Why is tracing used in testing?

Traceability in testing is used to establish links between various artifacts in the software development lifecycle: requirements, tests, defects, and development tasks.

Main objectives of traceability:

• Coverage assurance: Ensure that each requirement is covered by corresponding test cases. This helps identify gaps in testing.
• Impact analysis of changes: Quickly determine which tests need to be adjusted or re-executed when requirements or code change.
• Defect management: Link a defect to a specific test case, requirement, and source code for effective analysis and resolution.
• Reporting: Provide clear reports on the testing status concerning requirements, demonstrating the completeness of testing.
• Compliance with standards: Important for audits and adherence to various quality standards that require documented links between artifacts.

A traceability matrix of requirements and tests might look like this:

Requirement ID	Requirement Description	Test Case ID	Execution Result
REQ-001	User can log in to the system	TC-LOGIN-001	Pass
REQ-001	User can log in to the system	TC-LOGIN-002	Pass
REQ-002	User can log out of the system	TC-LOGOUT-001	Pass
REQ-003	The system displays a list of products	TC-PRODUCTS-001	Fail (DEFECT-005)

An example of defect linking through a tracking system (e.g., Jira):

{
  "defect_id": "DEFECT-005",
  "summary": "Product list is displayed incorrectly",
  "status": "Open",
  "linked_artefacts": [
    {"type": "requirement", "id": "REQ-003"},
    {"type": "test_case", "id": "TC-PRODUCTS-001"},
    {"type": "commit", "id": "git-commit-abc123"} // Link to code if possible
  ],
  "assigned_to": "developer_name"
}

Thus, traceability creates a clear and traceable connection between all elements of the development and testing process, enhancing quality and transparency.