Software Testing Process
Need information management software testing process and want practical suggestions to ensure rapid project delivery?
Information management
applications require:
- Standard test plan;
- Test traceability;
- Standard tests and
evaluation methods;
- Standards for
describing tests; and
- Standards for
managing, and re-testing, defects.
What is
included in a software testing process test plan?
A test plan should include the following:
- Test
objectives, should summarize project objectives, test
objectives,
scope and roles and responsibilities;
- Test
strategy,
should refer to the requirements acceptance criteria,
that were developed as part of the requirements definition phase, and
the test
environments that will be used;
- Test
plan,
should list the scope
of each test, including entrance
criteria, how test cases will be prepared, what test data will be used,
what test scripts are required, who will execute test
scripts, how
defects will be managed, how test results will be managed, and test
exit criteria;
- Test
data
strategy, should list the overall approach for creating
test
data. Try not to use large
volumes of data for unit, system, integration,
regression and quality assurance testing.
You can
adequately
complete these tests with a sub-set of data. Failure to do
this will add
significantly to the test period and will not
add
additional
benefit.
The extra
time it takes to create a complete set of test data
early in
the project will be paid
back
many times by reducing the time to
back-up/restore data during testing;
- Test
deliverables should specify what will be produced;
- Resource
plan
should list all project roles and responsibilities, level
of effort, and other test resource requirements;
- Training
considerations, should list any training that might be
required so the test team can complete testing; and
- Test
schedule,
should identify a test schedule that clearly defines
when all testing is expected to occur—This schedule may be included in
the project schedule.
What is a software
testing process requirement traceability?
It is important to have a process to ensure that all requirements are
tested and that time is not wasted testing for things that are not
specified as requirements.
A requirements traceability matrix will normally outline all testing
required for each requirement. These tests may involve software testing.
Possible methods for ensuring that requirements are accounted for in
each succeeding lifecycle stage include:
- Inspection,
requires a careful, critical review of documentation, code and/or data
to verify that a requirement has been addressed;
- Analysis,
examines
alternative solutions in detail so that the nature and function of each
alternative may be judged as to best fit for achieving the
requirements. One example is to analyze third party products
to
determine which of the products should be purchased. Another
example is to review business process metrics to determine if the
business process has improved as hoped because of implementing a new
solution;
- Demonstration,
a practical demonstration showing how
something works to provide evidence that a requirement has been
achieved via examples or experiments; and
- Test,
performs a
pre-defined examination or trial consisting of one or more steps
intended to ensure that a requirement has been properly implemented.
What are software testing process test
and evaluation methods?
The following standard tests should be performed before new application
code is moved to production.
- Unit
testing should
focus on
testing individual modules to ensure that they perform to
specification, handle all exceptions as expected, and produce the
appropriate alerts to satisfy error handling. This level of testing is
normally performed in the development environment and is conducted by
the software developer who develops the code. The test validates the
module's logic, adherence to functional requirements and adherence to
technical standards.
The objective if this test
is to ensure that all module source coded has been executed and each
conditional logic branch followed.
The test data and test results should be recorded and form part of the
release package when the code moves to production.
- Code review
should focus on reviewing code and unit test results to provide
additional verification that the code conforms to data movement best
practices and security requirement. The code review should verify that
test results confirm that all conditional logic paths were followed and
that all error messages were tested properly
- System testing
should focus on testing a set of
components to ensure
that it performs to specification.
System testing is generally
performed by a senior developer or lead developer in a system test or
integration test environment.
Errors, or defects, should be documented, classified by severity,
and monitored by the defect management process to ensure timely
resolution.
- Integration testing
should focus on testing software release i.e. a set of
components intended to move to production as a planned release.
Integration testing is
generally managed by the data architect or software designer in an
integration test environment which "mirrors" the intended production
environment.
Errors, or defects, should be documented, classified by severity,
and
monitored by the defect management process to ensure timely resolution.
Integration testing is a key component of the software testing process and should include:
- System
and
volume testing to confirm that the system is
operating correctly and can handle the required data volumes;
- Reconciliation
tests to manually confirm the validity of data;
- Regression testing
to ensure that the new software does not cause
problems with existing software; and
- Performance testing to
ensure that data can be loaded in the
available
“load window”;
- Warehouse
manager testing; and
- Infrastructure and
operations
component testing.
- Security testing
should be performed in the production environment under the
direction of the security officer.
This test should certify
compliance with system security and integrity and should address:
- system back-up;
- recovery;
- security audit trails and tracking.
- Quality assurance
testing
should focus on testing a set of components to ensure
that they meets requirements.
These tests should be
performed by an independent test team in a quality assurance
environment that "mirrors" the production environment.
Every requirement should be tested and all system, user and production
support documentation should be tested.
Test cases, test data and test results should be defined as
configuration items and handed over to the production support team as
part of the release package.
- User
acceptance testing (UAT) should focus on testing a set of
requirements to ensure that they meet user expectations.
These tests should be
performed in the quality assurance test environment or in a separate
user acceptance test environment.
What are software
testing process methods for documenting tests?
Each test should be documented to include the following:
- Test objective should state what the test is expected
to achieve;
- Methodology should describe the general methodology
or strategy for each test;
- Conditions should specify the type of input that
shall be used;
- test progression should describe the manner in which
progression is made from one test to the next;
- Test results should specify how test results will be
documented and where they will be stored;
- Constraints should indicate any limitations on the
test;
- Criteria should describe the rules used to evaluate
test results e.g. range of data values, combinations of input types
used, maximum number of errors allowed.
- Data reduction should describe the techniques used to
manipulate or prepare the test data.
Software testing process test cases should specify:
- Test name;
- Test description;
- Test control;
- Inputs;
- Outputs; and
- Test scripts (or procedures).
Defect Management Standard
Software testing process defect management involves:
- Documenting defects;
- Analyzing defects to determine if they are
development issues or if they are requirement issues;
- Assigning the defect to the appropriate team for
remedy;
- Monitoring to ensure that appropriate tests are
conducted after software is modified;
- managing the migration of changed code into the
appropriate environment; and
- Monitoring and reporting defect status.
Software testing process summary...
A test plan is a communications tool, which clearly sets testing
expectations for all team members. It is important to complete the plan
early in the project and manage it carefully to
ensure on time, within budget project delivery.
A software testing process should be followed to ensure that all tests
follow the same methodology.
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