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The Importance of Software Testing

Testing Solutions Group Limited6th Floor, Walbrook House

23-29 Walbrook,London EC4N 8BT

email: enquiry@testing-solutions.comhttp://www.testing-solutions.com

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A Necessary Evil

All project managers know that they must do some testing

The basic questions are;How much?What sort?By whom?When and by when?

All difficult questions.

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Why do we test?

Provide confidence in the system Identify areas of weakness Establish the degree of quality Establish the extent that the requirements have

been met, i.e. what the users asked for is what they got not what someone else though they wanted

To provide an understanding of the overall system To prove it is both usable and operable To provide sufficient information to allow an

objective decision on applicability to deploy

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Another view – cynical?

To use up spare budgetTo provide a good excuse why the project is

lateTo provide jobs for people who can’t codeTo make the developers look goodTo provide the project manager with some

contingency in the plan and can be cut if if push come to shove!

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First up – How much?

How good does the product need to be?How do we measure it?How do we make a decision?

Are there any legal or compliance issues?What industry are you in?

What will it cost?Time and resource [human and machine]

Are we capable?We know what we need to do but can we do it?

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How do we decide?

What matters to our users?What does the system do?RiskRequirementsMoney

Test Techniques - CoverageStatic Dynamic

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Secondly – What sort?

Unit InterfaceFunctionalityPerformanceUsabilitySecurityAvailabilityOperability

………plus about another

20 ‘abilities’

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Do we need tools to help?

Automated test tools are often seen as a silver bullet

Some tests cannot be successfully executed or analysed without them

80% of test tools end up as shelfware through: Abandonment Neglect Banishment

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Thirdly – By whom?

Users: those who will ultimately use the system

Customers: those who define the system – are they the same as the users?

TestersAnalystsDevelopers

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Are we capable of testing?

Is an experienced tester better than an experienced user at finding faults?

How can testers help themselves and users?Working with the users to understand their

systemsProviding testing skills transferAttending testing industry conferencesAttaining industry recognised software testing

qualifications

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More information

Non-Functional test technique definitions and other standards: www.testingstandards.co.uk

STQE Magazine: www.stqemagazine.com BCS ISEB Software Testing Certification

Foundation Practitioner http://www1.bcs.org.uk/

Special Interest Group in Software Testing – SIGiST: http://www1.bcs.org.uk/

EuroSTAR: www.testingconferences.com ICSTest: www.icstest.com

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Lastly – When?

Once the code is complete?As soon as the architecture is defined?Once the system delivery is complete?During development?Once the business requirements have been

defined?As soon as the project is given the go-

ahead?

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Test then Code

Then test some more……………………

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Project deadline driven by:LegislationArbitrary dateFinancial yearCalendar dateSeasonalMarketing windowSafety CriticalityMoney

By when?

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Summary

Testing is an integral part of the system development function, not an afterthought: Testing starts with the requirements not the code Testing is a static and dynamic activity Prevention is better than cure The sooner you find the fault the cheaper it is to fix Create re-usable ‘testware’ Process first then tools Not everyone can test well, use professional testers Planned testing in a controlled environment provides

objective metrics

To gain a Return on Investment you must first Invest

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The Importance of Software Testing

Testing Solutions Group Limited6th Floor, Walbrook House

23-29 Walbrook,London EC4N 8BT

email: enquiry@testing-solutions.comhttp://www.testing-solutions.com