product.

It requires a design document, requirements document, code, test cases and user manuals.

It requires a test plan, test cases, test series, and summary reports.

It includes various tools and techniques throughout all its phases, such as project management software, version control systems, and testing frameworks etc.

It includes tools and techniques like automation tools, defect tracking software, and performance testing tools.

Different phases of the Software Development Life Cycle need different roles such as project manager, business analyst, developer and tester etc.

Testing teams are responsible for creating and executing test cases and providing test summary reports.

To know about Adhoc testing click here.

Also Read, human computer interaction

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the functions of the requirement analysis phase?

The testing team reviews the requirements document at this phase. They look at both functional and non-functional details.

The QA team may arrange a meeting with the clients and other stakeholders (such as the technical leads, business analysts, system architects, clients, etc.) in case there is any confusion to clear any concerns.

What is Test Cycle Closure?

During the Test Cycle phase, the QA team will gather to discuss the testing artifacts. The discussion's overall goal is to draw lessons from unethical behavior. This will be useful for further projects.

What do you mean by Equivalence Partitioning?

Equivalence partitioning testing separates the application input test data into each partition at least once with comparable data to create test cases. It cuts down on the time needed for software testing by using this method.

Conclusion

In this article, you’ve learned what Software Development Life Cycle and Software Testing Life Cycle are and their corresponding differences.

We hope this blog has helped you enhance your Software Development Life Cycle knowledge.

You can refer to Interview Questions on STLC to learn more about STLC and STDC.

Head over to our practice platform Coding Ninjas Studio to practice top problems, attempt mock tests, read interview experiences and interview bundles, follow guided paths for placement preparations, and much more!!

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