Incremental Testing – The Finest Approach for Testing
To be effective, a software tester must be knowledgeable in two key areas like:
1) Software testing techniques.
2) The application under test (AUT).
For each new testing assignment, a tester must invest time in learning about the application. A tester with no experience must also learn testing techniques, including general testing concepts and how to define test cases. Our goal is to define a suitable list of tests to perform within a tight deadline.
Incremental testing approach uses following 8 stages:
Stage – 1: Exploration.
Objective: To gain familiarity with the application.
Stage – 2: Baseline test.
Objective: To devise and execute a simple test case.
Stage – 3: Trends analysis.
Objective: To evaluate whether the application performs as expected when actual output cannot be predetermined.
Stage – 4: Inventory.
Objective: To identify the different categories of data and create a test for each category item.
Stage – 5: Inventory combinations.
Objective: To combine different input data.
Stage – 6: Push the boundaries.
Objective: To evaluate application behavior at data boundaries.
Stage – 7: Devious data.
Objective: To evaluate system response when specifying bad data.
Stage – 8: Stress the environment.
Objective: To attempt to break the system.
When the schedule is tight, we may not be able to perform tests according to all the stages. The time permitted by the delivery schedule determines how many stages one person can perform. After executing the baseline test, later stages could be performed in parallel if more testers are available.
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