ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC/
STANDARD IEEE
29119-2
First edition
2013-09-01


Software and systems engineering —
Software testing —
Part 2:
Test processes
Ingénierie du logiciel et des systèmes — Essais du logiciel —
Partie 2: Processus des essais





Reference number
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013(E)

©
ISO/IEC 2013
©
IEEE 2013

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ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013(E)

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ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013(E)
Contents Page
Foreword . v
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Conformance . 1
2.1 Intended Usage . 1
2.1.1 Full Conformance . 1
2.1.2 Tailored Conformance . 1
3 Normative References . 2
4 Terms and Definitions . 2
5 Multi-Layer Test Process Model . 10
6 Organizational Test Process . 11
6.1 Introduction . 11
6.2 Organizational Test Process . 12
6.2.1 Overview . 12
6.2.2 Purpose . 13
6.2.3 Outcomes . 13
6.2.4 Activities and tasks . 13
6.2.5 Information items . 14
7 Test Management Processes . 15
7.1 Introduction . 15
7.2 Test Planning Process . 16
7.2.1 Overview . 16
7.2.2 Purpose . 17
7.2.3 Outcomes . 17
7.2.4 Activities and tasks . 17
7.2.5 Information items . 21
7.3 Test Monitoring and Control Process . 21
7.3.1 Overview . 21
7.3.2 Purpose . 22
7.3.3 Outcomes . 22
7.3.4 Activities and tasks . 23
7.3.5 Information Items . 24
7.4 Test Completion Process . 25
7.4.1 Overview . 25
7.4.2 Purpose . 25
7.4.3 Outcomes . 25
7.4.4 Activities and tasks . 26
7.4.5 Information Items . 27
8 Dynamic Test Processes . 27
8.1 Introduction . 27
8.2 Test Design & Implementation Process . 29
8.2.1 Overview . 29
8.2.2 Purpose . 30
8.2.3 Outcomes . 30
8.2.4 Activities and tasks . 31
8.2.5 Information Items . 33
8.3 Test Environment Set-Up & Maintenance Process . 34
8.3.1 Overview . 34
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ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013(E)
8.3.2 Purpose .34
8.3.3 Outcomes .34
8.3.4 Activities and tasks .34
8.3.5 Information Items .35
8.4 Test Execution Process .36
8.4.1 Overview .36
8.4.2 Purpose .36
8.4.3 Outcomes .36
8.4.4 Activities and tasks .37
8.4.5 Information Items .37
8.5 Test Incident Reporting Process .38
8.5.1 Overview .38
8.5.2 Purpose .38
8.5.3 Outcomes .38
8.5.4 Activities and tasks .39
8.5.5 Information Items .39
Annex A (informative) Partial Example Test Design Process .40
Annex B (normative) ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 and ISO/IEC 12207:2008 Process Alignment .42
B.1 Overview .42
B.2 ISO/IEC 12207:2008 to ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 Mapping .42
Annex C (informative) ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 and ISO/IEC 15288:2008 process alignment .53
Annex D (informative) ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 and ISO/IEC 17025:2005 process alignment .54
Annex E (informative) ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 and ISO/IEC 25051:2006 process alignment .55
Annex F (informative) ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 and BS 7925-2:1998 process alignment .56
Annex G (informative) ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 and IEEE Std 1008-2008 process alignment .57
Bibliography .59

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ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established
by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical
committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-
governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information technology, ISO
and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
IEEE Standards documents are developed within the IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating
Committees of the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board. The IEEE develops its standards
through a consensus development process, approved by the American National Standards Institute, which
brings together volunteers representing varied viewpoints and interests to achieve the final product. Volunteers
are not necessarily members of the Institute and serve without compensation. While the IEEE administers the
process and establishes rules to promote fairness in the consensus development process, the IEEE does not
independently evaluate, test, or verify the accuracy of any of the information contained in its standards.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of ISO/IEC JTC 1 is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted
by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as an International
Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is called to the possibility that implementation of this standard may require the use of subject matter
covered by patent rights. By publication of this standard, no position is taken with respect to the existence or
validity of any patent rights in connection therewith. ISO/IEEE is not responsible for identifying essential
patents or patent claims for which a license may be required, for conducting inquiries into the legal validity or
scope of patents or patent claims or determining whether any licensing terms or conditions provided in
connection with submission of a Letter of Assurance or a Patent Statement and Licensing Declaration Form, if
any, or in any licensing agreements are reasonable or non-discriminatory. Users of this standard are expressly
advised that determination of the validity of any patent rights, and the risk of infringement of such rights, is
entirely their own responsibility. Further information may be obtained from ISO or the IEEE Standards
Association.
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering, in cooperation with the Software & Systems
Engineering Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society, under the Partner Standards Development
Organization cooperation agreement between ISO and IEEE.
ISO/IEC 29119 consists of the following standards, under the general title Software and systems
engineering — Software testing:
 Part 1: Concepts and definitions
 Part 2: Test processes
 Part 3: Test documentation
 Part 4: Test techniques
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ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013(E)
Introduction
The purpose of the ISO/IEC/IEEE series of software testing standards is to define a generic process model for
software testing that can be used by any organization when performing any form of software testing. It
comprises test process descriptions that define the software testing processes at the organizational level, test
management level and dynamic test levels. Supporting informative diagrams describing the processes are
also provided. ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 supports dynamic testing, functional and non-functional testing, manual
and automated testing, and scripted and unscripted testing. The processes defined in this series of
international standards can be used in conjunction with any software development lifecycle model. Each
process is defined using the generic process template that is provided in ISO/IEC TR 24774:2010 Guidelines
for Process Description, and covers the purpose, outcomes, activities, tasks and information items of each
test process.
Testing is a key approach to risk mitigation in software development. This part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 follows
a risk-based approach to testing. Risk-based testing is a best-practice approach to strategizing and managing
testing, as it allows testing to be prioritized and focused on the most important features and quality attributes.
The concepts and vocabulary that support this series of international standards are defined in
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-1 Concepts and definitions. Templates and examples of test documentation that are
produced during the testing process are defined in ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3 Test documentation. Software test
design techniques that can be used during testing are defined in ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-4 Test techniques.
This series of international standards aims to provide those responsible for software testing with the
information required to manage and perform software testing in any organization.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2:2013(E)

Software and systems engineering — Software testing —
Part 2:
Test processes
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 specifies test processes that can be used to govern, manage and implement
software testing for any organization, project or smaller testing activity. It comprises generic test process
descriptions that define the software testing processes. Supporting informative diagrams describing the
processes are also provided.
This part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 is applicable to testing in all software development lifecycle models.
This part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 is intended for, but not limited to, testers, test managers, developers and
project managers, particularly those responsible for governing, managing and implementing software testing.
2 Conformance
2.1 Intended usage
The requirements in this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 are contained in Clauses 6 to 8. This part of
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 provides requirements for a number of test processes suitable for use during the
complete software lifecycle. It is recognized that particular projects or organizations may not need to use all of
the processes defined by this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119. Therefore, implementation of this part of
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 typically involves selecting a set of processes suitable for the organization or project.
There are two ways that an organization can claim to conform to the provisions of this part of
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119.
The organization shall assert whether it is claiming full or tailored conformance to this part of
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119:
2.1.1 Full conformance
Full conformance is achieved by demonstrating that all of the requirements (i.e. shall statements) of the full set
of processes defined in this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 have been satisfied.
2.1.2 Tailored conformance
When this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 is used as a basis for establishing a set of processes that do not
qualify for full conformance, the subset of processes for which tailored conformance is claimed, is recorded.
Tailored conformance is achieved by demonstrating that all of the requirements (i.e. shall statements) for the
recorded subset of processes have been satisfied.
Where tailoring occurs, justification shall be provided (either directly or by reference), whenever a process
defined in Clauses 6, 7 and 8 of this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 is not followed. All tailoring decisions shall
be recorded with their rationale, including the consideration of any applicable risks. Tailoring decisions shall
be agreed by the relevant stakeholders.
EXAMPLE Where organizations follow information item management processes in standards such as ISO 15489
(Information and documentation - Records management) or ISO 9001 (Quality management systems - Requirements) or
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use similar internal organizational processes, they can decide to use those processes in place of the information item
management tasks defined in this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119.
3 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-1, Software and systems engineering — Software testing — Part 1: Concepts and
definitions
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3, Software and systems engineering — Software testing — Part 3: Test documentation
1
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-4, Software and systems engineering — Software testing — Part 4: Test techniques
ISO/IEC 12207:2008, Systems and software engineering — Software life cycle processes
Other standards useful for the implementation and interpretation of this document are listed in the
Bibliography.
4 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765 and the following
apply.
NOTE Use of the terminology in this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 is for ease of reference and is not mandatory for
conformance with this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119. The following terms and definitions are provided to assist with the
understanding and readability of this part of ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119. Only terms critical to the understanding of this part of
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 are included. This clause is not intended to provide a complete list of testing terms. The Systems
and Software Engineering Vocabulary ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765 can be referenced for terms not defined in this clause. This
source is available at the following web site: http://www.computer.org/sevocab. All terms defined in this clause are also
intentionally included in ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-1, as that international standard includes all terms that are used in
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-1,- 2, -3 and -4.
4.1
actual results
set of behaviours or conditions of a test item, or set of conditions of associated data or the test environment,
observed as a result of test execution
EXAMPLE Outputs to screen, outputs to hardware, changes to data, reports and communication messages sent.
4.2
completion criteria
conditions under which the testing activities are considered complete
4.3
coverage item
see test coverage item (4.33)
4.4
dynamic testing
testing that requires the execution of program code

1
To be published.
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4.5
equivalence partition
subset of the range of values of a variable, or set of variables, within a test item or at its interfaces such that
all the values in the partition can reasonably be expected to be treated similarly by the test item (i.e. they may
be considered "equivalent")
4.6
equivalence partition coverage
proportion of identified equivalence partitions of a test item that are covered by a test set
Note 1 to entry: In many cases, the identification of equivalence partitions is subjective (especially in the sub-partitioning of
"invalid" partitions), so a definitive count of the number of equivalence partitions in a test item can be impossible.
4.7
equivalence partitioning
test design technique in which test cases are designed to exercise equivalence partitions by using one or
more representative members of each partition
4.8
expected result
observable predicted behaviour of the test item under specified conditions based on its specification or
another source
4.9
exploratory testing
type of unscripted experience-based testing in which the tester spontaneously designs and executes tests
based on the tester's existing relevant knowledge, prior exploration of the test item (including the results of
previous tests), and heuristic "rules of thumb" regarding common software behaviours and types of failure
Note 1 to entry: Exploratory testing hunts for hidden properties (including hidden behaviours) that, while quite possibly
benign by themselves, can interfere with other properties of the software under test, and so constitute a risk that the
software will fail.
4.10
feature set
logical subset of the test item(s) that could be treated independently of other feature sets in the subsequent
test design activities
Note 1 to entry: This could be the set of all features for the item (its full feature set), or a subset identified for a specific
purpose (the functional feature set, etc.).
4.11
Incident Report
documentation of the occurrence, nature, and status of an incident
Note 1 to entry: Incident reports are also known as anomaly reports, bug reports, defect reports, error reports, issues,
problem reports and trouble reports, amongst other terms.
4.12
performance testing
type of testing conducted to evaluate the degree to which a test item accomplishes its designated functions
within given constraints of time and other resource
4.13
Organizational Test Process
test process for developing and managing organizational test specifications
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4.14
Organizational Test Policy
see Test Policy
4.15
Organizational Test Specification
document that provides information about testing for an organization, i.e. information that is not
project-specific
EXAMPLE The most common examples of organizational test specifications are the Organizational Test Policy and
Organizational Test Strategy.
4.16
Organizational Test Strategy
document that expresses the generic requirements for the testing to be performed on all the projects run
within the organization, providing detail on how the testing is to be performed
Note 1 to entry: The Organizational Test Strategy is aligned with the Organizational Test Policy.
Note 2 to entry: An organization can have more than one Organizational Test Strategy to cover markedly different project
contexts.
4.17
product risk
risk that a product can be defective in some specific aspect of its function, quality, or structure
4.18
project risk
risk related to the management of a project
EXAMPLE Lack of staffing, strict deadlines, changing requirements.
4.19
regression testing
testing following modifications to a test item or to its operational environment, to identify whether regression
failures occur
Note 1 to entry: The sufficiency of a set of regression test cases depends on the item under test and on the modifications
to that item or its operational environment.
4.20
retesting
re-execution of test cases that previously returned a "fail" result, to evaluate the effectiveness of intervening
corrective actions
Note 1 to entry: Retesting is often combined with regression testing.
Note 2 to entry: Retesting is also known as confirmation testing.
4.21
risk-based testing
testing in which the management, selection, prioritisation, and use of testing activities and resources is
consciously based on corresponding types and levels of analyzed risk
4.22
security testing
type of testing conducted to evaluate the degree to which a test item, and associated data and information,
are protected so that unauthorized persons or systems cannot use, read, or modify them, and authorized
persons or systems are not denied access to them
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4.23
scripted testing
testing performed based on a documented test script
Note 1 to entry: This term normally applies to manually executed testing, rather than the execution of an automated script.
4.24
static testing
testing in which a test item is examined against a set of quality or other criteria without code being executed
EXAMPLE Reviews or static analysis.
4.25
stress testing
type of performance efficiency testing conducted to eval
...