Testing FAQs

A lot depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large organizations with high-risk projects (in terms of lives or money), serious management buy-in is required and a formalized QA process is necessary
Where the risk is lower, management and organizational buy-in and QA implementation may be a slower, step-at-a-time process. QA processes should be balanced with productivity, order to keep bureaucracy from getting out of hand
For small groups or projects, a more ad-hoc process may be appropriate, depending on the type of customers and projects. A lot will depend on team leads or managers, feedback to developers, and adequate communications among customers, managers, developers, and testers
In all cases the most value for effort will be in requirements management processes, with a goal of clear, complete, testable requirement specifications

What is verification? What is validation?

Verification typically involves reviews and meetings to evaluate documents, plans, code, requirements and specifications. This can be done with checklists, issues lists, walkthroughs and inspection meetings

Validation typically involves actual testing and takes place after verifications are completed

What is a 'walkthrough'?

A 'walkthrough' is an informal meeting for evaluation or informational purposes

What is an 'inspection'?

• An inspection is more formalized than a "walkthrough', and typically consist of 3-8 people including a moderator, reader (the author of whatever is being reviewed) and a recorder to take notes

• The subject of the inspection is typically a document, such as a requirements or a test plan

• The purpose is to find problems and see what is missing, not to fix anything.Attendees should prepare for this type of meeting by reading through the document; most problems will be found during this preparation. The result of the inspection meeting should be documented in a written report. Preparation for inspections is difficult, but is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring quality, since bug prevention is far more cost effective than bug detection

What are five common problems in the software development process?

a. Poor requirements � if requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or not testable, there will be problems
b. Unrealistic schedule � if too much work is crammed in too little time, problems are inevitable
c. Inadequate testing � no one will know whether or not the program is any good until the customer complains or systems crash
d. Featuritic � requests to pile on new features after development is underway; extremely common
e. Miscommunication - if developers don't know what is needed or customers have erroneous expectations, problems are guaranteed

What are five common solutions to software development problems?

a. Solid requirements � clear, complete, detailed, cohesive, attainable, testable requirements that are agreed to by all players. Use prototypes to help nail down requirements
b. Realistic schedules - allow adequate time for planning, design, testing, bug fixing, re-testing, changes, and documentation; personnel should be able to complete the project without burning out
c. Adequate testing � start testing early on, re-test after fixes or changes, plan for adequate time for testing and bug fixing
d. Stick to initial requirements as much as possible � be prepared to defend against changes and additions once development has begun, and be prepared to explain consequences. If changes are necessary, they should be adequately reflected in related schedule changes. If possible, use rapid prototyping during the design phase so that customers can see what to expect. This will provide a higher comfort level with their requirement decisions and will minimize changes later on
d. Communication � requires walkthroughs and inspections when appropriate; make extensive use of group communication tools � e-mail, groupware, networked bug-tracking tools and change management tools, intranet capabilities, etc.; insure documentation is available and up-to-date � preferably electronic, not paper; promote teamwork and cooperation; use prototypes early on so customers' expectations are clarified

What is software life cycle?

Software life cycle begins when a software product is first conceived and ends when it is no longer in use. It includes phases like initial concept, requirements analysis, functional design, internal design, documentation planning, test planning, coding, document preparation, integration, testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out

How do you introduce a new software QA process?

It depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large organizations with high-risk projects, a serious management buy-in is required and a formalized QA process is necessary. For medium size organizations with lower risk projects, management and organizational buy-in and a slower, step-by-step process is required. Generally speaking, QA processes should be balanced with productivity, in order to keep any bureaucracy from getting out of hand. For smaller groups or projects, an ad-hoc process is more appropriate. A lot depends on team leads and managers, feedback to developers and good communication is essential among customers, managers, developers, test engineers and testers. Regardless the size of the company, the greatest value for effort is in managing requirement processes, where the goal is requirements that are clear, complete and
testable

What is the role of documentation in QA?

Documentation plays a critical role in QA. QA practices should be documented, so that they are repeatable. Specifications, designs, business rules, inspection reports, configurations, code changes, test plans, test cases, bug reports, user manuals should all be documented. Ideally, there should be a system for easily finding and obtaining of documents and determining what document will have a particular piece of information. Use documentation change management, if possible

Why are there so many software bugs?

Generally speaking, there are bugs in software because of unclear requirements, software complexity, programming errors, changes in requirements, errors made in bug tracking, time pressure, poorly documented code and/or bugs in tools used in software development.

• There are unclear software requirements because there is miscommunication as to what the software should or shouldn't do.
• Software complexity. All of the followings contribute to the exponential growth in software and system complexity: Windows interfaces, client-server and distributed applications, data communications, enormous relational databases and the sheer size of applications.
• Programming errors occur because programmers and software engineers, like everyone else, can make mistakes.
• As to changing requirements, in some fast-changing business environments, continuously modified requirements are a fact of life. Sometimes customers do not understand the effects of changes, or understand them but request them anyway. And the changes require redesign of the software, rescheduling of resources and some of the work already completed have to be redone or discarded and hardware requirements can be effected, too

Give me five common problems that occur during software development.

Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding new features after development is underway and poor communication.
1. Requirements are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or not testable; therefore there will be problems.
2. The schedule is unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time.
3. Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any good until customers complain or the system crashes.
4. It's extremely common that new features are added after development is underway.
5. Miscommunication either means the developers don't know what is needed, or customers have unrealistic expectations and therefore problems are guaranteed

Do automated testing tools make testing easier?

Yes and no.

• For larger projects, or ongoing long-term projects, they can be valuable. But for small projects, the time needed to learn and implement them is usually not worthwhile
• A common type of automated tool is the record/playback type. For example, a test engineer clicks through all combinations of menu choices, dialog box choices, buttons, etc. in a GUI and has an automated testing tool record and log the results. The recording is typically in the form of text, based on a scripting language that the testing tool can interpret
• If a change is made (e.g. new buttons are added, or some underlying code in the application is changed), the application is then re-tested by just playing back the recorded actions and compared to the logged results in order to check effects of the change
• One problem with such tools is that if there are continual changes to the product being tested, the recordings have to be changed so often that it becomes a very time-consuming task to continuously update the scripts
• Another problem with such tools is the interpretation of the results (screens, data, logs, etc.) that can be a time-consuming task

Give me five solutions to problems that occur during software development

Solid requirements, realistic schedules, adequate testing, firm requirements and good communication.
1. Ensure the requirements are solid, clear, complete, detailed, cohesive, attainable and testable. All players should agree to requirements. Use prototypes to help nail down requirements.
2. Have schedules that are realistic. Allow adequate time for planning, design, testing, bug fixing, re-testing, changes and documentation. Personnel should be able to complete the project without burning out.
3. Do testing that is adequate. Start testing early on, re-test after fixes or changes, and plan for sufficient time for both testing and bug fixing.
4. Avoid new features. Stick to initial requirements as much as possible. Be prepared to defend design against changes and additions, once development has begun and be prepared to explain consequences. If changes are necessary, ensure they're adequately reflected in related schedule changes. Use prototypes early on so customers' expectations are clarified and customers can see what to expect; this will minimize changes later on.
5. Communicate. Require walkthroughs and inspections when appropriate; make extensive use of e-mail, networked bug-tracking tools, tools of change management. Ensure documentation is available and up-to-date. Do use documentation that is electronic, not paper. Promote teamwork and cooperation.

What makes a good test engineer?

Good test engineers have a "test to break" attitude. We, good test engineers, take the point of view of the customer; have a strong desire for quality and an attention to detail. Tact and diplomacy are useful in maintaining a cooperative relationship with developers and an ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical people. Previous software development experience is also helpful as it provides a deeper understanding of the software development process, gives the test engineer an appreciation for the developers' point of view and reduces the learning curve in automated test tool programming

What makes a good QA engineer?

The same qualities a good test engineer has are useful for a QA engineer. Additionally, Rob Davis understands the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Rob Davis' communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important. Good QA engineers understand the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important

What makes a good QA/Test Manager?

QA/Test Managers are familiar with the software development process; able to maintain enthusiasm of their team and promote a positive atmosphere; able to promote teamwork to increase productivity; able to promote cooperation between Software and Test/QA Engineers, have the people skills needed to promote improvements in QA processes, have the ability to withstand pressures and say 'no' to other managers when quality is insufficient or QA processes are not being adhered to; able to communicate with technical and non-technical people; as well as able to run meetings and keep them focused

What is Software requirements?

Requirement specifications are important and one of the most reliable methods of insuring problems in a complex software project is to have poorly documented requirement specifications. Requirements are the details describing an application's externally perceived functionality and properties. Requirements should be clear, complete, reasonably detailed, cohesive, attainable and testable. A non-testable requirement would be, for example, "user-friendly", which is too subjective. A testable requirement would be something such as, "the product shall allow the user to enter their previously-assigned password to access the application". Care should be taken to involve all of a project's significant customers in the requirements process. Customers could be in-house or external and could include end-users, customer acceptance test engineers, testers, customer contract officers, customer management, future software maintenance engineers, salespeople and anyone who could later derail the project. If his/her expectations aren't met, they should be included as a customer, if possible. In some organizations, requirements may end up in high-level project plans, functional specification documents, design documents, or other documents at various levels of detail. No matter what they are called, some type of documentation with detailed requirements will be needed by test engineers in order to properly plan and execute tests. Without such documentation there will be no clear-cut way to determine if a software application is performing correctly.

What is a test plan?

A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope, approach and focus of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan is a useful way to think through the efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a software product. The completed document will help people outside the test group understand the why and how of product validation. It should be thorough enough to be useful, but not so thorough that none outside the test group will be able to read it

What is a test case?

A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and its expected result, in order to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A test case should contain particulars such as a
a. Test case identifier; or Test Case ID
b. Test case name;
c. Objective; or Test Case Description
d. Test conditions/setup; or Steps
e. Input data requirements, or Actions
f. Expected result
g. Actual Result
h. Test Log or Test Case Status (Pass/Fail)
Please note, the process of developing test cases can help find problems in the requirements or design of an application, since it requires you to completely think through the operation of the application. For this reason, it is useful to prepare test cases early in the development cycle, if possible.

What should be done after a bug is found?

When a bug is found, it needs to be communicated and assigned to developers that can fix it. After the problem is resolved, fixes should be re-tested. Additionally, determinations should be made regarding requirements, software, hardware, safety impact, etc., for regression testing to check the fixes didn't create other problems elsewhere. If a problem-tracking system is in place, it should encapsulate these determinations. A variety of commercial, problem-tracking/management software tools are available. These tools, with the detailed input of software test engineers, will give the team complete information so developers can understand the bug, get an idea of its severity, reproduce it and fix it.

What is configuration management?

Configuration management (CM) covers the tools and processes used to control, coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests, designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, changes made to them and who makes the changes. Rob Davis has had experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts, and can easily adapt to your software tool and process needs.

What if the software is so buggy it can't be tested at all?

In this situation the best bet is to have test engineers go through the process of reporting whatever bugs or problems initially show up, with the focus being on critical bugs.
Since this type of problem can severely affect schedules and indicates deeper problems in the software development process, such as insufficient unit testing, insufficient integration testing, poor design, improper build or release procedures, managers should be notified and provided with some documentation as evidence of the problem.

What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?

Since it's rarely possible to test every possible aspect of an application, every possible combination of events, every dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk analysis is appropriate to most software development projects.

What if the project isn't big enough to justify extensive testing?

Consider the impact of project errors, not the size of the project. However, if extensive testing is still not justified, risk analysis is again needed and the considerations listed under "What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?" do apply. The test engineer then should do "ad hoc" testing, or write up a limited test plan based on the risk analysis.

What can be done if requirements are changing continuously?

Work with management early on to understand how requirements might change, so that alternate test plans and strategies can be worked out in advance. It is helpful if the application's initial design allows for some adaptability, so that later changes do not require redoing the application from scratch. Additionally, try to�

• Ensure the code is well commented and well documented; this makes changes easier for the developers.
• Use rapid prototyping whenever possible; this will help customers feel sure of their requirements and minimize changes.
• In the project's initial schedule, allow for some extra time to commensurate with probable changes.