The Karan-Arjun of Software Testing

Similar to Bollywood’s Karan-Arjun Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan, in Software Testing too we have multiple important duos. Let’s have a look…

Alpha & Beta Testing

Alpha Testing: Before moving to Beta phase, Alpha testing is performed at the developer’s site by an independent team of testers (can be from client side). As it is performed at developer’s side – it is done in a testing environment and not the actual real-time production environment.

Beta Testing: You might have heard this popular term. No matter how carefully you test, there’s nothing like the real-world test of having other people use the software. A Beta release means rolling out not-so-perfect copy of the software (in real-time environment) to a larger set of Users before you actually ‘Go Live’. Beta testers (client users or set of actual end-users) try the software, use it consistently for a specific period of time and report back any issues, bugs or feedback about it.

Black-box & White-box Testing

Black-box method treats the AUT as a black-box (no knowledge about its internal structure). Result – We are not bothered about how the internal structure of the application is maintained/changed until the outside functionality is working as expected (as per requirements).

White-box: Since it’s a White-box >> we can see what’s in it, i.e. the internal structure, and use that knowledge to expand the coverage to test every possible flow at code-level. For example – Statement coverage, Branch coverage or Path coverage.

Defect Severity & Priority

Severity: The extent to which a defect affects the application-under-test. Different levels of severity – Critical >> Major >> Medium >> Minor >> Cosmetic.

E.g. User is unable to access a complete section in the application. But that section is remote, i.e. used by only 0.01% of the users. It impacts the application’s functionality severely, i.e. High Severity, Low Priority.

Priority: The importance of defect. The extent to which a defect affects the business. And why will you want to prioritize defects? Obviously to define the order in which defects should be fixed. Different levels – Critical >> High >> Medium >> Low.

E.g. An incorrect logo on the company website doesn’t affect application functionality, but it surely impacts the business. I.e. High priority, Low Severity.

Formal & Informal reviews

Formal Review: Since its official – it has to be documented for effectiveness. It involves a moderator that drives the complete Inspection activity, and documenting the results based on a pre-defined checklist.

Informal Review: First of all – it is not documented. It’s like calling a peer-friend to review the code or test cases that I have written. Since it is casual, the effectiveness cannot be measured. It is often used for cost-effectiveness.

Functional & Non-functional Testing

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