MODULE 01 Introduction to the IT Industry

What is Information Technology (IT)?
History and evolution of IT — Pre-mechanical → Mechanical → Electromechanical → Electronic era
IT industry landscape: Product companies, Service companies, and In-house IT departments
Hybrid companies
Different IT sectors: Cloud computing, Cybersecurity, Networking, Mobile, Software, Hardware
Business domains: Banking, Healthcare, Insurance, E-commerce, Telecom, Retail, Manufacturing
Key IT entrepreneurs and their contributions (Bill Gates, Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Satya Nadella)
Career paths: Developer vs. Tester roles and progression
Why choose testing? Salary comparison, work-life balance, job market

MODULE 02 Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

What is SDLC?
Requirement Analysis / Planning — Feasibility Study, CRS (Customer Requirement Specification)
Design Phase — High-Level Design (HLD) and Low-Level Design (LLD)
Coding / Development Phase
Testing Phase
Deployment / Installation Phase
Maintenance Phase
Role of each team member: Business Analyst, Developers, Testers, Architects, DBAs, Support
Benefits of SDLC
Drawbacks of SDLC — time consumption, no backtracking

MODULE 03 SDLC Models

Waterfall Model

What is the Waterfall Model? Why it is called the Traditional / Basic Model
Phases and flow — top to bottom
Advantages: requirement freeze, clear goals
Disadvantages: time-consuming, no flexibility
When to use it — short-term, simple projects

Spiral / Iteration Model

Why the Spiral Model was introduced — to overcome Waterfall drawbacks
Concept of iterations and incremental delivery
Requirement changes allowed between iterations
Advantages and disadvantages

V and V Model (Verification & Validation)

What is V and V Model?
Mapping of development phases to testing phases
Functional, Integration, System, and Acceptance test levels
When to use it

Agile Model

Covered in detail in Module 11 — Agile Scrum Methodology

MODULE 04 Software Testing Fundamentals

What is software? What is software testing?
Why testing is important — real-world MRI machine failure case study
Who creates defects vs. who identifies vs. who fixes
White Box Testing — done by developers: path, loop, condition, memory, performance testing
Gray Box Testing
Black Box Testing — done by testers: functional and non-functional

MODULE 05 Types of Applications

Client-Server Applications — WhatsApp, Instagram, Zoom
Web Applications — accessed via browser
Standalone / Desktop Applications — Calculator, MS Word, Photoshop
Web Application Architecture: Web Server, Application Server, Database Server
Three-Tier Architecture
How a request-response cycle works — Gmail login example

MODULE 06 Functional (Black Box) Testing

Functional / Component Testing

Testing each component rigorously against requirement specification
Positive testing vs. Negative testing — always start with positive first
Avoid over-testing and under-testing

Smoke Testing / Sanity Testing / BVT

What is smoke testing and why we do it before thorough testing
Difference between Smoke and Sanity testing
When to do smoke testing — at every new build
Real-life analogy: test drive before buying a car

Integration Testing

Testing data flow between two or more modules
Incremental: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches
Non-Incremental: Big Bang Method
Stubs and Drivers
Examples: Policy Bazaar multi-page flow, Gmail modules

System Testing / End-to-End Testing

Testing the end-to-end flow in a production-like environment
Dev, Testing, Staging, and Production environments explained

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Who performs UAT — end users / business experts
Alpha Testing vs. Beta Testing
Impact of UAT defects — penalties and Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Regression Testing

Retesting, Regional Regression Testing, Full Regression Testing
When to do regression testing
Role of automation in regression

Ad-hoc / Monkey / Gorilla Testing

Randomly testing without following requirements
Ad-hoc is always negative testing — never start with it
When to perform it — after positive testing is complete

MODULE 07 Non-Functional Testing

Performance Testing

Load Testing, Stress Testing, Endurance Testing, Spike Testing, Volume Testing, Scalability Testing
Tools: JMeter (free), LoadRunner (paid), BlazeMeter (paid)

Security Testing

White Hat vs. Red Hat hacking
Common scenarios: password masking, URL injection, SQL injection

Compatibility / Cross-Browser Testing

Testing across browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, IE
Testing across OS: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
Types of issues: scattered content, broken frames, truncated text, font/color changes
Tool: BrowserStack

Usability, Reliability, Recovery & Globalization Testing

Usability Testing — user-friendliness and look & feel
Reliability Testing — continuous testing using automation tools
Recovery Testing — how app recovers from crashes, session timeout
Internationalization Testing — multiple languages, currencies, time zones
Localization Testing — PIN codes, IST, ₹ symbol, local standards

MODULE 08 Test Case Design Techniques

Test Case Template

Scenario / Title
Preconditions
Test Steps
Expected Result — use "should" / "must"
Actual Result — filled during execution
Test Result — Pass / Fail
Priority — High / Medium / Low
Module, Written By, Reviewed By

Design Techniques

Error Guessing — guess inputs that will produce errors
Equivalence Partitioning — one valid input, two invalid inputs
Boundary Value Analysis — test values at and around boundaries (e.g., range 18–50: test 17, 18, 19, 49, 50, 51)

Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)

What is RTM and why it is maintained
Ensures every requirement has at least one test case
Difference between test case document and RTM

MODULE 09 Defect Management

Defect Life Cycle

New / Open → Assigned → Fixed → Resolved / Test Ready → Closed
Reopen cycle
Other statuses: Rejected, Duplicate, Postponed, Change Request (RFC), Not Reproducible

Bug Report Template

Title / Summary, Status, Steps to Reproduce
Expected Result, Actual Result, Screenshot
Severity: Blocker / Critical / Major / Minor
Priority: P1 High / P2 Medium / P3 Low
Assigned To, Notes / Environment

Severity vs. Priority & Defect Tools

Severity — how badly the defect affects customer business
Priority — how quickly the developer should fix it
Defect tracking tools: Jira, Azure DevOps, Redmine, TestLink
Hands-on: create a project, epic, user story, and bug in Jira

MODULE 10 Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)

STLC Phases

Phase 1: System Study — understanding requirements
Phase 2: Test Planning — prepared by Test Manager / Lead
Phase 3: Write Test Cases
Phase 4: Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)
Phase 5: Test Execution
Phase 6: Defect Tracking
Phase 7: Test Execution Report
Phase 8: Retrospective Meeting

Test Plan — 15 Attributes

Objective & Scope (features to test / not to test)
Testing Methodology & Approach
Assumptions
Risk and Mitigation Plan — contingency / backup plan
Roles and Responsibilities
Schedule — activity timeline
Defect Tracking, Test Environment, Installation Procedure
Entry and Exit Criteria
Test Automation, Deliverables, Templates

MODULE 11 Agile Scrum Methodology

Why Agile? & Scrum Roles

Comparison with Waterfall — relay race vs. rugby analogy
Agile types: Scrum, Crystal, Kanban, XP, DSDM, FDD, RUP
Product Owner — sets vision, manages product backlog, decides release dates
Scrum Master — facilitator, coach, removes impediments
Scrum Team — cross-functional: developers, testers, DBAs

Scrum Artifacts

Product Backlog — all features for the entire project
Sprint Backlog — features selected for the current Sprint
Sprint Burndown Chart and Burnup Chart
Sprint Duration: 1 to 4 weeks

Scrum Ceremonies / Meetings

Sprint Planning Meeting — capacity planning, story points, task assignment
Daily Standup — what did you do yesterday? what will you do today? any blockers?
Sprint Review Meeting — demo to client at end of Sprint
Sprint Retrospective — what went well, what to improve (internal team)

User Stories & Story Points

GWT format: Given → When → Then
Example: "As a registered user, when I log in, then I should see my inbox"
Epic vs. User Story
Fibonacci story points: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13
T-shirt sizing: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL
Scrum Poker (Planning Poker) for estimation
Capacity planning: available hours = (working days × 6 hrs) − leave days

APPENDIX Tools Overview

Tool	Purpose
Jira	Test management, defect tracking, Sprint management
Azure DevOps	Test management and defect tracking
BrowserStack	Cross-browser / compatibility testing
JMeter	Performance / load testing (free)
LoadRunner	Performance testing (paid)
Selenium	Automation testing (separate course)
SQL Server	Database testing (separate course)
Postman	API testing (separate course)

BONUS Interview Preparation Tips

💡 Always explain concepts with real-world examples — WhatsApp, Gmail, Amazon, Policy Bazaar

💡 Never mug up definitions — understand and explain in your own words

💡 Always start with positive testing before negative testing

💡 Know the difference between Smoke and Sanity testing — this is asked in every interview

💡 Be able to write a test case on the spot for any given application

💡 Know the defect life cycle end to end with all statuses

💡 Be familiar with at least one defect tracking tool — Jira is most widely used

💡 Know your Sprint duration and how many story points were delivered in your project

Manual Testing Complete Syllabus

What You Will Learn

🚀 Your Learning Journey