2. Test plan

For personal projects, coders tend to just have an idea in their head of what the program needs to do when they start to actually write it. Then maybe along the way, they test small segments of code to make sure they're working correctly.

This is fine for small, personal programs that have a specific purpose. But for larger, professional-level projects there needs to be a test plan in place that is based on what the end-user needs.

What is a test plan?

First of all, there needs to be an understanding of what the user wants from the system. This is initially defined in the project specification and agreed with the user. Once the project outcomes have been clearly defined, the test plan can be written.

A test plan is a formal document which details the tests to be performed on the software. It describes:

• The scope of the testing
• The tests to be performed
• The reason for each test
• The data to be used in tests
• The expected outcome of each test

Once the test has been conducted, the actual result from the test, along with evidence (e.g. screenshots) is added to the plan.