In this cycle we try to detect most of the defects by executing all the test cases. We tend to execute all the test cases from the test suite and maximise the number of passed test cases. The goal is to ensure that 98% of the test cases have passed.

Test Prioritization in Test Cycle 1:

Prioritize the test cases to allow the maximum number of test cases to completely execute without being blocked. Test engineers execute their assigned test cases in different test environments. Each engineer prioritizes the execution of their subset of test cases as follows:

1. A high priority is assigned to the test cases in the basic and functionality test groups.
2. A medium priority is assigned to the robustness and interoperability test groups.
3. A low priority is assigned to the test cases in the following groups : documentation, performance, stress, scalability and load and stability tests.

Test Cycle 2:

All test cases are executed once again to ensure that there is no collateral damage due to the fixes applied in the first test cycle. The number of passed test cases are maximised, ensuring that 99% of the test cases have passed at the end of the second test cycle.

Test Prioritization in Test Cycle 2 :

Test cases which failed in the previous test cycle are executed early in the test cycle. In the second test cycle, the test cases are reassigned to the test engineers based on their interest and expertise. Each test engineer prioritizes the execution of test cases as follows:

1. A high priority is assigned to the test cases in the red bin which holds the test cases that have failed at least once in the previous test cycles.
2. A medium priority is assigned to the test cases in the yellow bin which holds the test cases that are useful to execute.
3. A low priority is assigned to the test cases in the green bin which holds the test cases that will not add any value to regression testing and thus can be skipped.

Test Cycle 3 :

In the third and the final test cycle, a selected subset of test cases of the original test suite is re-executed to ensure that the software is stable before it is released to the customer. Therefore 100% of the selected test cases should pass.

Test Prioritization in Test Cycle 3 :

Test prioritization is similar to that in the second test cycle, but it is applied to a selected subset of the test cases chosen for regression testing.

Then each test case engineer prioritizes the execution of test cases as follows:

1. A high priority is assigned to the test cases in the red bin which holds the test cases that have failed at least once in the previous test cycles.
2. A low priority is assigned to the test cases in the yellow bin which holds the test cases that are useful to execute.