- Identify edge cases and boundary conditions
- Design test cases and test data
- Execute test cases and monitor results
- Analyze and report issues
- Review and improve test cases
Identify edge cases and boundary conditions
The first step to handle edge cases and boundary conditions is to identify them. This requires a thorough understanding of the system requirements, specifications, and assumptions, as well as the user personas, goals, and behaviors. You can use various techniques to identify edge cases and boundary conditions, such as brainstorming, user stories, use cases, data flow diagrams, decision tables, boundary value analysis, equivalence partitioning, and error guessing. The key is to cover as many possible scenarios as you can, and prioritize them based on their likelihood and impact.
Design test cases and test data
The next step is to design test cases and test data that cover the edge cases and boundary conditions. You should follow the best practices of test case design, such as using clear and concise descriptions, defining the expected results, adding comments and references, and using traceability matrices. You should also consider the test data that you will use to trigger the edge cases and boundary conditions, such as invalid, null, empty, negative, large, or extreme values. You should use realistic and representative data that reflects the user context and environment, and avoid hard-coding or reusing data that might cause conflicts or inconsistencies.