The Software Development Life Cycle - Testing
26 Nov 2021What is the testing phase? (Phase)
The testing phase is concerned with ensuring that the current software version conforms to the requirements defined in the software planning and/or design document by (how) rectifying defects and validating fixes 1.
The following activities are carried out in the testing phase [1, 2 c4]
- Planning
- Test environment development
- Test readiness review
- Test-case generation
- Execution
- Test logging and/or test results reporting
- Test results evaluation
- Program refinement
- Software handover to support staff
Why do I have to test software? (High-quality software)
[2 c4]
- Detect as many faults, and failures prior to software usage
- Improve software reliability by pre-emptively identifying and resolving faults, and failures
- Prove that a software project’s functionality, efficiency, and quality objectives have been met
Where do I test software? (Controlled environment)
- Locations: In person, remote, hybrid meetings, events, collaborations, interviews
- Persons: Quality assurance team, software testers, users
- Testing environment
When do I test software? (Design and development session)
- After development phase i.e. when an individual, business, or government having created a working software version/prototype want to prove the software satisfies the defined requirements
- During any phase in the SDLC project i.e. when a want or need is identified to alter any activity, result, report created in the testing phase
How do I test software? (Methodology)
[2 c4]
- Software testing principles
- Dynamic: Test execution on select input (state)
- Finite: Test execution on a subset of all possible tests
- Selected: Select test input according to desired test result
- Expected: Test must have a definite outcome
- Software testing methodologies:
- Attitudes / Egoless Programming
- Test guides
- Test process management
- Test documentation and work products
- Test-Driven development
- Internal vs. Independent test team
- Cost/Effort estimation and test process measures
- Termination
- Test reuse and test patterns
- Software testing categories:
- The target/object of the test
- Unit testing: testing a single module
- Integration testing: testing a group of related modules
- System testing: testing an entire software system
- The objective/purpose of the test
- Acceptance/Qualification testing
- Installation testing
- Alpha and Beta testing
- Operational (or Statistical) testing
- Regression testing
- Performance testing
- Security testing
- Stress testing
- Back-to-Back testing
- Recovery testing
- Configuration testing
- Interface testing
- Usability testing
- Human Computer Interface testing
- Defect testing failed scenarios
- Path testing
- Data set testing
- Black-box testing
- White-box testing
- Automation testing
- The target/object of the test
- Software testing technologies:
- Evaluation of the Program Under Test
- Evaluation of the Tests Performed
- Software testing tools:
- Test harnesses (drivers, stubs)
- Test generators
- Capture/replay tools
- Oracle/file comparators/assertion checking tools
- Coverage analyzers and instrumenters
- Tracers
- Regression testing tools
- Reliability evaluation tools
- Software testing techniques:
- Based on the Software engineer’s intuition and experience
- Input Domain-Based techniques
- Code-Based techniques
- Fault-Based techniques
- Usage-Based techniques
- Model-Based testing techniques
- Techniques based on the nature of the application
- Selecting and combining techniques
- Project management process:
- In a sequential methodology such as Waterfall, testing phase is a one-off activity
- In an iterative methodology such as Agile, Prototype, development phase is a testing process
- In an hybrid methodology, development phase is both a sequential and a concurrent phase
- Persons: Stakeholders, software engineers/developers who are directly involved with the project