IEEE Standard for Software Test Documentation

IEEE Std 829-1998

Despite the aid of modern tools and practices, software engineering remains a very complicated matter. Apart from the actual programming itself, a software engineer (or even one who's doing homebrew) also goes through a ton of gateways, checks, and reviews. Telecommunications icon o2, for example, is said to have quality assurance checks that could stretch to as many as 12 departments. During all these tests, it's a must to have a standard all engineered software must follow.

The purpose of this standard is to describe a set of basic software test documents. A standardised test document can facilitate communication by providing a common frame of reference (e.g., a customer and a supplier have the same definition for a test plan). The content definition of a standardised test document can serve as a completeness checklist for the associated testing process. A standardised set can also provide a baseline for the evaluation of current test documentation practices. In many organisations, the use of these documents significantly increases the manageability of testing. Increased manageability results from the greatly increased visibility of each phase of the testing process.

This standard specifies the form and content of individual test documents. It does not specify the required set of test documents. It is assumed that the required set of test documents will be specified when the standard is applied.