SDLC/STLC Questions
Part of the QA Testing Roadmap
In short
'Walk me through the STLC' is often the very first question. A memorised list won't impress. Explaining what you actually do in each phase, with an example, will.
'Walk me through the STLC' or 'where does testing fit in Agile?' — testing genuine process fluency from Phases 1 and 4, not just memorized definitions.
Think of it like this
Building a house
A house is planned, the foundation laid, walls built, then inspected. A good inspector reads the plans early, not just on the last day. SDLC is how the house gets built. STLC is how the inspector works alongside it.
Watch it happen
The Software Testing Life Cycle
1/6Read requirements, ask questions, and find what's testable. Output: list of questions and testable requirements.
The big ideas
What you need to know
SDLC is the big cycle
Requirements, design, development, testing, deployment, maintenance. STLC is the testing work that runs inside it.
Shift left
Testers join from requirements onwards. Finding a bug in a spec costs far less than in production.
Entry and exit criteria
Each phase has conditions to start and finish, like 'build deployed' to start execution.
In Agile, it's mini
In Scrum, all STLC phases happen in small form inside every sprint, not once per project.
Save yourself the pain
Common mistakes
Oops
Reciting six phase names with no detail.
Do this instead
For each phase, say what you do and what it produces, with one real example.
Oops
Saying testing starts after development finishes.
Do this instead
Say testing starts at requirements, and explain what you do there.
Your mission
Your 90-second STLC answer
Quick check
When should testing activities start, ideally?
Go deeper
- 1Review Phases 1 and 4 and practice explaining each stage without notes.
- 2Prepare to compare Waterfall and Agile testing approaches concretely.
- 3Practice explaining shift-left testing and why it matters in plain language.
More manual testing at this stop
Test Case Design Questions
Bug Reporting & Triage Questions
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