Prima facie, a software application appears more validated by the presence of a test plan. Although plenty of IEEE standards are in use by the testing industry, still there is no hard & fast rule to stick to any one in particular. Many times company specific test plans customized to suit ones own requirement prove to be more useful & acceptable to the testing personnel. A good Tester is the one who prepares a “Test Plan†for every level of testing, and clearly describes its objectives & most important aspect is that he/she operates on it. The test plan can have several parts but the most important aspect is the simple presence of the test plan itself. Reason being this becomes the starting point from which the entire process gets kick started & it contains the scope of the entire testing assignment. A test plan has systematic outline of all features & functionality that are continuously checked based upon the matrix of responsibilities & risks associated with the process. An effective test plan comprises of the following parts: 1) Test plan identification: A unique identifier is to be allocated so that the test plan document can be distinguished from all other documents. 2) Brief Introduction: A summary of the software to be tested. A brief description and history may be included to set the context. References to other relevant documents useful for understanding the test plan are appropriate. Definitions of unfamiliar terms may be included. 3) Items to be tested: A comprehensive list of software items that are to be tested is to be documented. It is the gist of software application areas that is the object of testing. 4) Features to be tested: A comprehensive list of characteristics of all the items to be tested. These include functionality, performance, security, portability, usability, etc. 5) Features not to be tested: Identifies characteristics of the items that need not be covered under our testing effort along-with brief outline of reasons of not doing so. Read the complete article at http://www.softwaretestinggenius.com/articalDetails.php?qry=763