Key Elements for Setting Up Testing Standards
Abstract :
In this paper we will be going through the Key Elements for Setting Up Testing Standards.
Introduction :
As per the ISO-29119 there are 4 types of testing standards in which we will be exploring the type 3.
In this paper i.e (ISO-29119.3) testing Standard .We come across these following terms in our paper.
1. Test policy.
2. Test strategy.
3. Test plan.
4. Test Cases.
5. Report Generation.
Explanation :
1. Test Policy
The test policy can be known as the software testing types which are further classified into white-box testing and the black-box testing.
White-Box Testing
Testing the software with the knowledge of the coding to find the logical errors is known as the white-box testing.
Black-Box Testing
l Testing the software with the help of various methodologies to find the defects in the software is known as the black-box testing.
l The methodologies used in the black-box testing are.
Smoke Testing , Functional Testing , Integration Testing , System Testing , UAT etc…
Smoke Testing :
ü It is performed as soon as we get the build.
ü It Strictly follows the requirement conditions.
ü The newly added features are also tested along with the already tested old features in a high level manner
Functional Testing :
ü Testing the functionality of each and every component thoroughly / vigorously in an application against the given Requirement Conditions is known as the functional testing.
Example : Testing the user-name field of the log-in page in an application.
Integration Testing :
ü Testing the data flow between two / more Features of an application as per the desired Requirement Conditions is known as the Integration Testing.
Example : Testing the Compose , sent items fields of sender and the in-box field of the receiver in the Email application.
System Testing :
ü System Testing can be defined as the end to end testing where in the testing environment is similar to the production environment.
ü Here we test almost all of the features involved in the entire software.
User Acceptance Testing :
In UAT few end users will start using the software in there real business for a particular period of time to find out whether the software supports all of there required business scenarios or not.
(or)
Testers from the company will visit the client location to test the software based on the scenarios gathered by the end users and find out whether the software supports all of there required business scenarios or not.
(or)
Testers from the company will test the software based on the scenarios gathered by the end users at the development location itself and find out whether the software supports all of there required business scenarios or not.
(or)
Testers of the client company will test the software at the client location based on the scenarios gathered by the end users and find out whether the software supports all of there required business scenarios or not.
And so on …..
2. Test Stratergy
l The test strategy is one which basically tells us which types of testing seem best to do, the order in which to perform them, the proposed sequence of execution, and the optimum amount of effort to put into each test objective to make our testing most effective.
l A test strategy is based on the prioritized requirements and many other available information about what is important to the customers. Because we will always face time and resource constraints, a test strategy faces up to this reality and tells us how to make the best use of whatever resources we do have to locate most of the worst defects.
l Without a test strategy, we waste our time on less fruitful testing and miss using some of your the powerful testing options.
l we should create the test strategy at the middle of the design phase as soon as the requirements have settled down sometimes we cannot go with the test strategy if the requirements are given part by part.
3. Test Plan
Test Plan can be defined as the describing the procedure orientated steps involved in the software testing.
The table shown bellow represents the steps involved in a Test Plan.
l Description of Project :
Here we Describe about the application in few lines.
l Objective :
Here we Specify the aim of testing.
l Test Scope :
Here we make a list of features to be and not to be tested.
l Approach :
We Specify what will be the approach as a team while we are working on the project to ensure there is maximum communication between the team members
l Assumption
Assumption is the major step involved in the test plan if any wrong assumption happens in this step it leads to the RISK which further leads to the essence of Back -Up Plan
l Risk
Risk is a tough level in the test plan it occurs when the test assumptions are wrong.
This Risk leads to the Back-Up plan.
l Mitigation Plan/Back Up plan/Contingency Plan
This is the step we follow when our test assumptions goes wrong by creating risks,
To avoid these risks we prepare back - up plan to compensate the wrong assumption.
l Types Of Testing
Depending on the project duration and the requirements we will decide the best suitable methodologies for testing the software.
Eg) Smoke Test , Functional Testing ,Integration Testing , System Testing , ADHOC Testing ,Compatibility Testing ,Exploratory Testing Etc…
l Roles and Responsibilities
It Describes the Roles and Responsibilities of people involved in software Testing.
As shown in the table bellow.
The table shown bellow Roles and Responsibilities involved in a Test Plan.
Test Manager :
? Write or review test plan
? Interact with customer, developer, testers and management.
? Handle escalations
? Test Estimations like number of resources required, time taken to complete the testing activity etc.
? Sign of release note
Test Lead:
? Write or review test plan
? Assigning work to the test engineers
? Approving leaves of test engineers
? Prepare monthly status work report and send it to test manager.
? Write test cases
? Execute Test Cases
Test Engineer:
? Write test plan
? Write test cases
? Execute test cases
? Prepare traceability matrix
? Update STCM daily
? Execute and maintain automation script
? Send individual daily work status emails to the test lead
4. Test Cases :
l Test cases are prepared based on the strategy which tells us how much of each type of testing to do.
l Test cases are developed based on prioritized requirements and acceptance criteria for the software, keeping in mind the customer’s emphasis on quality dimensions and the project’s latest risk assessment of what could go wrong.
l Except for a small amount of ADHOC testing, all of your test cases should be prepared in advance of the start of testing.
l There are many different approaches to developing test cases.
l Test case development is an activity performed in parallel with software development.
l It is just as difficult to do a good job of coming up with test cases as it is to program the system itself.
l In addition to figuring out what steps to take to test the system, we need to know the requirements and business rules well enough to predict exactly what the expected results should be.
l Without expected results to compare to actual results, you will not be able to say whether a test will pass or fail. A good test case checks to make sure requirements are being met and has a good chance of uncovering defects.
Example : Let us consider the Test Cases for the compose feature of the Gmail Application.
5 Report Generation :
l After testing the developed application against the given requirements with reference to the test cases we go for report generation.
Example : Report Generation in Bugzilla.
Conclusion :
After going through this paper we have gained decent knowledge of the Key Elements for Setting Up Testing Standards.