STLC MODEL

What is Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)

The Software Testing Life Cycle, (STLC), is the road map to a product success. QALAB consists of a set of phases that define what testing activities to do and when to do them. It also enables communication and synchronization between the various groups that have input to the overall testing process.
In the best of worlds the STLC parallels the Software Development Life Cycle, coordinating activities, thus providing the vehicle for a close working relationship between testing and development departments.
STLC Phases
Proposal/Contract
Testing Requirements Specification (TRS)
Design
Testing
Inspection and Release
Client Acceptance

Proposal/Contract
• Analyze scope of project
• Prepare Contract
• Review of Contract
• Release

Testing Requirements Specification (TRS)
• Analysis
• Product requirements document
• Develop risk assessment criteria
• Identify acceptance criteria
• Document product Definition, Testing Strategies
• Define problem reporting procedures
• Planning
• Schedules

Design
• Preparation of Master Test Plan
• Setup test environment
• High level test plan
• Design Test plans, Test Cases
• Decide if any set of test cases to be automated

Testing
• Planning
• Testing - Initial test cycles, bug fixes and re-testing
• Final Testing and Implementation
• Setup database to track components of the automated testing system, i.e. reusable modules

Inspection and Release
• Final Review of Testing
• Metrics to measure improvement

Testing Documents- Software Testing interview questions

Testing Documents

Software Testing interview questions

Explain the PDCA cycle.

PDCA cycle stands for Plan Do Check Act; commonly used for quality control.

Plan: Identify aim and procedure necessary to deliver the output.

Do: Implement the plan.

Check: Confirm if the result is as per plan.

Action: Take appropriate action to deceiver expected outcome. Which may also involve repeat the cycle.

What are white-box, black-box and gray-box testing?

White Box testing: white box testing involves thorough testing of the application. It requires knowledge of code and the test cases chosen verifies if the system is implemented as expected. It typically includes checking with the data flow, exceptions, and errors, how they are handled, comparing if the code produces the expected results.

E.g. In electrical appliances the internal circuit testing.

Black Box testing: Black box testing is done at an outer level of the system. Test cases merely check if the output is correct for the given input. User is not expected to the internal flow or design of the system.

Gray Box testing: Grey box testing is a combination of both black box and white box testing. This is because it involves access to the system; however, at an outer level. A little knowledge of the system is expected in Gray box testing.

Explain the difference between Latent and Masked Defect.

Latent defects are defects which remain in the system, however, identified later. They remain in the system for a long time. The defect is likely to be present in various versions of the software and may be detected after the release.

E.g. February has 28 days. The system could have not considered the leap year which results in a latent defect

Masked defect hides other defects in the system. E.g. there is a link to add employee in the system. On clicking this link you can also add a task for the employee. Let’s assume, both the functionalities have bugs. However, the first bug (Add an employee) goes unnoticed. Because of this the bug in the add task is masked.

What is Big-bang waterfall model?

The waterfall model is also known as the Big-bang model because all modules using waterfall module follows the cycle independently and then put together. Big Bang model follows a sequence to develop a software application. It slowly moves to the next phase starting from requirement analysis followed by design, implementation, testing and finally integration and maintenance.

What is configuration Management?

Configuration management aims to establish consistency in an enterprise. This is attained by continuously updating processes of the organization, maintaining versioning and handling the entire organization network, hardware and software components efficiently.

In software, Software Configuration management deals with controlling and tracking changes made to the software. This is necessary to allow easy accommodation of changes at any time.

What is Boundary value Analysis?

Test cases written for boundary value analysis are to detect errors or bugs which are likely to arise while testing for ranges of values at boundaries. This is to ensure that the application gives the desired output when tested for boundary values.

E.g. a text box can accept values from minimum 6 characters to 50 characters. Boundary value testing will test for 5 characters, 6 characters, 50 characters and 51 characters.

What is Equivalence Partitioning?

Equivalence partitioning is a technique used in software testing which aims to reduce the number of test cases and choose the right test cases. This is achieved by identifying the “classes” or “groups” of inputs in such a way that each input value under this class will give the same result.

E.g. a software application designed for an airline has special offer functionality. The offer is that first two member of every city booking the ticket for a particular route gets a discount. Here, the group of inputs can be “All cities in India”.

Explain Random testing.

Random testing as the name suggests has no particular approach to test. It is an ad hoc way of testing. The tester randomly picks modules to test by inputting random values.

E.g. an output is produced by a particular combination of inputs. Hence, different and random inputs are used.

What is Monkey testing?

Monkey testing is a type of random testing with no specific test case written. It has no fixed perspective for testing. E.g. input random and garbage values in an input box.

Explain Software Process.

A software process or software development process is a method or structure expected to be followed for the development of software. There are several tasks and activities that take place in this process. Different processes like waterfall and iterative exists. In these processes; tasks like analysis, coding, testing and maintenance play an important role.

What is Maturity level?

Maturity level of a process defines the nature and maturity present in the organization. These levels help to understand and set a benchmark for the organization.

Five levels that are identified are:

Level 1: Adhoc or initial

Level 2: Repeatable

Level 3: Defined

Level4: managed

Level 5: Optimized

What is process area in CMMI?

Process areas in Capabilty Maturity model describe the features of a products development. These process areas help to identify the level of maturity an organization has attained. These mainly include:

Project planning and monitoring

Risk Management

Requirements development

Process and Product quality assurance

Product integration

Requirement management

Product integration

Configuration management

Explain about tailoring.

Tailoring a software process means amending it to meet the needs of the project. It involves altering the processes in different environments, it’s an ongoing process. Factors like customer and end user relation ship, goals of business must be kept in mind while tailoring. Degree to which tailoring is required must be identified.

What are staged and continuous models in CMMI?

Staged models in CMMI, focus on process improvement using stages or maturity levels. In staged representation each process area has one specific goal. Achieving a goal would mean improvement in control and planning of the tasks associated with the process. Staged representation has 5 maturity levels.

Continuous model in CMMI follow a recommended order for approaching process improvement within each specified process area. It allows the user to select the order of improvement that best meets the organization’s business objectives. Continuous representation has 6 capability levels.

Explain capability levels in continuous representation.

There are 6 capability levels for Continuous representation:

Level 0: Not performed

Level 1: Performed

Level 2: Managed

Level 3: Defined

Level 4: Quantitatively managed

Level 5: Optimizing

Each level has process areas. Each process area has specific goals to achieve. These processes are continuously improved to achieve the goals in a recommended order.

What is SCAMPI process?

Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement provides a benchmark relative to Maturity Models. It describes requirements, activities and processes associated with each process area. The SCAMPI appraisals identify the flaws of current processes. It gives an idea of area of improvement and determines capability and maturity levels.

What is the importance of PII in SCAMPI?

P II is Practice Implementation Indicator. As the name suggests, P II serves as an indicator or evidence that a certain practice that supports a goal has been implemented. P II could be a document and be served as a proof.

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Basics of Manual Testing

Software Testing Definitions

— Software testing is the process used to help identify the correctness, completeness, security, and quality of developed computer software.

— Software testing is a process of technical investigation, performed on behalf of stakeholders, that is intended to reveal quality-related information about the product with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate.

— Software Testing furnishes a criticism or comparison that compares the state and behavior of the product against a specification.

Features of Software Testing

— Software testing proves presence of error. But never its absence.

— Software testing is a constructive destruction process.

—

— Software testing involves operation of a system or application under controlled conditions and evaluating the results.

Objective of testing

— Finding defects.

—

— Gaining confidence about the level of quality and providing information.

—

— Preventing defects.

Reasons for bugs

— Miscommunication or no communication

—

— Software complexity

—

— Programming errors

—

— Changing requirements

— Time pressures

—

— Egos

—

— Poorly documented code

—

— Software development tools

Error, Fault, Failure

— Errors

— It refers to an incorrect action or calculation performed by software.

— Fault

— An accidental condition that causes a functional unit to fail to perform its required function.

— Failures

— It refers to the inability of the system to produce the intended result.

— Defect or Bug

— Non-conformance of software to its requirements is commonly called a defect.

Quality Assurance

— Quality assurance is an activity that establishes and evaluates the processes that produce products

—

Quality Control

— Quality control is the process by which the product quality is compared with applicable standards, and the action taken when nonconformance is detected.

Quality Assurance	Quality Control
It helps establish processes	It helps to execution of process
It is a management responsibility	It is the producer’s responsibility
It identifies the weakness in the process	It identifies the weakness in the product

Challenges of Effective and Efficient Testing

— Time pressure

—

— Software complexity

—

— Choosing right approach

—

— Wrong process

The Limits of Software Testing

— Testing does not guarantee 100% defect free product

—

— Testing proves presence of error; but not its absence.

—

— Testing will not improve the development process.

—

Prioritizing Tests

— Test case prioritization techniques schedule test cases in an order that increases their effectiveness in meeting some performance goal. One performance goal, rate of fault detection, is a measure of how quickly faults are detected within the testing process; an improved rate of fault detection can provide faster feedback on the system under test, and let software engineers begin locating and correcting faults earlier than might otherwise be possible.

—

Cost of quality

— Prevention cost

— Money required to prevent errors and to do the job right the first time.

— Ex. Establishing methods and procedures, Training workers, acquiring tools.

— Appraisal cost

— Money spent to review completed products against requirements.

— Ex. Cost of inspections, testing, reviews.

— Failure cost

— All costs associated with defective products that have been delivered to the user or moved in to the production.

— Ex. Repairing cost, cost of operating faulty products, damage incurred by using them.

Software quality factors

Correctness

Reliability

Efficiency

Integrity

Usability

Maintainability

Testability

Flexibility

Portability

Reusability

Interpretability

The Fundamental Test Process

— Assess development plan and status

— Develop the test plan

— Test Software requirements

— Test software design

— Program (Build) phase testing

— Execute and record results

— Acceptance test

— Report test results

— The software installation

— Test software changes

— Evaluate test effectiveness

Black box testing

— Also known as functional testing.

—

— A software testing technique whereby the internal workings of the item being tested are not known by the tester.

—

White box testing

—

— Also known as glass box, structural, clear box and open box testing.

—

— A software testing technique whereby explicit knowledge of the internal workings of the item being tested are used to select the test data. Unlike black box testing, white box testing uses specific knowledge of programming code to examine outputs.

Traceability matrix

— In a software development process, a Traceability Matrix is a table that correlates any two base lined documents that require a many to many relationship to the determine completeness of the relationship. It is often used with high-level requirements (sometimes known as Marketing Requirements) and detailed requirements of the software product to the matching parts of high-level design, detailed Design, test plan, and test cases.

— Template

Black Box Testing Techniques

— Boundary value analysis

— Boundary value analysis is a software testing related technique to determine test cases covering known areas of frequent problems at the boundaries of software component input ranges.

— The boundary value analysis can have 6 test cases', n-1,n+1 for the upper limit and n, n-1,n+1 for the lower limit.

—

— Equivalence partitioning

— Equivalence partitioning is software testing related technique with the goal:

— To reduce the number of test cases to a necessary minimum.

— To select the right test cases to cover all possible scenarios.

—

— Example : The valid range for the month is 1 to 12, standing for January to December. This valid range is called a partition. In this example there are two further partitions of invalid ranges. The first invalid partition would be <= 0 and the second invalid partition would be >= 13.

—

Test case

— A test case is a set of conditions or variables under which a tester will determine if a requirement upon an application is partially or fully satisfied.

—

Test script

— A test script is a short program written in a programming language used to test part of the functionality of a software system.

Best practices

— Avoid unnecessary duplication of test case

—

— Map all the test cases with its requirements

—

— Provide sufficient information on the test cases with the appropriate naming conventions

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Manual Test Execution

— Collect the requirements from the User Requirement document

—

— Analyze the requirement

—

— Identify the areas to be tested

—

— Prepare the detailed test plan and test case

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— Prepare the environment for testing

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— Execute the test cases in the planned manner

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— Observe the behavior

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— Report in the defect log during abnormality

Test Reporting

— It is a process to collect data, analyze the data, supplement the data with metrics, graphs, and charts other pictorial representations which help the developers and users interpret that data.

—

Prerequisites to test reporting

— Define the test status data to be collected

—

— Define the test metrics to be used in reporting test results

—

— Define effective test metrics

Defect Management system

— Identify the defect

—

— Identify the priority and severity

—

— Report the bug to the programmer

—

— Once fixed, test again the same test case to verify that the bug has indeed been fixed.

—

— Test the related test cases to verify there are no side effects

—

— Close the bug

Testing Material

1 :: What is bidirectional traceability?

Bidirectional traceability needs to be implemented both forward and backward (i.e., from requirements to end products and from end product back to requirements).

When the requirements are managed well, traceability can be established from the source requirement to its lower level requirements and from the lower level requirements back to their source. Such bidirectional traceability helps determine that all source requirements have been completely addressed and that all lower level requirements can be traced to a valid source.

2 :: What is the maximum length of the test case we can write?

We can't say exactly test case length, it depending on functionality.

3 :: What is internationalization Testing?

Software Internationalization is process of developing software products independent from cultural norms, language or other specific attributes of a market

4 :: What does black-box testing mean at the unit, integration, and system levels?

Tests for each software requirement using

Equivalence Class Partitioning, Boundary Value Testing, and more

Test cases for system software requirements using the Trace Matrix, Cross-functional Testing, Decision Tables, and more

Test cases for system integration for configurations, manual operations, etc.

5 :: What is Bug life cycle?

New: when tester reports a defect

Open: when developer accepts that it is a bug or if the developer rejects the defect, then the status is turned into "Rejected"

Fixed: when developer make changes to the code to rectify the bug...

Closed/Reopen: when tester tests it again. If the expected result shown up, it is turned into "Closed" and if the problem persists again, it's "Reopen".

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6 :: Smoke test? Do you use any automation tool for smoke testing?

Testing the application whether it's performing its basic functionality properly or not, so that the test team can go ahead with the application. Definitely can use.

7 :: When a bug is found, what is the first action?

Report it in bug tracking tool.

8 :: Advantages of automation over manual testing?

Time saving, resource and money

9 :: For Web Applications what type of tests are you going to do?

Web-based applications present new challenges, these challenges include:

- Short release cycles;

- Constantly Changing Technology;

- Possible huge number of users during initial website launch;

- Inability to control the user's running environment;

- 24-hour availability of the web site.

The quality of a website must be evident from the Onset. Any difficulty whether in response time, accuracy of information, or ease of use-will compel the user to click to a competitor's site. Such problems translate into lost of users, lost sales, and poor company image.

To overcome these types of problems, use the following techniques:

1. Functionality Testing

Functionality testing involves making Sure the features that most affect user interactions work properly. These include:

· forms

· searches

· pop-up windows

· shopping carts

· online payments

2. Usability Testing

Many users have low tolerance for anything that is difficult to use or that does not work. A user's first impression of the site is important, and many websites have become cluttered with an increasing number of features. For general-use websites frustrated users can easily click over a competitor's site.

Usability testing involves following main steps

· identify the website's purpose;

· identify the indented users ;

· define tests and conduct the usability testing

· analyze the acquired information

3. Navigation Testing

Good Navigation is an essential part of a website, especially those that are complex and provide a lot of information. Assessing navigation is a major part of usability Testing.

4. Forms Testing

Websites that use forms need tests to ensure that each field works properly and that the forms posts all data as intended by the designer.

5. Page Content Testing

Each web page must be tested for correct content from the user perspective for correct content from the user perspective. These tests fall into two categories: ensuring that each component functions correctly and ensuring that the content of each is correct.

6. Configuration and Compatibility testing

A key challenge for web applications is ensuring that the user sees a web page as the designer intended. The user can select different browser software and browser options, use different network software and on-line service, and run other concurrent applications. We execute the application under every browser/platform combination to ensure the web sites work properly under various environments.

7. Reliability and Availability Testing

A key requirement o a website is that it Be available whenever the user requests it, after 24-hours a day, every day. The number of users accessing web site simultaneously may also affect the site's availability.

8. Performance Testing

Performance Testing, which evaluates System performance under normal and heavy usage, is crucial to success of any web application. A system that takes for long to respond may frustrate the user who can then quickly move to a competitor's site. Given enough time, every page request will eventually be delivered. Performance testing seeks to ensure that the website server responds to browser requests within defined parameters.

9. Load Testing

The purpose of Load testing is to model real world experiences, typically by generating many simultaneous users accessing the website. We use automation tools to increases the ability to conduct a valid load test, because it emulates thousand of users by sending simultaneous requests to the application or the server.

10. Stress Testing

Stress Testing consists of subjecting the system to varying and maximum loads to evaluate the resulting performance. We use automated test tools to simulate loads on website and execute the tests continuously for several hours or days.

11. Security Testing

Security is a primary concern when communicating and conducting business- especially sensitive and business- critical transactions - over the internet. The user wants assurance that personal and financial information is secure. Finding the vulnerabilities in an application that would grant an unauthorized user access to the system is important.

10 :: What is Testing environment in your company, means how testing process start?

Testing process is going as follows:

Quality assurance unit

Quality assurance manager

Test lead

Test engneer

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11 :: What is a Use case?

A simple flow between the end user and the system. It contains pre conditions, post conditions, normal flows and exceptions. It is done by Team Lead/Test Lead/Tester.

12 :: How you are breaking down the project among team members?

It can be depend on these following cases----

1) Number of modules

2) Number of team members

3) Complexity of the Project

4) Time Duration of the project

5) Team member's experience etc......

13 :: What is a Test Server?

The place where the developers put their development modules, which are accessed by the testers to test the functionality.

14 :: What are the differences between these three words Error, Defect and Bug?

Error: The deviation from the required logic, syntax or standards/ethics is called as error.

There are three types of error. They are:

Syntax error (This is due to deviation from the syntax of the language what supposed to follow).

Logical error (This is due to deviation from the logic of the program what supposed to follow)

Execution error (This is generally happens when you are executing the same program, that time you get it.)

Defect: When an error found by the test engineer (testing department) then it is called defect

Bug: if the defect is agreed by the developer then it converts into bug, which has to fix by the developer or post pond to next version.

15 :: There are two sand clocks(timers) one complete totally in 7 minutes and other in 9-minutes we have to calculate with this timers and bang the bell after completion of 11- minutes!plz give me the solution.

1. Start both clocks

2. When 7 min clock complete, turn it so that it restarts.

3. When 9 min clock finish, turn 7 min clocks (It has 2 mints only).

4. When 7 min clock finishes, 11 min complete.

16 :: What are the technical reviews?

For each document, it should be reviewed. Technical Review in the sense, for each screen, developer will write a Technical Specification. It should be reviewed by developer and tester. There are functional specification review, unit test case review and code review etc.

17 :: Explain ETVX concept?

E- Entry Criteria

T- Task

V- Validation

X- Exit Criteria

ENTRY CRITERIA: Input with 'condition' attached.

e.g. Approved SRS document is the entry criteria for the design phase.

TASK: Procedures.

e.g. Preparation of HLD, LLD etc.

VALIDATION: Building quality & Verification activities

e.g. Technical reviews

EXIT CRITERIA: Output with 'condition' attached.

e.g Approved design document

It is important to follow ETVX concept for all phases in SDLC.

18 :: If the client identified some bugs to whom did he reported?

He will report to the Project Manager. Project Manager will arrange a meeting with all the leads (Dev. Manager, Test Lead and Requirement Manager) then raise a Change Request and then, identify which all the screens are going to be impacted by the bug. They will take the code and correct it and send it to the Testing Team.

19 :: At what phase tester role starts?

In SDLC after complition of FRS document the test lead prepare the use case document and test plan document, then the tester role is start.

20 :: Actually how many positive and negetive testcases will write for a module?

That depends on the module and complexity of logic. For every test case, we can identify +ve and -ve points. Based on the criteria, we will write the test cases, If it is crucial process or screen. We should check the screen,in all the boundary conditions.

* StumbleUpon

* Digg

* Delicious

* Twitter

* FaceBook

* LinkedIn

* Google

* Yahoo

* MySpace

* Tell Your Friend

21 :: What are the main bugs which were identified by you and in that how many are considered as real bugs?

If you take one screen, let's say, it has got 50 Test conditions, out of which, I have identified 5 defects which are failed. I should give the description defect, severity and defect classfication. All the defects will be considered.

Defect Classification are:

GRP : Graphical Representation

LOG : Logical Error

DSN : Design Error

STD : Standard Error

TST : Wrong Test case

TYP : Typographical Error (Cosmotic Error)

22 :: What is Six sigma?

Six Sigma:

A quality discipline that focuses on product and service excellence to create a culture that demands perfection on target, every time.

Six Sigma quality levels

Produces 99.9997% accuracy, with only 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

Six Sigma is designed to dramatically upgrade a company's performance, improving quality and productivity. Using existing products, processes, and service standards,

They go for Six Sigma MAIC methodology to upgrade performance.

MAIC is defined as follows:

Measure: Gather the right data to accurately assess a problem.

Analyze: Use statistical tools to correctly identify the root causes of a problem

Improve: Correct the problem (not the symptom).

Control: Put a plan in place to make sure problems stay fixed and sustain the gains.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

The key roles in all Six Sigma efforts are as follows:

Sponsor: Business executive leading the organization.

Champion: Responsible for Six Sigma strategy, deployment, and vision.

Process Owner: Owner of the process, product, or service being improved responsible for long-term sustainable gains.

Master Black Belts: Coach black belts expert in all statistical tools.

Black Belts: Work on 3 to 5 $250,000-per-year projects; create $1 million per year in value.

Green Belts: Work with black belt on projects.

23 :: What are cookies? Tell me the advantage and disadvantage of cookies?

Cookies are messages that web servers pass to your web browser when you visit Internet sites. Your browser stores each message in a small file. When you request another page from the server, your browser sends the cookie back to the server. These files typically contain information about your visit to the web page, as well as any information you've volunteered, such as your name and interests. Cookies are most commonly used to track web site activity. When you visit some sites, the server gives you a cookie that acts as your identification card. Upon each return visit to that site, your browser passes that cookie back to the server. In this way, a web server can gather information about which web pages are used the most, and which pages are gathering the most repeat hits. Only the web site that creates the cookie can read it. Additionally, web servers can only use information that you provide or choices that you make while visiting the web site as content in cookies. Accepting a cookie does not give a server access to your computer or any of your personal information. Servers can only read cookies that they have set, so other servers do not have access to your information. Also, it is not possible to execute code from a cookie, and not possible to use a cookie to deliver a virus.

24 :: What is stub? Explain in testing point of view?

Stub is a dummy program or component, the code is not ready for testing, it's used for testing...that means, in a project if there are 4 modules and last is remaining and there is no time then we will use dummy program to complete that fourth module and we will run whole 4 modules also. The dummy program is also known as stub.

25 :: Define Brain Stromming and Cause Effect Graphing?

BS:

A learning technique involving open group discussion intended to expand the range of available ideas

A meeting to generate creative ideas. At PEPSI Advertising, daily, weekly and bi-monthly brainstorming sessions are held by various work groups within the firm. Our monthly I-Power brainstorming meeting is attended by the entire agency staff.

Brainstorming is a highly structured process to help generate ideas. It is based on the principle that you cannot generate and evaluate ideas at the same time. To use brainstorming, you must first gain agreement from the group to try brainstorming for a fixed interval (eg six minutes).

CEG:

A testing technique that aids in selecting, in a systematic way, a high-yield set of test cases that logically relates causes to effects to produce test cases. It has a beneficial side effect in pointing out incompleteness and ambiguities in specifications.

26 :: Password is having 6 digit alphanumeric then what are the possible input conditions?

Including special characters also Possible input conditions are:

1) Input password as = 6abcde (ie number first)

2) Input password as = abcde8 (ie character first)

3) Input password as = 123456 (all numbers)

4) Input password as = abcdef (all characters)

5) Input password less than 6 digit

6) Input password greater than 6 digits

7) Input password as special characters

8) Input password in CAPITAL ie uppercase

9) Input password including space

10) (SPACE) followed by alphabets /numerical /alphanumerical/

27 :: Explain agile testing?

Agile testing is used whenever customer requirements are changing dynamically

If we have no SRS, BRS but we have test cases does you execute the test cases blindly or do you follow any other process.

Test case would have detail steps of what the application is supposed to do.

1) Functionality of application.

2) In addition you can refer to Backend, is mean look into the Database. To gain more knowledge of the application.

28 :: What is deferred status in defect life cycle?

Deferred status means the developer accepted the bus, but it is scheduled to rectify in the next build.

29 :: Verification and validation?

Verification is static. No code is executed. Say, analysis of requirements etc.

Validation is dynamic. Code is executed with scenarios present in test cases.

30 :: What is test plan and explain its contents?

Test plan is a document which contains the scope for testing the application and what to be tested, when to be tested and who to test.

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31 :: What is mean by release notes?

It's a document released along with the product which explains about the product. It also contains about the bugs that are in deferred status.

32 :: Give an example of high priority and low severity, low priority and high severity?

Severity level:

The degree of impact the issue or problem has on the project. Severity 1 usually means the highest level requiring immediate attention. Severity 5 usually represents a documentation defect of minimal impact.

Severity is levels:

* Critical: the software will not run

* High: unexpected fatal errors (includes crashes and data corruption)

* Medium: a feature is malfunctioning

* Low: a cosmetic issue

Severity levels

1. Bug causes system crash or data loss.

2. Bug causes major functionality or other severe problems; product crashes in obscure cases.

3. Bug causes minor functionality problems, may affect "fit anf finish".

4. Bug contains typos, unclear wording or error messages in low visibility fields.

Severity levels

* High: A major issue where a large piece of functionality or major system component is completely broken. There is no workaround and testing cannot continue.

* Medium: A major issue where a large piece of functionality or major system component is not working properly. There is a workaround, however, and testing can continue.

* Low: A minor issue that imposes some loss of functionality, but for which there is an acceptable and easily reproducible workaround. Testing can proceed without interruption.

Severity and Priority

Priority is Relative: the priority might change over time. Perhaps a bug initially deemed P1 becomes rated as P2 or even a P3 as the schedule draws closer to the release and as the test team finds even more heinous errors. Priority is a subjective evaluation of how important an issue is, given other tasks in the queue and the current schedule. It’s relative. It shifts over time. And it’s a business decision.

Severity is an absolute: it’s an assessment of the impact of the bug without regard to other work in the queue or the current schedule. The only reason severity should change is if we have new information that causes us to re-evaluate our assessment. If it was a high severity issue when I entered it, it’s still a high severity issue when it’s deferred to the next release. The severity hasn’t changed just because we’ve run out of time. The priority changed.

Severity Levels can be defined as follow:

S1 - Urgent/Showstopper. Like system crash or error message forcing to close the window.

Tester's ability to operate the system either totally (System Down), or almost totally, affected. A major area of the users system is affected by the incident and it is significant to business processes.

S2 - Medium/Workaround. Exist like when a problem is required in the specs but tester can go on with testing. Incident affects an area of functionality but there is a work-around which negates impact to business process. This is a problem that:

a) Affects a more isolated piece of functionality.

b) Occurs only at certain boundary conditions.

c) Has a workaround (where "don't do that" might be an acceptable answer to the user).

d) Occurs only at one or two customers. or is intermittent

S3 - Low. This is for minor problems, such as failures at extreme boundary conditions that are unlikely to occur in normal use, or minor errors in

layout/formatting. Problems do not impact use of the product in any substantive way. These are incidents that are cosmetic in nature and of no or very low impact to business processes.

33 :: Diff. between STLC and SDLC?

STLC is software test life cycle it starts with

* Preparing the test strategy.

* Preparing the test plan.

* Creating the test environment.

* Writing the test cases.

* Creating test scripts.

* Executing the test scripts.

* Analyzing the results and reporting the bugs.

* Doing regression testing.

* Test exiting.

SDLC is software or system development life cycle, phases are...

* Project initiation.

* Requirement gathering and documenting.

* Designing.

* Coding and unit testing.

* Integration testing.

* System testing.

* Installation and acceptance testing. " Support or maintenance.

34 :: What is Test Data Collection?

Test data is the collection of input data taken for testing the application. Various types and size of input data will be taken for testing the applications. Sometimes in critical application the test data collection will be given by the client also.

35 :: What are non-functional requirements?

The non-functional requirements of a software product are: reliability, usability, efficiency, delivery time, software development environment, security requirements, standards to be followed etc.

36 :: Why we perform stress-testing, resolution-testing and cross- browser testing?

Stress Testing: - We need to check the performance of the application.

Def: Testing conducted to evaluate a system or component at or beyond the limits of its specified requirements

Resolution Testing: - Some times developer created only for 1024 resolution, the same page displayed a horizontal scroll bar in 800 x 600 resolutions. No body can like the horizontal scroll appears in the screen. That is reason to test the Resolution testing.

Cross-browser Testing: - This testing some times called compatibility testing. When we develop the pages in IE compatible, the same page is not working in Fairfox or Netscape properly, because

most of the scripts are not supporting to other than IE. So that we need to test the cross-browser Testing

37 :: What is the minimum criteria for white box?

We should know the logic, code and the structure of the program or function. Internal knowledge of the application how the system works what's the logic behind it and structure how it should react to particular action.

38 :: In what basis you will write test cases?

I would write the Test cases based on Functional Specifications and BRDs and some more test cases using the Domain knowledge.

39 :: What are the main key components in Web applications and client and Server applications? (differences)?

For Web Applications: Web application can be implemented using any kind of technology like Java, .NET, VB, ASP, CGI& PERL. Based on the technology,We can derive the components.

Let's take Java Web Application. It can be implemented in 3 tier architecture. Presentation tier (jsp, html, dthml,servlets, struts). Busienss Tier (Java Beans, EJB, JMS) Data Tier(Databases like Oracle, SQL Server etc., )

If you take .NET Application, Presentation (ASP, HTML, DHTML), Business Tier (DLL) & Data Tier ( Database like Oracle, SQL Server etc.,)

Client Server Applications: It will have only 2 tiers. One is Presentation (Java, Swing) and Data Tier (Oracle, SQL Server). If it is client Server architecture, the entire application has to be installed on the client machine. When ever you do any changes in your code, Again, It has to be installed on all the client machines. Where as in Web Applications, Core Application will reside on the server and client can be thin Client(browser). Whatever the changes you do, you have to install the application in the server. NO need to worry about the clients. Because, You will not install any thing on the client machine.

40 :: What is the formal technical review?

Technical review should be done by the team of members. The document, which is going to be reviewed, who has prepared and reviewers should sit together and do the review of that document. It is called Peer Review. If it is a technical document, It can be called as formal Technical review, I guess. It varies depends on the company policy.

41 :: Explain Software metrics?

Measurement is fundamental to any engineering discipline

Why Metrics?

- We cannot control what we cannot measure!

- Metrics helps to measure quality

- Serves as dash-board

The main metrices are :size,shedule,defects.In this there are main sub metrices.

Test Coverage = Number of units (KLOC/FP) tested / total size of the system

Test cost (in %) = Cost of testing / total cost *100

Cost to locate defect = Cost of testing / the number of defects located

Defects detected in testing (in %) = Defects detected in testing / total system defects*100

Acceptance criteria tested = Acceptance criteria tested / total acceptance criteria

42 :: What is Software reliability?

It is the probability that software will work without failure for a specified period of time in a specified environment.Reliability of software is measured in terms of Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF). For eg if MTBF = 10000 hours for an average software, then it should not fail for 10000 hours of continous operation.

43 :: What the main use of preparing a traceability matrix?

Traceability matrix is prepared in order to cross check the test cases designed against each requirement, hence giving an opportunity to verify that all the requirements are covered in testing the application.

(Or)

To Cross verify the prepared test cases and test scripts with user requirements. To monitor the changes, enhance occurred during the development of the project.

44 :: What is TRM?

TRM means Test Responsibility Matrix.

TRM: --- It indicates mapping between test factors and development stages...

Test factors like:

Ease of use, reliability, portability, authorization, access control, audit trail, ease of operates, maintainable... Like dat...

Development stages...

Requirement gathering, Analysis, design, coding, testing, and maintenance

45 :: What is the difference between Product-based Company and Projects-based Company?

Product based company develops the applications for Global clients i.e. there is no specific clients. Here requirements are gathered from market and analyzed with experts.

Project based company develops the applications for the specific client. The requirements are gathered from the client and analyzed with the client.

Testing Glossary

Acceptance Testing: Formal testing conducted to determine whether or not a system satisfies its acceptance criteria—enables an end user to determine whether or not to accept the system.

Affinity Diagram: A group process that takes large amounts of language data, such as a list developed by brainstorming, and divides it into categories.

Alpha Testing: Testing of a software product or system conducted at the developer’s site by the end user.

Audit: An inspection/assessment activity that verifies compliance with plans, policies, and procedures, and ensures that resources are conserved. Audit is a staff function; it serves as the “eyes and ears” of management.

Automated Testing: That part of software testing that is assisted with software tool(s) that does not require operator input, analysis, or evaluation.

Beta Testing: Testing conducted at one or more end user sites by the end user of a delivered software product or system.

Black-box Testing: Functional testing based on requirements with no knowledge of the internal program structure or data. Also known as closed-box testing. Black box testing indicates whether or not a program meets required specifications by spotting faults of omission -- places where the specification is not fulfilled.

Bottom-up Testing: An integration testing technique that tests the low-level components first using test drivers for those components that have not yet been developed to call the low-level components for test.

Boundary Value Analysis: A test data selection technique in which values are chosen to lie along data extremes. Boundary values include maximum, mini-mum, just inside/outside boundaries, typical values, and error values.

Brainstorming: A group process for generating creative and diverse ideas.

Branch Coverage Testing: A test method satisfying coverage criteria that requires each decision point at each possible branch to be executed at least once.

Bug: A design flaw that will result in symptoms exhibited by some object (the object under test or some other object) when an object is subjected to an appropriate test.

Cause-and-Effect (Fishbone) Diagram: A tool used to identify possible causes of a problem by representing the relationship between some effect and its possible cause.

Cause-effect Graphing: A testing technique that aids in selecting, in a systematic way, a high-yield set of test cases that logically relates causes to effects to produce test cases. It has a beneficial side effect in pointing out incompleteness and ambiguities in specifications.

Checksheet: A form used to record data as it is gathered.

Clear-box Testing: Another term for white-box testing. Structural testing is sometimes referred to as clear-box testing, since “white boxes” are considered opaque and do not really permit visibility into the code. This is also known as glass-box or open-box testing.

Client: The end user that pays for the product received, and receives the benefit from the use of the product.

Control Chart: A statistical method for distinguishing between common and special cause variation exhibited by processes.

Customer (end user): The individual or organization, internal or external to the producing organization, that receives the product.

Cyclomatic Complexity: A measure of the number of linearly independent paths through a program module.

Data Flow Analysis: Consists of the graphical analysis of collections of (sequential) data definitions and reference patterns to determine constraints that can be placed on data values at various points of executing the source program.

Debugging: The act of attempting to determine the cause of the symptoms of malfunctions detected by testing or by frenzied user complaints.

Defect: NOTE: Operationally, it is useful to work with two definitions of a defect:
1) From the producer’s viewpoint: a product requirement that has not been met or a product attribute possessed by a product or a function performed by a product that is not in the statement of requirements that define the product.
2) From the end user’s viewpoint: anything that causes end user dissatisfaction, whether in the statement of requirements or not.

Defect Analysis: Using defects as data for continuous quality improvement. Defect analysis generally seeks to classify defects into categories and identify possible causes in order to direct process improvement efforts.

Defect Density: Ratio of the number of defects to program length (a relative number).

Desk Checking: A form of manual static analysis usually performed by the originator. Source code documentation, etc., is visually checked against requirements and standards.

Dynamic Analysis: The process of evaluating a program based on execution of that program. Dynamic analysis approaches rely on executing a piece of software with selected test data.

Dynamic Testing: Verification or validation performed which executes the system’s code.

Error: 1) A discrepancy between a computed, observed, or measured value or condition and the true, specified, or theoretically correct value or condition; and
2) a mental mistake made by a programmer that may result in a program fault.

Error-based Testing: Testing where information about programming style, error-prone language constructs, and other programming knowledge is applied to select test data capable of detecting faults, either a specified class of faults or all possible faults.

Evaluation: The process of examining a system or system component to determine the extent to which specified properties are present.

Execution: The process of a computer carrying out an instruction or instructions of a computer.

Exhaustive Testing: Executing the program with all possible combinations of values for program variables.

Failure: The inability of a system or system component to perform a required function within specified limits. A failure may be produced when a fault is encountered.

Failure-directed Testing: Testing based on the knowledge of the types of errors made in the past that are likely for the system under test.

Fault: A manifestation of an error in software. A fault, if encountered, may cause a failure.

Fault Tree Analysis: A form of safety analysis that assesses hardware safety to provide failure statistics and sensitivity analyses that indicate the possible effect of critical failures.

Fault-based Testing: Testing that employs a test data selection strategy designed to generate test data capable of demonstrating the absence of a set of pre-specified faults, typically, frequently occurring faults.

Flowchart: A diagram showing the sequential steps of a process or of a workflow around a product or service.

Formal Review: A technical review conducted with the end user, including the types of reviews called for in the standards.

Function Points: A consistent measure of software size based on user requirements. Data components include inputs, outputs, etc. Environment characteristics include data communications, performance, reusability, operational ease, etc. Weight scale: 0 = not present; 1 = minor influence, 5 = strong influence.

Functional Testing: Application of test data derived from the specified functional requirements without regard to the final program structure. Also known as black-box testing.

Heuristics Testing: Another term for failure-directed testing.

Histogram: A graphical description of individual measured values in a data set that is organized according to the frequency or relative frequency of occurrence. A histogram illustrates the shape of the distribution of individual values in a data set along with information regarding the average and variation.

Hybrid Testing: A combination of top-down testing combined with bottom-up testing of prioritized or available components.

Incremental Analysis: Incremental analysis occurs when (partial) analysis may be performed on an incomplete product to allow early feedback on the development of that product.

Infeasible Path: Program statement sequence that can never be executed.

Inputs: Products, services, or information needed from suppliers to make a process work.

Inspection: 1) A formal evaluation technique in which software requirements, design, or code are examined in detail by a person or group other than the author to detect faults, violations of development standards, and other problems.
2) A quality improvement process for written material that consists of two dominant components: product (document) improvement and process improvement (document production and inspection).

Instrument: To install or insert devices or instructions into hardware or software to monitor the operation of a system or component.

Integration: The process of combining software components or hardware components, or both, into an overall system.

Integration Testing: An orderly progression of testing in which software components or hardware components, or both, are combined and tested until the entire system has been integrated.

Interface: A shared boundary. An interface might be a hardware component to link two devices, or it might be a portion of storage or registers accessed by two or more computer programs.

Interface Analysis: Checks the interfaces between program elements for consistency and adherence to predefined rules or axioms.

Intrusive Testing: Testing that collects timing and processing information during program execution that may change the behavior of the software from its behavior in a real environment. Usually involves additional code embedded in the software being tested or additional processes running concurrently with software being tested on the same platform.

IV&V: Independent verification and validation is the verification and validation of a software product by an organization that is both technically and managerially separate from the organization responsible for developing the product.

Life Cycle: The period that starts when a software product is conceived and ends when the product is no longer available for use. The software life cycle typically includes a requirements phase, design phase, implementation (code) phase, test phase, installation and checkout phase, operation and maintenance phase, and a retirement phase.

Manual Testing: That part of software testing that requires operator input, analysis, or evaluation.

Mean: A value derived by adding several qualities and dividing the sum by the number of these quantities.

Measurement: 1) The act or process of measuring. A figure, extent, or amount obtained by measuring.

Metric: A measure of the extent or degree to which a product possesses and exhibits a certain quality, property, or attribute.

Mutation Testing: A method to determine test set thoroughness by measuring the extent to which a test set can discriminate the program from slight variants of the program.

Non-intrusive Testing: Testing that is transparent to the software under test; i.e., testing that does not change the timing or processing characteristics of the software under test from its behavior in a real environment. Usually involves additional hardware that collects timing or processing information and processes that information on another platform.

Operational Requirements: Qualitative and quantitative parameters that specify the desired operational capabilities of a system and serve as a basis for deter-mining the operational effectiveness and suitability of a system prior to deployment.

Operational Testing: Testing performed by the end user on software in its normal operating environment.

Outputs: Products, services, or information supplied to meet end user needs.

Path Analysis: Program analysis performed to identify all possible paths through a program, to detect incomplete paths, or to discover portions of the program that are not on any path.

Path Coverage Testing: A test method satisfying coverage criteria that each logical path through the program is tested. Paths through the program often are grouped into a finite set of classes; one path from each class is tested.

Peer Reviews: A methodical examination of software work products by the producer’s peers to identify defects and areas where changes are needed.

Policy: Managerial desires and intents concerning either process (intended objectives) or products (desired attributes).

Problem: Any deviation from defined standards. Same as defect.

Procedure: The step-by-step method followed to ensure that standards are met.

Process: The work effort that produces a product. This includes efforts of people and equipment guided by policies, standards, and procedures.

Process Improvement: To change a process to make the process produce a given product faster, more economically, or of higher quality. Such changes may require the product to be changed. The defect rate must be maintained or reduced.

Product: The output of a process; the work product. There are three useful classes of products: manufactured products (standard and custom), administrative/ information products (invoices, letters, etc.), and service products (physical, intellectual, physiological, and psychological). Products are defined by a statement of requirements; they are produced by one or more people working in a process.

Product Improvement: To change the statement of requirements that defines a product to make the product more satisfying and attractive to the end user (more competitive). Such changes may add to or delete from the list of attributes and/or the list of functions defining a product. Such changes frequently require the process to be changed. NOTE: This process could result in a totally new product.

Productivity: The ratio of the output of a process to the input, usually measured in the same units. It is frequently useful to compare the value added to a product by a process to the value of the input resources required (using fair market values for both input and output).

Proof Checker: A program that checks formal proofs of program properties for logical correctness.

Prototyping: Evaluating requirements or designs at the conceptualization phase, the requirements analysis phase, or design phase by quickly building scaled-down components of the intended system to obtain rapid feedback of analysis and design decisions.

Qualification Testing: Formal testing, usually conducted by the developer for the end user, to demonstrate that the software meets its specified requirements.

Quality: A product is a quality product if it is defect free. To the producer a product is a quality product if it meets or conforms to the statement of requirements that defines the product. This statement is usually shortened to “quality means meets requirements. NOTE: Operationally, the work quality refers to products.

Quality Assurance (QA): The set of support activities (including facilitation, training, measurement, and analysis) needed to provide adequate confidence that processes are established and continuously improved in order to produce products that meet specifications and are fit for use.

Quality Control (QC): The process by which product quality is compared with applicable standards; and the action taken when nonconformance is detected. Its focus is defect detection and removal. This is a line function, that is, the performance of these tasks is the responsibility of the people working within the process.

Quality Improvement: To change a production process so that the rate at which defective products (defects) are produced is reduced. Some process changes may require the product to be changed.

Random Testing: An essentially black-box testing approach in which a program is tested by randomly choosing a subset of all possible input values. The distribution may be arbitrary or may attempt to accurately reflect the distribution of inputs in the application environment.

Regression Testing: Selective retesting to detect faults introduced during modification of a system or system component, to verify that modifications have not caused unintended adverse effects, or to verify that a modified system or system component still meets its specified requirements.

Reliability: The probability of failure-free operation for a specified period.

Requirement: A formal statement of: 1) an attribute to be possessed by the product or a function to be performed by the product; the performance standard for the attribute or function; or 3) the measuring process to be used in verifying that the standard has been met.

Review: A way to use the diversity and power of a group of people to point out needed improvements in a product or confirm those parts of a product in which improvement is either not desired or not needed. A review is a general work product evaluation technique that includes desk checking, walkthroughs, technical reviews, peer reviews, formal reviews, and inspections.

Run Chart: A graph of data points in chronological order used to illustrate trends or cycles of the characteristic being measured for the purpose of suggesting an assignable cause rather than random variation.

Scatter Plot (correlation diagram): A graph designed to show whether there is a relationship between two changing factors.

Semantics: 1) The relationship of characters or a group of characters to their meanings, independent of the manner of their interpretation and use.
2) The relationships between symbols and their meanings.

Software Characteristic: An inherent, possibly accidental, trait, quality, or property of software (for example, functionality, performance, attributes, design constraints, number of states, lines of branches).

Software Feature: A software characteristic specified or implied by requirements documentation (for example, functionality, performance, attributes, or design constraints).

Software Tool: A computer program used to help develop, test, analyze, or maintain another computer program or its documentation; e.g., automated design tools, compilers, test tools, and maintenance tools.

Standards: The measure used to evaluate products and identify nonconformance. The basis upon which adherence to policies is measured.

Standardize: Procedures are implemented to ensure that the output of a process is maintained at a desired level.

Statement Coverage Testing: A test method satisfying coverage criteria that requires each statement be executed at least once.

Statement of Requirements: The exhaustive list of requirements that define a product. NOTE: The statement of requirements should document requirements proposed and rejected (including the reason for the rejection) during the requirements determination process.

Static Testing: Verification performed without executing the system’s code. Also called static analysis.

Statistical Process Control: The use of statistical techniques and tools to measure an ongoing process for change or stability.

Structural Coverage: This requires that each pair of module invocations be executed at least once.

Structural Testing: A testing method where the test data is derived solely from the program structure.

Stub: A software component that usually minimally simulates the actions of called components that have not yet been integrated during top-down testing.

Supplier: An individual or organization that supplies inputs needed to generate a product, service, or information to an end user.

Syntax: 1) The relationship among characters or groups of characters independent of their meanings or the manner of their interpretation and use;
2) the structure of expressions in a language; and
3) the rules governing the structure of the language.

System: A collection of people, machines, and methods organized to accomplish a set of specified functions.

System Simulation: Another name for prototyping.

System Testing: The process of testing an integrated hardware and software system to verify that the system meets its specified requirements.

Technical Review: A review that refers to content of the technical material being reviewed.

Test Bed: 1) An environment that contains the integral hardware, instrumentation, simulators, software tools, and other support elements needed to conduct a test of a logically or physically separate component.
2) A suite of test programs used in conducting the test of a component or system.

Test Case: The definition of test case differs from company to company, engineer to engineer, and even project to project. A test case usually includes an identified set of information about observable states, conditions, events, and data, including inputs and expected outputs.

Test Development: The development of anything required to conduct testing. This may include test requirements (objectives), strategies, processes, plans, software, procedures, cases, documentation, etc.

Test Executive: Another term for test harness.

Test Harness: A software tool that enables the testing of software components that links test capabilities to perform specific tests, accept program inputs, simulate missing components, compare actual outputs with expected outputs to determine correctness, and report discrepancies.

Test Objective: An identified set of software features to be measured under specified conditions by comparing actual behavior with the required behavior described in the software documentation.

Test Plan: A formal or informal plan to be followed to assure the controlled testing of the product under test.

Test Procedure: The formal or informal procedure that will be followed to execute a test. This is usually a written document that allows others to execute the test with a minimum of training.

Testing: Any activity aimed at evaluating an attribute or capability of a program or system to determine that it meets its required results. The process of exercising or evaluating a system or system component by manual or automated means to verify that it satisfies specified requirements or to identify differences between expected and actual results.

Top-down Testing: An integration testing technique that tests the high-level components first using stubs for lower-level called components that have not yet been integrated and that stimulate the required actions of those components.

Unit Testing: The testing done to show whether a unit (the smallest piece of software that can be independently compiled or assembled, loaded, and tested) satisfies its functional specification or its implemented structure matches the intended design structure.

User: The end user that actually uses the product received.

V- Diagram (model): a diagram that visualizes the order of testing activities and their corresponding phases of development

Validation: The process of evaluating software to determine compliance with specified requirements.

Verification: The process of evaluating the products of a given software development activity to determine correctness and consistency with respect to the products and standards provided as input to that activity.

Walkthrough: Usually, a step-by-step simulation of the execution of a procedure, as when walking through code, line by line, with an imagined set of inputs. The term has been extended to the review of material that is not procedural, such as data descriptions, reference manuals, specifications, etc.

White-box Testing: Testing approaches that examine the program structure and derive test data from the program logic. This is also known as clear box testing, glass-box or open-box testing. White box testing determines if program-code structure and logic is faulty. The test is accurate only if the tester knows what the program is supposed to do. He or she can then see if the program diverges from its intended goal. White box testing does not account for errors caused by omission, and all visible code must also be readable.

Tester Roles and Responsibilities

9.1 Test Manager

§ Single point contact between Wipro onsite and offshore team

§ Prepare the project plan

§ Test Management

§ Test Planning

§ Interact with Wipro onsite lead, Client QA manager

§ Team management

§ Work allocation to the team

§ Test coverage analysis

§ Co-ordination with onsite for issue resolution.

§ Monitoring the deliverables

§ Verify readiness of the product for release through release review

§ Obtain customer acceptance on the deliverables

§ Performing risk analysis when required

§ Reviews and status reporting

§ Authorize intermediate deliverables and patch releases to customer.

9.2 Test Lead

§ Resolves technical issues for the product group

§ Provides direction to the team members

§ Performs activities for the respective product group

§ Review and Approve of Test Plan / Test cases

§ Review Test Script / Code

§ Approve completion of Integration testing

§ Conduct System / Regression tests

§ Ensure tests are conducted as per plan

§ Reports status to the Offshore Test Manager

9.3 Tester Engineer

§ Development of Test cases and Scripts

§ Test Execution

§ Result capturing and analysing

§ Follow the test plans, scripts etc. as documented.

§ Check tests are correct before reporting s/w faults

§ Defect Reporting and Status reporting

§ Assess risk objectively

§ Prioritize what you report

§ Communicate the truth.

9.4 How to Prioritize Tests:

§ We can’t test every thing.

§ There is never enough time to do all testing you would like.

§ So Prioritize Tests.

Tips

§ Possible ranking criteria ( all risk based)

§ Test where a failure would be most serve.

§ Test where failures would be most visible.

§ Take the help of customer in understanding what is most important to him.

§ What is most critical to the customers business.

§ Areas changed most often.

§ Areas with most problems in the past.

§ Most complex areas, or technically critical.

Note: If you follow above, whenever you stop testing, you have done the best testing in the time available.

How can we improve the efficiency in testing?

§ In the recent year it has show lot of outsourcing in testing area.

§ Its right time to think and create process to improve the efficiency of testing projects.

§ The best team will result in the efficient deliverables.

§ The team should contain 55% hard core test engineers, 30 domain knowledge engineers and 15% technology engineers.

How did we arrive to this figures?

The past projects has shown 50-60 percent of the test cases are written on the basis of testing techniques, 28-33% of test cases are resulted to cover the domain oriented business rules and 15-18% technology oriented test cases.

Software testability is simply how easily a computer program can be tested.

A set of program characteristics that lead to testable software:

Testing

8.1 Test Strategy

§ Test strategy is statement of overall approach of testing to meet the business and test objectives.

§ It is a plan level document and has to be prepared in the requirement stage of the project.

§ It identifies the methods, techniques and tools to be used for testing .

§ It can be a project or an organization specific.

§ Developing a test strategy which effectively meets the needs of the organization/project is critical to the success of the software development

§ An effective strategy has to meet the project and business objectives

§ Defining the strategy upfront before the actual testing helps in planning the test activities

A test strategy will typically cover the following aspects

§ Definition of test objective

§ Strategy to meet the specified objective

§ Overall testing approach

§ Test Environment

§ Test Automation requirements

§ Metric Plan

§ Risk Identification, Mitigation and Contingency plan

§ Details of Tools usage

§ Specific Document templates used in testing

8.2 Testing Approach

§ Test approach will be based on the objectives set for testing

§ Test approach will detail the way the testing to be carried out

§ Types of testing to be done viz Unit, Integration and system testing

§ The method of testing viz Black–box, White-box etc.,

§ Details of any automated testing to be done

8.3 Test Environment

§ All the Hardware and Software requirements for carrying out testing shall be identified in detail.

§ Any specific tools required for testing will also be identified

§ If the testing is going to be done remotely, then it has to be considered during estimation

8.4 Risk Analysis

§ Risk analysis should carried out for testing phase

§ The risk identification will be accomplished by identifying causes-and-effects or effects-and-causes

§ The identified Risks are classified into to Internal and External Risks.

- The internal risks are things that the test team can control or influence.

- The external risks are things beyond the control or influence of the test team

§ Once Risks are identified and classified, the following activities will be carried out

- Identify the probability of occurrence

- Identify the impact areas – if the risk were to occur

- Risk mitigation plan – how avoid this risk?

- Risk contingency plan – if the risk were to occur what do we do?

8.5 Testing Limitations

§ You cannot test a program completely

§ We can only test against system requirements

- May not detect errors in the requirements.

- Incomplete or ambiguous requirements may lead to inadequate or incorrect testing.

§ Exhaustive (total) testing is impossible in present scenario.

§ Time and budget constraints normally require very careful planning of the testing effort.

§ Compromise between thoroughness and budget.

§ Test results are used to make business decisions for release dates.

§ Even if you do find the last bug, you’ll never know it

§ You will run out of time before you run out of test cases

§ You cannot test every path

§ You cannot test every valid input

§ You cannot test every invalid input

8.6 Testing Objectives

§ You cannot prove a program correct (because it isn’t!)

§ The purpose of testing is to find problems

§ The purpose of finding problems is to get them corrected

8.7 Testing Metrics

Time

– Time per test case

– Time per test script

– Time per unit test

– Time per system test

Sizing

– Function points

– Lines of code

Defects

– Numbers of defects

– Defects per sizing measure

– Defects per phase of testing

– Defect origin

– Defect removal efficiency

Number of defects found in producer testing

Defect Removal Efficiency =

Number of defects during the life of the product

Actual Size-Planed Size

Size Variance =

Planed Size

Actual end date – Planed end date

Delivery Variance =

Planed end date – Planed start date

Actual effort – Planed effort

Effort =

Planed effort

Effort

Productivity =

Size

No defect found during the review time

Review efficiency =

Effort

8.7 Test Stop Criteria:

§ Minimum number of test cases successfully executed.

§ Uncover minimum number of defects (16/1000 stm)

§ Statement coverage

§ Testing uneconomical

§ Reliability model

8.8 Six Essentials of Software Testing

The quality of the test process determines the success of the test effort.
Prevent defect migration by using early life-cycle testing techniques.
The time for software testing tools is now.
A real person must take responsibility for improving the testing process.
Testing is a professional discipline requiring trained, skilled people.
Cultivate a positive team attitude of creative destruction.

8.9 What are the five common problems in s/w development process?

Poor Requirements: If the requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general and not testable there will be problem.

Unrealistic Schedules: If too much work is creamed in too little time. Problems are inventible.

Inadequate Testing: No one will know weather the system is good or not. Until the complains system crash

Futurities: Requests to pile on new features after development is underway. Extremely common

Miscommunication: If the developers don’t know what is needed (or) customers have erroneous expectations, problems are guaranteed.

8.10 Give me five common problems that occur during software development.

Solid requirements :Ensure the requirements are solid, clear, complete, detailed, cohesive, attainable and testable.

Realistic Schedules: 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.

Adequate Testing: 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.

Firm Requirements: Avoid new features. Stick to initial requirements as much as possible.

Communication. Communicate Require walk-thorough and inspections when appropriate

8.11 What Should be done no enough time for testing

Risk analysis to determine where testing should be focused

§ Which functionality is most important to the project's intended purpose?

§ Which functionality is most visible to the user?

§ Which functionality has the largest safety impact?

§ Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?

§ Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?

§ Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the development cycle?

§ Which parts of the code are most complex and thus most subject to errors?

§ Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?

§ Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems?

§ Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance expenses?

§ Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?

§ What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?

§ What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?

§ What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?

§ What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?

§ Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to time-required ratio?

8.12 How do you know when to stop testing?

Common factors in deciding when to stop are...

§ Deadlines, e.g. release deadlines, testing deadlines;

§ Test cases completed with certain percentage passed;

§ Test budget has been depleted;

§ Coverage of code, functionality, or requirements reaches a specified point;

§ Bug rate falls below a certain level; or

§ Beta or alpha testing period ends.

8.14 Why does the software have Bugs?

§ Miscommunication or No communication

§ Software Complexity

§ Programming Errors

§ Changing Requirements

§ Time Pressures

§ Poorly Documented Code

8.15 Different Type of Errors in Software

User Interface Errors
Error Handling
Boundary related errors
Calculation errors
Initial and Later states
Control flow errors
Errors in Handling or Interpreting Data
Race Conditions
Load Conditions
Hardware

· What is Automation?

· § A software program that is used to test another software program, This is referred to as “automated software testing”.

· 7.2 Why Automation

· § Avoid the errors that humans make when they get tired after multiple repetitions.

· § The test program won’t skip any test by mistake.

· § Each future test cycle will take less time and require less human intervention.

· § Required for regression testing.

· 7.3 Benefits of Test Automation:

· § Allows more testing to happen

· § Tightens / Strengthen Test Cycle

· § Testing is consistent, repeatable

· § Useful when new patches released

· § Makes configuration testing easier

· § Test battery can be continuously improved.

· 7.4 False Benefits:

· § Fewer tests will be needed

· § It will be easier if it is automate

· § Compensate for poor design

· § No more manual testing.

· 7.5 What are the different tools available in the market?

· § Rational Robot

· § WinRunner

· § SilkTest

· § QA Run

· § WebFT

Defect Handling

What is Defect?

· Defect is a coding error in a computer program.

· A software error is present when the program does not do what its end user expects it to do.

Who can report a Defect?

Anyone who has involved in software development life cycle and who is using the software can report a Defect. In most of the cases defects are reported by Testing Team.

A short list of people expected to report bugs:

Testers / QA Engineers
Developers
Technical Support
End Users
Sales and Marketing Engineers

Defect Reporting

Defect or Bug Report is the medium of communication between the tester and the programmer
Provides clarity to the management, particularly at the summary level
Defect Report should be accurate, concise, thoroughly-edited, well conceived, high-quality technical document
The problem should be described in a way that maximizes the probability that it will be fixed
Defect Report should be non-judgmental and should not point finger at the programmer
Crisp Defect Reporting process improves the test team’s communications with the senior and peer management

Defect Life Cycle

§ Defect Life Cycle helps in handling defects efficiently.

§ This DLC will help the users to know the status of the defect.

Software Development Life Cycles

Life cycle: Entire duration of a project, from inception to termination

Different life cycle models

2.1. Code-and-fix model:

Earliest software development approach (1950s)
Iterative, programmers' approach
Two phases: 1. coding, 2. fixing the code

No provision for:

Project planning
Analysis
Design
Testing
Maintenance

Problems with code-and-fix model:

After several iterations, code became very poorly structured; subsequent fixes became very expensive
Even well-designed software often very poorly matched users’ requirements: were rejected or needed to be redeveloped (expensively!)
Changes to code were expensive, because of poor testing and maintenance practices

Solutions:

Design before coding
Requirements analysis before design
Separate testing and maintenance phases after coding

2.2. Waterfall model:

Also called the classic life cycle
Introduced in 1956 to overcome limitations of code-and-fix model
Very structured, organized approach and suitable for planning

Waterfall model is a linear approach, quite inflexible
At each phase, feedback to previous phases is possible (but is discouraged in practice)

Still is the most widespread model today

Main phases:

Requirements
Analysis
Design (overall design & detailed design)
Coding
Testing (unit test, integration test, acceptance test)
Maintenance

Approaches

The standard waterfall model for systems development is an approach that goes through the following steps:

1. Document System Concept

2. Identify System Requirements and Analyze them

3. Break the System into Pieces (Architectural Design)

4. Design Each Piece (Detailed Design)

5. Code the System Components and Test Them Individually (Coding, Debugging, and Unit Testing)

6. Integrate the Pieces and Test the System (System Testing)

7. Deploy the System and Operate It

Waterfall Model Assumption

§ The requirements are knowable in advance of implementation.

§ The requirements have no unresolved, high-risk implications

-- e.g., risks due to COTS choices, cost, schedule, performance, safety, security, user interface, organizational impacts

§ The nature of the requirements are compatible with all the key system stakeholders’ expectations

-- e.g., users, customer, developers, maintainers, investors

§ The right architecture for implementing the requirements is well understood.

§ There is enough calendar time to proceed sequentially.

Advantages of Waterfall Model

§ Conversion of existing projects in to new projects.

§ For proven platforms and technologies, it works fine.

§ Suitable for short duration projects.

§ The waterfall model is effective when there is no change in the requirements, and the requirements are fully known .

§ If there is no Rework, this model build a high quality product.

§ The stages are clear cut

§ All R&D done before coding starts, implies better quality program design

Disadvantages with Waterfall Model:

§ Testing is postponed to later stage till coding completes.

§ Not suitable for large projects

§ It assumes uniform and orderly sequence of steps.

§ Risk in certain project where technology itself is a risk.

§ Correction at the end of phase need correction to the previous phase, So rework is more.

§ Real projects rarely flow in a sequential process.

§ It is difficult to define all requirements at the beginning of a project.

§ The model has problems adapting to change.

§ A working version of the system is not seen until late in the project's life.

§ Errors are discovering later (repairing problem further along the lifecycle becomes progressively more expensive).

§ Maintenance cost can be as much as 70% of system costs.

Delivery only at the end (long wait)

2.3. Prototyping model:

Introduced to overcome shortcomings of waterfall model
Suitable to overcome problem of requirements definition
Prototyping builds an operational model of the planned system, which the customer can evaluate

Main phases:

Requirements gathering
Quick design
Build prototype
Customer evaluation of prototype
Refine prototype
Iterate steps 4. and 5. to "tune" the prototype
Engineer product

Note: Mostly, the prototype is discarded after step 5. and the actual

system is built from scratch in step 6. (throw-away prototyping)

Possible problems:

Customer may object to prototype being thrown away and may demand "a few changes" to make it working (results in poor software quality and maintainability)
Inferior, temporary design solutions may become permanent after a while, when the developer has forgotten that they were only intended to be temporary (results in poor software quality)

Advantages

§ Helps counter the limitations of waterfall model

§ After prototype is developed, the end user and the client are permitted to use the application and further modifications are done based on their feedback.

§ User oriented

What the user sees
Not enigmatic diagrams
Quicker error feedback
Earlier training

Possibility of developing a system that closely addresses users' needs and expectations

Disadvantages

Development costs are high.
User expectations
Bypass analysis
Documentation
Never ending
Managing the prototyping process is difficult because of its rapid, iterative nature
Requires feedback on the prototype
Incomplete prototypes may be regarded as complete systems

2.4 Incremental:

During the first one-month phase, the development team worked from static visual designs to code a prototype. In focus group meetings, the team discussed users’ needs and the potential features of the product and then showed a demonstration of its prototype. The excellent feedback from these focus groups had a large impact on the quality of the product.

Main phases:

Define outline Requirements 4. Develop
Assign requirements to increments 5. Integrate
Design system architecture 6. Validate

After the second group of focus groups, the feature set was frozen and the product definition complete. Implementation consisted of four-to-six-week cycles, with software delivered for beta use at the end of each cycle. The entire release took 10 months from definition to manufacturing release. Implementation lasted 4.5 months. The result was a world-class product that has won many awards and has been easy to support.

2.5 V-Model:

Verification à (Static System – Doing Right Job) To test the system correctness as to whether the system is being functioning as per specifications.

§ Typically involves in Reviews and Meetings to evaluate documents, plans, code, requirements and specifications.

§ This can be done with checklists, issue lists, walkthroughs and inspection meetings.

Validation à (Dynamic System - Job Right) Testing the system in a real environment i.e, whether software is catering the customers requirements.

Typically involves in actual testing and take place after verifications are completed

Advantages

Reduces the cost of defect repair (·.· Every document is verified by tester )
No Ideal time for Testers
Efficiency of V-model is more when compare to Waterfall Model
Change management can be effected in V-model

Disadvantages

Risk management is not possible
Applicable of medium sized projects

2.6 Spiral model:

Objective: overcome problems of other models, while combining their advantages
Key component: risk management (because traditional models often fail when risk is neglected)
Development is done incrementally, in several cycles _ Cycle as often as necessary to finish

Main phases:

Determine objectives, alternatives for development, and constraints for the portion of the whole system to be developed in the current cycle
Evaluate alternatives, considering objectives and constraints; identify and resolve risks
Develop the current cycle's part of the system, using evolutionary or conventional development methods (depending on remaining risks); perform validation at the end
Prepare plans for subsequent phases

Spiral Model

This model is very appropriate for large software projects. The model consists of four main parts, or blocks, and the process is shown by a continuous loop going from the outside towards the inside. This shows the progress of the project.

§ Planning

This phase is where the objectives, alternatives, and constraints are determined.

§ Risk Analysis

What happens here is that alternative solutions and constraints are defined, and risks are identified and analyzed. If risk analysis indicates uncertainty in the requirements, the prototyping model might be used to assist the situation.

§ Engineering

Here the customer decides when the next phase of planning and risk analysis occur. If it is determined that the risks are to high, the project can be terminated.

§ Customer Evaluation

In this phase, the customer will assess the engineering results and make changes if necessary.

Spiral model flexibility

Well-understood systems (low technical risk) - Waterfall model. Risk analysis phase is relatively cheap
Stable requirements and formal specification. Safety criticality - Formal transformation model
High UI risk, incomplete specification - prototyping model
Hybrid models accommodated for different parts of the project

Advantages of spiral model:

Good for large and complex projects
Customer Evaluation allows for any changes deemed necessary, or would allow for new technological advances to be used
Allows customer and developer to determine and to react to risks at each evolutionary level
Direct consideration of risks at all levels greatly reduces problems

Problems with spiral model:

Difficult to convince customer that this approach is controllable
Requires significant risk assessment expertise to succeed
Not yet widely used efficacy not yet proven
If a risk is not discovered, problems will surely occur

2.7 RAD Model

RAD refers to a development life cycle designed to give much faster development and higher quality systems than the traditional life cycle.
It is designed to take advantage of powerful development software like CASE tools, prototyping tools and code generators.
The key objectives of RAD are: High Speed, High Quality and Low Cost.
RAD is a people-centered and incremental development approach.
Active user involvement, as well as collaboration and co-operation between all stakeholders are imperative.
Testing is integrated throughout the development life cycle so that the system is tested and reviewed by both developers and users incrementally.

Problem Addressed By RAD

With conventional methods, there is a long delay before the customer gets to see any results.
With conventional methods, development can take so long that the customer's business has fundamentally changed by the time the system is ready for use.
With conventional methods, there is nothing until 100% of the process is finished, then 100% of the software is delivered

Bad Reasons For Using RAD

To prevent cost overruns

(RAD needs a team already disciplined in cost management)

To prevent runaway schedules

(RAD needs a team already disciplined in time management)

Good Reasons for using RAD

To converge early toward a design acceptable to the customer and feasible for the developers
To limit a project's exposure to the forces of change
To save development time, possibly at the expense of economy or product quality

RAD in SDLC

Mapping between System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) of ITSD and RAD stages is depicted as follows.

Essential Ingredients of RAD

RAD has four essential ingredients:

¨ Tools

¨ Methodology

¨ People

¨ Management.

The following benefits can be realized in using RAD:

High quality system will be delivered because of methodology, tools and user
involvement;
Business benefits can be realized earlier;
Capacity will be utilized to meet a specific and urgent business need;
Standards and consistency can be enforced through the use of CASE tools.

In the long run, we will also achieve that:

Time required to get system developed will be reduced;
Productivity of developers will be increased.

Advantages of RAD

Buying may save money compared to building
Deliverables sometimes easier to port
Early visibility
Greater flexibility (because developers can redesign almost at will)
Greatly reduced manual coding (because of wizards, code generators, code reuse)
Increased user involvement (because they are represented on the team at all times)
Possibly reduced cost (because time is money, also because of reuse)

Disadvantages of RAD

Buying may not save money compared to building
Cost of integrated toolset and hardware to run it
Harder to gauge progress (because there are no classic milestones)
Less efficient (because code isn't hand crafted)
More defects
Reduced features
Requirements may not converge
Standardized look and feel (undistinguished, lackluster appearance)
Successful efforts difficult to repeat
Unwanted features

Areas of Testing:

§ Black Box Testing

§ White Box Testing

§ Gray Box Testing

Black Box Testing

§ Test the correctness of the functionality with the help of Inputs and Outputs.

§ User doesn’t require the knowledge of software code.

§ Black box testing is also called as Functionality Testing.

It attempts to find errors in the following categories:

§ Incorrect or missing functions.

§ Interface errors.

§ Errors in data structures or external data base access.

§ Behavior or performance based errors.

§ Initialization or termination errors.

Approach:

Equivalence Class:

For each piece of the specification, generate one or more equivalence Class
Label the classes as “Valid” or “Invalid”
Generate one test case for each Invalid Equivalence class
Generate a test case that covers as many Valid Equivalence Classes as possible

An input condition for Equivalence Class

A specific numeric value
A range of values
A set of related values
A Boolean condition

Equivalence classes can be defined using the following guidelines

If an input condition specifies a range, one valid and two invalid equivalence class are defined.
If an input condition requires a specific value, one valid and two invalid equivalence classes are defined.
If an input condition specifies a member of a set, one valid and one invalid equivalence classes are defined.
If an input condition is Boolean, one valid and one invalid classes are defined.

Boundary Value Analysis

Generate test cases for the boundary values.
Minimum Value, Minimum Value + 1, Minimum Value -1
Maximum Value, Maximum Value + 1, Maximum Value - 1

Error Guessing.

Generating test cases against to the specification.

White Box Testing

§ Testing the Internal program logic

§ White box testing is also called as Structural testing.

§ User does require the knowledge of software code.

Purpose

§ Testing all loops

§ Testing Basis paths

§ Testing conditional statements

§ Testing data structures

§ Testing Logic Errors

§ Testing Incorrect assumptions

Structure = 1 Entry + 1 Exit with certain Constraints, Conditions and Loops.

Logic Errors and incorrect assumptions most are likely to be made while coding for

“special cases”. Need to ensure these execution paths are tested.

Approach

Basic Path Testing (Cyclomatic Complexity(Mc Cabe Method)

Measures the logical complexity of a procedural design.
Provides flow-graph notation to identify independent paths of processing
Once paths are identified - tests can be developed for - loops, conditions
Process guarantees that every statement will get executed at least once.

Structure Testing:

Condition Testing

All logical conditions contained in the program module should be tested.

Data Flow Testing

Selects test paths according to the location of definitions and use of variables.

Loop Testing

¨ Simple Loops

¨ Nested Loops

¨ Concatenated Loops

¨ Unstructured Loops

Gray Box Testing.

§ It is just a combination of both Black box & white box testing.

§ It is platform independent and language independent.

§ Used to test embedded systems.

§ Functionality and behavioral parts are tested.

§ Tester should have the knowledge of both the internals and externals of the function

§ If you know something about how the product works on the inside, you can test it better from the outside.

Gray box testing is especially important with Web and Internet applications, because the Internet is built around loosely integrated components that connect via relatively well-defined interfaces. Unless you understand the architecture of the Net, your testing will be skin deep.

Why is Software Testing?

1. To discover defects.

2. To avoid user detecting problems

3. To prove that the software has no faults

4. To learn about the reliability of the software.

5. To avoid being sued by customers

6. To ensure that product works as user expected.

7. To stay in business

8. To detect defects early, which helps in reducing the cost of defect fixing?

Cost of Defect Repair

Phase	% Cost
Requirements	0
Design	10
Coding	20
Testing	50
Customer Site	100

How exactly Testing is different from QA/QC

Testing is often confused with the processes of quality control and quality assurance.

Testing

§ It is the process of Creating, Implementing and Evaluating tests.

§ Testing measures software quality

§ Testing can find faults. When they are removed, software quality is improved.

Quality Control (QC)

§ It is the process of Inspections, Walk-troughs and Reviews.

§ Measures the quality of the product

§ It is a Detection Process

Quality Analysis (QA )

§ Monitoring and improving the entire SDLC process

§ Make sure that all agreed-upon standards and procedures are followed

§ Ensuring that problems are found and addressed.

§ Measures the quality of the process used to create good quality Product

§ It is a Prevention Process

Why should we need an approach for testing?

Yes, we definitely need an approach for testing.

To over come following problems, we need a formal approach for Testing.

Incomplete functional coverage: Completeness of testing is difficult task for testing team with out a formal approach. Team will not be in a position to announce the percentage of testing completed.

No risk management -- this is no way to measure overall risk issues regarding code coverage and quality metrics. Effective quality assurance measures quality over time and starting from a known base of evaluation.

Too little emphasis on user tasks -- because testers will focus on ideal paths instead of real paths. With no time to prepare, ideal paths are defined according to best guesses or developer feedback rather than by careful consideration of how users will understand the system or how users understand real-world analogues to the application tasks. With no time to prepare, testers will be using a very restricted set input data, rather than using real data (from user activity logs, from logical scenarios, from careful consideration of the concept domain).

Inefficient over the long term -- quality assurance involves a range of tasks. Effective quality assurance programs expand their base of documentation on the product and on the testing process over time, increasing the coverage and granularity of tests over time. Great testing requires good test setup and preparation, but success with the kind Test plan-less approach described in this essay may reinforce bad project and test methodologies. A continued pattern of quick-and-dirty testing like this is a sign that the product or application is unsustainable in the long run.

The Software life cycle

What Manual Testing?

Testing activities performed by people without the help of Software Testing Tools.

What is Software Quality?

It is reasonably bug free delivered on time with in the budget, meets all requirements and it is maintainable.

1. The Software life cycle

All the stages from start to finish that take place when developing a new Software.

· Feasibility Study

– What exactly is this system supposed to do?

· Analysis

– Determine and list out the details of theproblem.

· Design

– How will the system solve the problem?

· Coding

– Translating the design into the actual system.

· Testing

– Does the system solve the problem?

– Have the requirements been satisfied?

– Does the system work properly in all situations?

· Maintenance

– Bugfixes

§ The software life-cycle is a description of the events that occur between the birth and death of a software project inclusively.

§ SDLC is separated into phases (steps, stages)

§ SLDC also determines the order of the phases, and the criteria for transitioning from phase to phase

Change Requests on Requirement Specifications

Why Customer ask Change Requests

§ Different users/customers have different requirements.

§ Requirements get clarified/ known at a later date

§ Changes to business environment

§ Technology changes

§ Misunderstanding of the stated requirements due to lack of domain knowledge

How to Communicate the Change Requests to team

§ Formal indication of Changes to requirements

§ Joint Review Meetings

§ Regular Daily Communication

§ Queries

§ Defects reported by Clients during testing.

§ Client Reviews of SRS, SDD, Test plans etc.

§ Across the corridor/desk (Internal Projects)

§ Presentations/ Demonstrations

Analyzing the Changes

§ Classification

- Specific

- Generic

§ Categorization

- Bug

- Enhancement

- Clarification etc.

§ Impact Analysis

- Identify the Items that will be effected

- Time estimations

- Any other clashes / open issues raised due to this?

Benefits of accepting Change Requests

1. Direct Benefits

• Facilitates Proper Control and Monitoring

• Metrics Speak for themselves

• You can buy more time.

• You may be able to bill more.

2. Indirect Benefits:

• Builds Customer Confidence.

What can be done if the requirements are changing continuously?

§ Work with project stakeholders early on to understand how the requirements might change. So that alternative test plans and strategies can be worked out in advance.

§ It is helpful if the application initial design has some adaptability. So that later changes do not require redoing the application from scratch.

§ If the code is well commented and well documented. Then it is easy to make changes for developers.

§ Use rapid prototyping whenever possible to help customers feel sure of their requirements and minimize changes.

§ Negotiate to allow only easily-implemented new requirements into the project, while moving more difficult new requirements into future versions of the application.

Software Testing

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Monday 30 January 2012

manual Classes info

Areas of Testing:

Equivalence Class:

Why is Software Testing?

Cost of Defect Repair