Some engineerings will write functional/nonfunctional test cases in test plan which occupys majority of pages. But some more important things are missed.One is test lifecycle.
Test plan should be writed according to project plan. Test lifecycel defination derives from lifecycle in project plan.Lifecycle impacts test work much. To achieve enough test is always big problem. If we don't care project lifecycle, how do we know what should be tested first, what is the most important components? We will spend more efforts in somewhere than plan.So in test lifecycle,some issue below should be care:
1, how to plan test stages?
For example, Does project select waterfall lifecycle? So test team select V lifecycle.
Dose project select prototype lifecycle? if Yes, How do test team test the prototype?
and other lifecycles? for example, spire or some one self defined.
2, Which test strategys will be selected for each stages?
For example, How do test team review the SRS? Peer review in test team first, then attend the review meeting with Developers? or assign one tester to review it, and submit issues to developers.
To the High level design and detail design, what should test team do? Let it be or attend their review meeting or review it independly?
How to test the functionality after the software can run? Shall the manager of test team drive tester to repeat the test cases? or develop automation test to run some test cases?
How to test the non-functionality? what about the performance/stress?
reliablity? and so on.
3, How is some special tests arranged?
For functionality, Which components should be tested firstly? when?
Some components are very important. Developer write them first before SRS is completed. So how to test them? Should test team test them by special methods according to the interface of these components? or let them be till developer integrate them into a big chunk?
For non-functionality, What should be done firstly? when?
Commonly, performance is hardly optimized after the all software is completed. So performance test should be carried out at the first time.