What Is Test Case Prioritisation? Why Test Cases Are Prioritised?
Do you know why it is important to add the priority for the test case ?
As we know, when we are developing test cases, we set the priority for these test cases. Please note. The prioritisation happens at the very early stage-during test case development.
Also Read : What is Smoke Testing?
How do we prioritise test cases?
We prioritise test cases based on the user flow and features we are testing in application under test.
Typically, the test cases with positive scenarios will be of higher priority. And negative scenarios will have lower priority , as you guessed. Maybe !
The functionality test cases will be of higher priority. Test cases which verify the cosmetic aspects would be typically of lower priority.
Example:Testing of Amazon.com
- A test case which verifies if order placement is successful from the checkout page will have higher priority.
- A test case to test if product quantity can be increased or decreased in the cart page would be lower priority that order placement test case.
I hope you got the idea.
Now,
Why do we prioritise test cases?
Usually, the time available for testing would be limited. We have to carry out the testing with time constraints.
So, in this limited duration, testing everything is not practical.
Therefore we have to execute the test cases on priority.
It would be a disaster if the team starts prioritisation when the testing cycle begins. Because, the prioritisation itself would eat up 2-3 days (depending on the size of test cases).
Also, when prioritisation is done in a hurry, there are chances of missing out the major scenarios and may end up in delivering poor quality products.
Therefore it is a best practice to set the priority for test cases, when they are developed.
