Ideas for automate testing approach

I have the following for an assignment, would love to have inputs for a correct approach for this:

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Problem

We have been asked to build a high performance file search program. The program can be launched from command line with following input/output in an ideal environment.

Functional Requirements:

1. The top folder to start search. Example: C:\MyFolders
2. Type of item to search. File or Folder or Both. Regular expressions are accepted as the file or folder name pattern. Example: MFile.tx? can find UMFile123.txt or AllMFile.txs
3. Timeout in (secs) by which application must return. Otherwise must return with stating “Could not complete operation”
4. Print search results in breadth first ascending order. i.e if running under windows C:\MyFolders\ UMFile123.txt should come before C:\MyFolders\ JustAnotherFolder\Level4\ AllMFile.txs on the terminal.

Non Functional Requirements: 1. Should take enough measures not to be deadlocked/hanged. 2. Must run in 128m of memory. 3. Should guard itself against the possible runtime errors. 4. Must compile and execute on Unix environment. 5. Should not overwhelm the hardware on which it is running.

Expectations: You will be doing the QA for this solution in which you would be working in the Test Driven Development (TDD) environment. Please design a suitable automation framework which would cater to the TDD approach to deliver the Automated Test Scripts for the above functional / non-functional requirements by the time Development gets completed. Please complete the following tasks: 1. Create QA strategy for this solution with:  Scope of testing  Types of testing  Test Scenarios and Cases  Test non-functional requirements  Choice of test tool and reason for choosing it 2. Write the code for the 2-3 main test cases for the tool you have selected, per your comfort level. 3. List any limitations of your approach.