Test Specification

It is a detailed summary of what scenarios will be tested, how they will be tested, how often they will be tested, and so on and so forth, for a given feature. Trying to include all Editor Features or all Window Management Features into one Test Specification would make it too large to effectively read.

However, a Test Plan is a collection of all test specifications for a given area. The Test Plan contains a high-level overview of what is tested for the given feature area.

Contents of a Test Specification
Revision History

This section contain information like Who created the test specification? When was it created? When was the last time it was updated?

Feature Description

A brief description of what area is being tested.

What is tested?

An overview of what scenarios are tested.

What is not tested?

Are there any areas that are not being tested. There can be several reasons like being covered by different people or any test limitations etc. If so, include this information as well.

Nightly Test Cases

A list of the test cases and high-level description of what is tested whenever a new build becomes available.

Breakout of Major Test Areas

It is the most interesting part of the test specification where testers arrange test cases according to what they are testing.

Specific Functionality Tests

Tests to verify the feature is working according to the design specification. This area also includes verifying error conditions.

Security Tests

Any tests that are related to security.

Accessibility Tests

Any tests that are related to accessibility.

Performance Tests

This section includes verifying any performance requirements for your feature.

Localization / Globalization

Tests to ensure you’re meeting your product’s Local and International requirements.

Please note that your Test Specification document should be in such a manner that should prioritize the test case easily like nightly test cases, weekly test cases and full test pass etc.

  • Nightly – Must run whenever a new build is available.
  • Weekly – Other major functionality tests run once every three or four builds.
  • Lower Priority – Run once every major coding milestone.