What is the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) and how does it fit with the SDLC?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Phases: requirement analysis, test planning, test case design, environment setup, execution, closure
- Entry and exit criteria for phases
- Runs in parallel with development phases
- In Agile, these happen every sprint
Model answer
The STLC is the set of steps QA follows to test a product. It starts with requirement analysis, where we study what should be built and raise questions early. Then test planning: scope, approach, resources, schedule and risks. Next comes test case design, where we write test cases and prepare test data. Then environment setup, making sure the test environment and data are ready. Then execution, where we run tests, log bugs and retest fixes. Finally test closure, with a summary report, metrics and lessons learned. Each phase has entry and exit criteria, for example execution starts only when the build passes smoke tests. The STLC runs alongside the SDLC: while developers design and code, QA plans and designs tests. In Agile teams the same steps happen in small cycles inside every sprint, not once per project.
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