Search Results for: software testing

Decision Table Based Testing-Black Box Software Testing Technique Of all the functional testing methods, those based on decision tables are the most rigorous because decision tables enforce logical rigour. What are Decision Tables?   Decision tables are precise and compact way to model complicated logic. They are ideal for describing situations in which a number of combinations of actions are taken under varying sets of conditions. It is another popular black box testing. A decision table has following four portions (a) Stub portion (b) Entry portion (c) Condition portion, and (d) Action portion Structure of decision table: Please refer following decision…

Equivalence Class Testing-Black Box Software Testing Techniques The use of equivalence classes as the basis for functional testing and is appropriate in situations like:   a) When exhaustive testing is desired.   b) When there is a strong need to avoid redundancy. The above are not handled by BVA technique as we can see massive redundancy in the tables of test cases. In this technique, the input and the output domain is divided into a finite number of equivalence classes.   Then, we select one representative of each class and test our program against it. It is assumed by the…

Six Essentials which are nothing but musts for Successful Software Testing I remember following Six Essentials / Parables for Testers as described in a wonderful book on Software Testing.  SE -1: Success of any testing effort is determined by the quality of the testing process. SE -2: Deploy early life cycle testing techniques if you want to prevent migration of defects. SE -3: For improving a testing process, a real person must own its responsibility. SE -4: Testing is a professional discipline and requires trained & skilled personnel. SE -5: Use the software testing tools to improve the testng process & save time. SE -6: Positive…

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Tutorial-8: Understanding the Basics of Graph Matrix Based Software Testing In graph matrix based testing, we convert Our flow graph into a square matrix with one row and one column for every node in the graph. If the size of graph increases, it becomes difficult to do path tracing manually. Objective of the Tutorial: To trace all links of the Flow Graph at least once, draw a Square Matrix from it & find out the cyclomatic complexity, V(G) and hence the independent paths. Process of constructing the Square Matrix leading to computation of Cyclomatic Complexity goes like this: Step  1: Start from…

Download Link for your Favorite E-Book is at the End of this Page *********************************************************************************** SOFTWARE TESTING CHALLENGES : Famous book ‘Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing – A People-Oriented Approach’, written by William Perry and Randall Rice, wonderfully describes following Ten challenges faced by the software testers CHALLENGE  1: TRAINING IN TESTING: IS TESTING A NATURAL-BORN INSTINCT? Core Issues are: ($) Lack of education in testing ($) The large majority of testers have never had formal training in software testing. ($) Many testers and their management are unaware of training sources for testing. Solutions for Training: ($) Obtain formal training…

Types of Software Testing Software Testing Classification The development process involves various types of testing. Each test type addresses a specific testing requirement. The most fundamental types of testing involved in the development process are: Unit Testing System Testing Integration Testing Functional Testing Performance Testing Beta Testing Acceptance Testing The industry experts based upon the requirement have categorized many types of Software Testing. Following list presents a brief introduction to such types.   Acceptance Testing : Is the best industry practice & its is the final testing based on specifications provided by the end-user or customer, or based on use…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 121 to 125 Q. 121: What is Globalization G11N? Globalization refers to the activities performed for the purpose of marketing a software product in regional markets. The objective of globalization is to take care of global marketing accounting for economic and legal factors. The main focus of globalization is on marketing providing total enterprise solutions and a support to the management. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 122: What are the benefits of Software Validation? Software validation is an important tool employed to assure the quality of the software products. Few benefits are as under: 1) It increases…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 101 to 110 Q. 101: What is the difference a Software Tester & Testing Analyst? Testing analysts are more commonly involved with tasks at a higher level of abstraction, such as test process design, test planning, and test case design. Whereas Software Testers may be involved with test case design and test procedure construction, and interaction with the actual software systems. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 102: What are Software Testing Specialities? Testing specialties include test automation, load testing, usability testing, testing methodology, software inspections, industry or application expertise, test metrics, test management, white box testing &…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 111 to 120 Q. 111: What is Server Side Includes or SSI? Server Side Includes or SSI is a mechanism by which we can include files using a special type of HTML comment which is similar to the include feature of todays scripting languages like JSP & PHP etc. Old type CGI programs and ASP scripts are still using Server Side Includes or SSI to include libraries of code. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 112: What is the difference between Dynamic Analysis & Static Analysis? Dynamic Analysis: refers to the process of testing and evaluation of a…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 91 to 100 Q. 91: What is LCSAJ? LCSAJ means “Linear Code Sequence And Jump”. It consists of the following three items like: 1) The start of the linear sequence of executable statements. 2) The end of the linear sequence. 3) The target line to which control flow is transferred at the end of the linear sequence. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 92: What is Measure of Completeness in software testing? In software testing there are two measures of completeness, code coverage and path coverage.Code coverage is a white box testing technique to determine how much of…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 81 to 90 Q. 81: What is configuration Management? Configuration Management (or CM) is the processes of controlling, coordinating and tracking the Standards and procedures for managing changes in an evolving software product. Configuration Testing is the process of checking the operation of the software being tested on various types of hardware. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 82: What is the role of QA in a software producing company? QA is responsible for managing, implementing, maintaining and continuously improving the Processes in the Company and enable internal projects towards process maturity and facilitate process improvements and innovations…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 61 to 70 Q. 61: What are advantages & drawbacks of decision coverage metric of software testing? Decision coverage has the main advantage of simplicity & is free from many problems of statement coverage. Disadvantage of decision coverage is that this metric ignores branches within boolean expressions which occur due to short-circuit operators. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 62: What is multiple condition coverage metric of software testing? Multiple condition coverage reports whether every possible combination of boolean sub-expressions occurs. 100% multiple condition coverage implies 100% condition determination coverage.Drawback of this metric is that it becomes tedious…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 71 to 80 Q. 71: What is a Data Flow Diagram (DFD)? Data Flow Diagram is a graphical representation of the “flow” of data through an information system. A data flow diagram can also be used for the visualization of data processing. It is common practice for a designer to draw a context-level DFD first which shows the interaction between the system and outside entities. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 72: What is the Difference between Retest and Regression Testing? When a bug is fixed by the developer, testing the same bug to ensure whether it has…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 51 to 60 Q. 51: What is Parallel Testing? Parallel testing involves testing multiple products or sub-components simultaneously. A parallel test station typically shares a set of test equipment across multiple test sockets, but, in some cases, it may have a separate set of hardware for each unit under test (UUT). The majority of nonparallel test systems test only one product or sub-component at a time, leaving expensive test hardware idle more than 50 percent of the test time. Thus, with parallel testing, you can increase the throughput of manufacturing test systems without spending a lot…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 41 to 50 Q. 41: What are the common problems coming across Software Development Process? Common problems in software development process are: 1) Poor Projection of Requirements – Generally the users are not very clear in regards to their exact needs. Most of the specifications given to Software Development Outsourcing vendors are rough and very sketchy. Problems arise if the requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, and not testable etc. 2) Miscommunication – Becomes the main cause of problem when the developers remain ignorant of the exact needs or expectations of the customer. 3) Unrealistic Schedules…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 31 to 40 Q. 31: What is Verification? Verification ensures the product is designed to deliver all functionality to the customer; it typically involves reviews and meetings to evaluate documents, plans, code, requirements and specifications; this can be done with checklists, issues lists, walkthroughs and inspection meetings. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 32: What is Validation? Validation ensures that functionality, as defined in requirements, is the intended behavior of the product; validation typically involves actual testing and takes place after verifications are completed. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 33: What is a Test Plan? A software project test…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 21 to 30 Q. 21: What is the difference between Alpha Testing and Beta Testing? Typically a software product passes through two stages of testing before it is considered to be Final. The first stage is known as “Alpha Testing”. It is often performed by potential users / customers or an independent test team at the developers’ site. It is usually done when the development of the software product is nearing completion; minor design changes may still be made as a result of Alpha testing. The second stage coming after alpha testing is known as “Beta…

Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 11 to 20 Q. 11: What is the difference between Bug Priority & Bug Severity? “Bug Priority” is the need on how urgently bug is needed to be fixed. It describes the importance of the bug. Bug priority may change according to the schedule of testing. Whereas “Bug Severity” is the quantum of danger as to how badly the bug can harm the system. It describes as to how bad the bug is. Severity is a feature of constant nature associated with the bug. <<<<<< =================== >>>>>> Q. 12: What is difference between Waterfall Model and…

Download Link for your Favorite Presentation is at the End of this Page ****************************************************************************************** Software Testing-Question Bank: Q. 1 to 10 Q. 1: Why a software needs to be tested? Every software product needs to be tested since, the development ‘process’ is unable to produce defect free software. Even if the development process is able to produce a defect free software, we will not be able to know unless & until we test it. Without testing it, we shall not be having enough confidence that it will work. Testing not only identifies and reports defect but also measures the quality of…

Download Link for your Favorite E-Book is at the End of this Page *********************************************************************************** Four Test Cases – Frequently Discussed in Interviews on Software Testing Test Case – 1: Test Case for ATM 1) Insertion of ATM card with success. 2) Incorrect ATM Card Insertion – Leading to unsuccessful operation. 3) ATM Card of an invalid account – Leading to unsuccessful operation. 4) Successful feeding of ATM PIN Number. 5) Incorrect ATM PIN Number feeding 3 times – Leading to unsuccessful operation. 6) Selection of language of operation, with success. 7) Selection of Type of Bank Account with success. 8) Incorrect…

Understanding the Elements of Software Testing!!!!! What is Software Testing all about? # “Testing is the process of executing a program with the sole motive of finding errors in it.” # “Testing can show the presence of bugs but never their absence.” What are the best practices of Software Testing? # Prepare Good Test Cases: A good test case is one that has a high probability of detecting an undiscovered defect, not one that shows that the program works correctly. # Avoid Testing Your Own Program: It is impossible to test your own program. # Describe your Expectations Clearly in Test Case:…

Effective Software Testing by Business Management Approach It is of great importance for a testing manager that he understands the importance of his being both an affective manager as well as a good leader. In order for a testing manager to be effective towards his team, he must understand the components of his leadership role clearly. These components of his leadership role are: 1) Leadership 2) Motivation 3) Understanding of group behavior 4) Effective Communication 1) Leadership: If someone wants to understand the term leadership in true sense, he should be able to differentiate between the two terms i.e. 1) Manager…

STLC-Software Testing Life Cycle There is a systematic cycle to software testing, although it varies from organization to organization Software Testing Life Cycle: Software testing life cycle or STLC refers to a comprehensive group of testing related actions specifying details of every action along with the specification of the best time to perform such actions. There can not be a standardized testing process across various organizations, however every organization involved in software development business, defines & follows some sort of testing life cycle. STLC by & large comprises of following Six Sequential Phases:  1) Planning of Tests 2) Analysis of…

Let us understand the Software Testing and Environments Let us try to understand the various types of environments under which software applications operate & are subjected to various types of Testing or Quality assurance related activities. Environment is a combination of three types of layers like: 1) Presentation Layer. 2) Business Layer. 3) Database Layer. Types of Environment: There are four types of environments based upon the tier of architecture. 1) Standalone Environment based upon Single Tier Architecture. 2) Client � Server Environment based upon Two Tier Architecture. 3) Web Environment based upon Three Tier Architecture. 4) Distributed Environment based upon N’Tier Architecture. 1)…

Software Testing Quiz: Part 1 and 2 Welcome to the Online Multimedia Quiz to perform a Self Assessment of your Skills of Software Testing. Each Quiz offers a set of 20 nos. of Multiple Choice Questions, answers of which can be reviewed at the end of the Quiz. Set of all questions along with their respective Right / Wrong Answers can be viewed by clicking on the Dotted / Vertical Button on the Right side of the Quiz Window Pane. After the test you can Save or Take Printout of the Result Card indicating the Correct as well as Incorrect Answers. For Enjoying the Fun…

Making Software Testing more Effective It is true that all the software projects are not always successful. Reason being that majority of the applications upon their completion land up with many compromises on features which had been planned at the time of kicking of the project & lack many features. In today�s scenarios there is hardly any business house which is not depending upon some software or the other for running its day to day affairs. Billions & Trillion of Dollars worth business transactions are being done every day using commercial software. Hence such businesses largely depending on software applications…

Resource related misconceptions about Software Testing Software Testing is usually viewed as a low-grade task in comparison with Software Development. Although software coding is a significant phase in the life cycle of any software product; testing activity & its great significance can�t be undermined. Testing is an extremely important phase of SDLC immediately after which the software product goes into production & flaws in the application come to the surface when the application actually starts functioning in the real world. Therefore, importance of software testing phase just can�t be undermined since this is an important phase where we gain a…

Encyclopedia of Software Testing Terms Here is an Exhaustive Database of all Terms Exclusively Related to Software Testing Following Links direct you to the full length repository of definitions in an alphabetically sorted order A B C D E  F G H I J K L M N O PQ R S T U V W X Y Z Red Links have no data at the moment please. 1) This database explains various concepts, terms and definitions designed to help communication in the field of software testing and related disciplines. 2) Some of the definitions explained in the ISTQB document Glossary of Terms Ver. 2.0 Dec. 2007  have been listed 3) An effort has been made to make this…

Types of Software Testing-At a Glance Software Testing Classification The development process involves various types of testing. Each test type addresses a specific testing requirement. The most fundamental types of testing involved in the development process are: Unit Testing System Testing Integration Testing Functional Testing Performance Testing Beta Testing Acceptance Testing The industry experts based upon the requirement have categorized many types of Software Testing. Following list presents a brief introduction to such types.   Acceptance Testing : Is the best industry practice & its is the final testing based on specifications provided by the end-user or customer, or based…

Structure of Software Testing Process 1) Team of Feature Owners: It is a top-level team in the hierarchy, which directly interacts with the prospective customers. It is responsible to minutely understand the customer requirements and groups them into several features. Various members in such a team may become the owners of some of such features. The team members take due initiative and actively interact with various teams become instrumental in providing necessary directions in developing the features owned by them. 2) User Interface Team: The User Interface called UI in short is extremely significant for the product. Even The UI team designs UI…

Introduction to Software Testing Software testing is the process used to assess the quality of computer software. Quality is not limited to, the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding software bugs. Software Faults: The software faults occur through the following process. Whenever a software developer commits some mistake, which results in a defect (fault, bug) in the software source code. If this defect is executed, in certain situations the system will produce wrong results, causing a failure. Not all defects will necessarily result in failures. A defect can turn into a failure when the environment is…

Expert Strategies for Maintenance Testing of Changes in Existing Software In large number of organizations the major chunk of the useful time is not spent on the new development, rather it is spent on making changes to the existing systems. We know that testing such maintenance changes properly is fundamental if ongoing software quality is to be maintained. Testing changes is extremely important to the new development. We can not afford to have the luxury of testing a static product. Planning for the needs of software testing is to be done while the system is changing. Fixes & corrections are applied…

An Insight to Metrics Used during Software Validation Testing Measures related to the software validation testing activity are essential for improving the effectiveness of this activity. A good estimate of the software validation-testing task increases the likelihood that the company�s product will be released on time and with an acceptable level of quality. Activities of software testing for validation are critical to the successful launch of a new product. An effective software validation effort can lead to lower support costs, more satisfied customers, and more efficient use of scarce software engineering resources (as a result of fewer bugs, less time…

Importance of Maintainability to a Good Software & Role of Maintenance Testing Before going into the details of high sounding terms like maintainability etc, let us firstly understand the meaning of maintenance testing extensively used by experienced test managers in software testing parlance. What Is Maintenance Testing? Maintenance testing is the type of software testing that refers to testing the changes to an operational system or the impact of a changed environment to an operational system. In other words, it’s about keeping (maintaining) the achieved levels of quality across the entire life cycle of the software application. Quality here can…

Understanding the Basics of Software Security Testing Security testing is a highly specialized part of the testing process. When do we use Security Testing? Security testing is carried out when some important information and assets managed by the software application are of significant importance to the organization. Failures in the software security system can be serious especially when not detected, thereby resulting in a loss or compromise of information without the knowledge of that loss. The security testing should be performed both prior to the system going into the operation and after the system is put into operation. Rigorous security…

Introduction to Mobile App Testing If I say there was a time when software testing was considered an afterthought, will you believe me? Today, mobile app testing is kept high regarding mobile app development. You see, for most businesses, apps have become their face, their brand, and their reputation, and one of the easiest ways to get business done with customers. There are times when customers tend to delete the app right after it is installed because it doesn’t meet their expectations. At the same time, even those mobile apps are removed that consume more memory or are pretty slow…

The economy always goes through a cycle of several ups and downs. It is easy to go through the good times but million dollar question that remains is, how to sail the boat when heading for the tough times? Should we wait till we are hit or should we prepare well in advance? As a Software Testing professional, it is very common these days to hear news about layoffs, but what are we going to do about it? I totally believe that when other people lose jobs, it is called a “Recession”. But when we lose ours, it is not…

Kickstart a Vibrant Career in Testing Hello Friend, Thank you for a long association with SoftwareTestingGenius, that is relaunched in an All-New, Vibrant and Most Comfortable User Interface. This year we completed 10 years of service to the Testing Community by providing exhaustive world-class knowledgebase on testing and free access to premium eBooks! Our team of experts is constantly striving to bring to you the Best Resources on Renowned Certifications and New Technologies, free of cost very shortly. If you’re craving for direct access to the Best Content check out our Quick Links We shall get back very soon, with…

Katalon Studio supports data-driven testing which helps users define data sets and execute test scripts much faster and easier in comparison with that in other frameworks. This tutorial will give you an example of how to create an automation test case and execute it several times with different sets of data. What You’ll Need Katalon Studio: available for free at www.katalon.com Before You Dive In ● If you execute Web UI testing, no additional settings are necessary. ● In terms of Mobile testing, you have to install Appium and enable USB Debugging mode on your device at first. Please refer…

A defining factor for successful test automation in software projects is choosing and using the right set of test automation tools. This can be a daunting and confusing task, especially for those new to software test automation because there are so many tools in the market to choose from. Each tool has its own different strengths and weaknesses. And there is no tool that can fit all automated testing needs which makes finding the right tool difficult. Learn how to identify the right automation tool for your project with this qualitative comparison of Katalon Studio to other popular automated testing…

Complete Study Material–Certified Software Test Engineer-CSTE Certification Exam Ten Top Questions about CSTE Certification A Practical Roadmap to CSTE Certification Guidelines for Certified Software Test Engineer-CSTE Certification CSTE Certification Exam Theory Study Material – Set of 100+ Questions Online Objective Type Quiz – CSTE Certification Exam  – Set of 120+ Questions Best of Luck for the Exam !!! Software Testing Genius Ins & Outs of Software Testing Technology Under One Roof

How to perform Poor Testing-A Primer for Self Improvement This article is not aimed at inculcating negativity among the software testing community, rather it is a live pointer to various mistakes poor testers make in the real world scenario. This is better viewed as an opportunity for self-improvement in our software development initiative. Poor testing leaves an adverse impact on the customer experience of the software product. Such poor impact on the customer leaves big dent on sales of the software product as well as affects the profitability of the company. It can lead to legal implications as well on…

Security Testing Made Simple by Smart Test Managers Intelligent software testing managers lay their key focus on the security testing of their system, right from the early stages of the system’s life cycle. The process begins with the drafting of the security test documents. Your starting point can be the security test plan if you were assigned to perform functional testing on a system that is new or new to you, & which can be to familiarize yourself with the product. Generally people prefer one security test plan per release, but you may have one or more functional test plans,…

Ethical Rules Practiced during Testing and its Exit Criteria Software testing managers declare some sort of well defined exit criteria to ensure that they have some form of closure to their testing strategy for a specific product. This product or service may receive further testing but, if the testing team is part of a development sequence, there must be some well-defined criteria that tells when the product is sufficiently well developed to be released to the customers. If we are using failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) tool during product development, we will ascertain if we have developed our verification…

Attack-driven Testing of Payment Management Systems for Credit Cards As credit cards being a status symbol are being used by almost everyone, managing their payments has become an increasingly complex area. Credit card payment management system is the most common banking application, so the need for having a foolproof secure system is of prime importance. Software testing engineers are building comprehensive threat profiles and test plans by proactively putting themselves in the shoes of smart attackers. The objective of deploying such an attack-driven testing is that security holes in these sensitive applications can be plugged to the best possible extent…

A Complete Guide to Performing Automated Regression Testing Article by: Prashant Chambakara – a guest publisher. The pace with which software development is speeding up, it has become a challenge for companies to release error-free software in tight deadlines. The problem has been aggravated for companies that keep on releasing their software products at regular intervals with updated and improved versions since there is a need to test every new release and sprint without impacting the performance of the existing functionality. This is where regression testing helps. Before we discuss automation of regression testing, I would like to briefly introduce the term…

Automated Functional Testing Techniques and Risks Associated with Automation Automated functional test tools make use of few techniques that differentiate themselves primarily due to the contents of the scripts generated by them, like record & playback, scripts programming, data-driven and keyword-driven. An outline of these techniques is given below. 1) Record and Playback Technique: This technique consists of recording a test execution made on the application’s interface and playing back this execution later. The generated scripts contain unalterable data, test procedures, and expected results. The advantage of this technique is the simplicity of generating scripts. However, there is a high…

Measurement of Quality of the Testing and Test Automation Process Although test measurement profiles differ from organization to organization; yet software testing experts emphasize that the quality of testing and test automation process must be measured in some way or the other. They declare that anything can be made measurable in a way that is better than not measuring it at all. Through measurement only it is possible to monitor and control the testing process. As a result software testing managers are able to optimize it to suit the situation suiting the organization. It is important that measurements are realistic:…

Difference between Automated Testing and Having Automated Tests Before drawing a comparison among these two visibly similar but fairly distinct terms let us understand the test automation process in totality. We know that before executing the test cases, lot of groundwork related to setting up of several test prerequisites need to be done. This type of groundwork is usually termed as pre processing activity that is essentially done before the test execution can begin. Similarly after the execution of the test cases, certain set of activities related to management of test result artifacts become essential. The management of such activities…

Storyboard Testing a Fantastic Feature of IBM Rational Functional Tester (RFT) Storyboard Testing is a versatile feature that provides all the capabilities of IBM – Rational Functional Tester (RFT), but displays them in a manner that is easier to adopt and more productive for nontechnical users. It simplifies the test creation and visualization process to a great extent. We can effortlessly record, play back, and edit our scripts using Storyboard Testing. Storyboard Testing feature had been introduced in version 8.1 of Rational Functional Tester. This technological feat enables software testing engineers to edit test scripts by acting against screen shots…

Quick Comparison of IBM RFT & HP QTP the leading Functional Testing Tools The software testing community is aware of the emergence of IBM Rational Functional Tester (RFT) & HP QuickTest Professional (QTP) as the popular choice of testers & programmers for their functional testing needs. First of all let us have a quick overview of both the software testing tools, before going into a broad comparison among the functionality of the two. 1) Quick Overview – IBM RFT: RFT is a test automation tool used by quality assurance teams to perform automated regression testing. Testers create scripts by using…

Successful Acceptance Testing in 8 Short Steps Article by our guest publisher: Ulf Eriksson (CEO of ReqTest & many more test-oriented consultancy and training companies based in Sweden) Acceptance testing is the final phase of software testing in any systems development project and its purpose is to check that the requirements are met. Acceptance testing comes after the provider has developed the system and hopefully tested it thoroughly. At this point, it�s up to the client to verify that the system lives up to the agreed-upon specifications, as well as any implicit or expected requirements. This article provides you 8 specific…

How Project Managers conduct Code Reviews as a Testing Activity? Expert managers carry out several types of code reviews that include informal walkthroughs, formal inspections, and paired programming being popular these days. The paired programming involves participation of two developers in a combined development effort at one workstation. For example, one creates a unit test for a class while the other one thinks of the design and implementation of the class that will pass the test. These partners switch their roles too frequently sometimes at least once a day. Irrespective of the approach used, the objective of the code review…

Different Software Quality Metrics used by Expert Test Managers Article by: Kushal Kar & Swastika Nandi – Guest Publishers of the article. Software Metric is a generic name for the measure of Quality of the Software Product. Software Metric can be a reflection on the status under software development cycle or some results etc. A good project manager is the one who applies the principles of metrics to plan, organize & control the project deliverables in quantifiable / measurable terms. Some of the software metrics extensively used by ISTQB certified expert testing managers are described below. Sr. Description of Metric How to Measure…

Techniques of Managing Software Requirements adopted by the Expert Managers Requirements describe the capabilities or features that need to be implemented in order for the software to achieve its purpose (solve a business problem, satisfy user needs, etc.). Gathering requirements is one of the most challenging tasks in the software development process. This is due to the size and complexity of modern software products, coupled with the difficulty customers may have when trying to define and then communicate requirements. Requirements are generally divided into several subcategories, such as business requirements, user requirements, system requirements, performance requirements, deployment requirements, upgrade requirements,…

Understanding the ABC of Software Product Quality Assurance It is not possible to test quality into a product when the development is close to being finished. As asserted by many renowned QA Experts & Test Managers, the quality assurance activities must start early and become an integrated part of the entire development project and the mindset of all stakeholders. Quality assurance comprises following four activities: 1) Definition of quality criteria 2) Validation 3) Verification 4) Quality reporting It may be borne in mind that the validation is not necesarily performed before the verification; in many organizations it is the other…

Approaches to Reliability Testing & Setting of Reliability Test Objectives If the project context demands different types of reliability testing, the approach to reliability testing is governed by a following three factors: 1) Identified risks, in particular those relating to safety-critical systems 2) Applicable standards 3) Available resources When planning an approach to reliability tests it is worth bearing in mind that some tests will be defined with one aspect of reliability in focus but which might also be applicable to other reliability aspects. If we decide, for example, to evaluate the recoverability of a system, we may first need…

20 Tips for Testing Managers to guard the morale of their staff If you are a Testing Manager or a Testing Team Lead or aspiring to assume the role of such positions in near future, this article is truly meant for you. According to Napoleon, “Morale is to the physical as three is to one.” Staffs who believe that their work is important, that they can accomplish their tasks if they apply themselves, and that their accomplishments will be valued, can make remarkable accomplishments. As their manager, you’re the most important guardian of your software testing staff’s morale. Hence following tips…

Importance of Failover Testing during Test Planning of Safety Critical Systems Failover software testing is viewed as an essential component in our reliability test planning when the risks associated with the failure of an application or system are assessed as unacceptably high. Ensuring that failover mechanisms are implemented to address the risks that are primarily the concern of system architects. An important element of our reliability testing approach should therefore include technical reviews of the architectural documents that describe the proposed failover measures to be taken. The technical reviews should focus on how the hardware and the software architecture ensure…

Experts view on different Activities on Testing The testing is anything that involves at least following four activities: 1) Configure: Prepare the product for the test. Put it into the right starting state. Otherwise, your test results may be tainted by rogue variables. 2) Operate: Feed the product data. Give it commands. Interact with it in some way. Otherwise, it just sits here, and what you’re doing is reviewing, not testing. 3) Observe: Collect information about how the product behaves, output data, the state of the system as a whole, interactions with other products, and so on. You can’t observe everything, but anything you…

Product Functionality Testing Managed by ISTQB Experts like Test Analysts Before we discuss the functionality attributes in detail let us quickly understand different types of Quality attributes. What are the quality attributes of a product? Quality attributes represent a way of structuring and expressing the expectations for a product. Experts like “Test Analysts” Or “Technical Test Analysts” contribute to the quality of a product in a number of ways from the very start of the development life cycle. The ISO 9126 standard provides a model for product quality & prescribes following quality attributes 1) Functionality 2) Usability 3) Reliability 4) Efficiency 5) Maintainability 6)…

Anatomy of Various Types of Experience-Based Testing Techniques Experience-based techniques are based on the tester’s experience with testing, development, similar applications, the same application in previous releases, and the domain itself. The tester brings all their knowledge to bear when designing the test cases. ISTQB certified experts like “Test Analyst” and “Technical Test Analyst” are qualified to carry out experience-based testing because of the following: 1) They greatly understand when and why to use experience-based techniques. 2) They have ability to explain the specification, execution, and reporting of exploratory tests. 3) They have ability to specify tests using software fault attacks that target specific…

An overview & Insight to Software Configuration Management Article by: Swastika Nandi – A Guest Publisher of the article. Following four obvious questions come to the mind of every software professional Q 1. Can a software build be tested without knowing the build version? Q 2. Can a software build be released into production without a build release note? Q 3. Can a change in software system be implemented directly into production? Q 4. Can a requirement specification document be circulated to stakeholders without base-lining it? Questions like these are answered via Software Configuration Management or SCM. This article tries to give…

Common Testing Thumb Rules Recommended by Testing Experts Experts create rules of thumb to make an educated guess during their decision making process. Such thumb rules are also called “Heuristics”. The word heuristic had originated from Greek, with a meaning “Serving to Discover.” Experienced testers collect and share testing heuristics that improve the quality of their guesses. A good set of heuristics helps us generate tests very quickly. Following are few examples of thumb rules that are quite helpful to the testers: 1) Test at the boundaries: Boundaries are more likely to reveal ambiguities in the specification. 2) Test every error…

Metrics to judge the Quality & Reliability of our Testing During testing the software under test is executed with a set of test cases. As the quality of delivered software depends substantially on the quality of testing, following two fundamental questions arise in the minds of “Technical Test Analysts” while testing: Q 1: How good is the testing that has been done? Q 2: What is the quality or reliability of software after testing is completed? During testing, the primary purpose of metrics is to try to answer these and other related questions. Three important metrics or the areas of interest for…

Simple explanation of Hierarchy of Testing levels Testing is usually relied upon to detect the faults remaining from earlier stages, in addition to the faults introduced during coding itself. Due to this, different levels of testing are used in the testing process; each level of testing aims to test different aspects of the system. Different hierarchical levels of testing are 1) Unit testing, 2) Integration testing, 3) System testing, and 4) Acceptance testing These different levels of testing attempt to detect different types of faults. The relation of the faults introduced in different phases, and the different levels of testing…

Is it wise to Automate All Our Testing – How do we decide? Usually ISTQB certified CTAL experts like “Technical Test Analysts” come across a typical situation where they need to take a trade-off decision in favor of manual testing or automation based upon time, money, and capability. It is a known fact that not everything can be automated. Some types of testing do not lend themselves to automation, particularly those requiring a human assessment as in usability testing. We have to determine the efficiency of automating. It will likely be a waste of time to automate software that is rapidly changing…

What is the meaning of complete testing? Some testers who agree they can’t know they’ve found all the bugs in a product still talk loosely about what it means to be finished testing. Saying “it will take me five days to test that” can be interpreted to mean that you think you will have completely tested that part of the product in five calendar days. And that might be taken to mean you will find every bug in five days. Completeness is more often implied than stated. Either way, it’s a concept you must treat with great care. Think about…

Checklist for Specifying Software Confidentiality and Availability Acceptance Criteria The confidentiality acceptance criteria refer to the requirement that the data must be protected from unauthorized disclosure and the availability acceptance criteria to the requirement that the data must be protected from a “Denial Of Service” (DoS) to authorized users. Different types of possible confidentiality and availability acceptance criteria are as follows:     Sr.   　Check Point   Yes/No 1. No unauthorized access to the system is permitted, that is, user authentication is performed. 2. Files and other data are protected from unauthorized access. 3. The system is protected against…

Checklist for Specifying the Software System Robustness Acceptance Criteria The robustness of a system is defined as its ability to recover from errors, continue to operate under worst conditions, and operate reliably for an extended period of time. The following questions must be addressed in specifying the robustness acceptance criteria:     Sr.   　Check Point   Yes/No 1. What are the types of errors from which the system is expected to recover? 2. What are the causes, or sources, of the errors so that these can be simulated in a test environment? 3. How are the errors initiated, or…

Checklist for Software Reliability and Availability Acceptance Criteria Software reliability is defined as the probability that the software executes without failure for a specified amount of time in a specified environment. The longer a system runs without failure, the more reliable it is. A large number of reliability models are available to predict the reliability of software. A software reliability model provides a family of growth curves that describe the decline of failure rate as defects are submitted and closed during the system-testing phase. The failure rate is often calculated in terms of MTBF. A growth model can answer the…

Seven Excellent Basic Principles of the Context-Driven Testing I remember following Seven Parables for Context-Driven testing read from an excellent book on Software Testing needing no formal introduction.. Principle -1: The value of any practice depends on its context. Principle -2: There are good practices in context, but there are no best practices. Principle -3: People, working together, are the most important part of any project’s context. Principle -4: Projects unfold over time in ways that are often not predictable. Principle -5: The product is a solution. If the problem isn’t solved, the product doesn’t work. Principle -6: Good software testing is a challenging intellectual process. Principle…

How do the experts like Test Analysts handle the software defects? ISTQB advanced certified experts like “Test Analyst” as well as “Technical Test Analyst” remain interested in precisely recording issues detected in their areas of operations. A “Test Analyst” tries to approach the problem from the user’s perspective e.g.  # What would this mean to the user? # What would he do when he encounters this situation? A “Technical Test Analyst” concentrates more on the technical aspects of the problem e.g. # Why did it occur? # On what platforms is it visible? # Is it affected by environmental factors?…

Checklist for Testing a Website Prior to Hosting According to Wikipedia, web testing is the name given to software testing that focuses on web applications. Complete testing of a web-based system before going live can help address issues before the system is revealed to the public. Web testing checklist is a very powerful fact-gathering tool deployed to ensure that our new web application behaves as expected when launched before the public. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check…

Checklist for Testing of Operational Security of Web Applications Security testing checklist is a very powerful fact-gathering tool deployed to ensure that our new web application behaves as expected from operational security related considerations.     Sr.   　Check Point   Yes/No   Check Points related to Privacy 1. Is sensitive data restricted to be viewed by unauthorized users? 2. Is proprietary content copyrighted? 3. Is information about company employees limited on public web site? 4. Is the privacy policy communicated to users and customers? 5. Is there adequate legal support and accountability of privacy practices?   Check Points related…

Download Link for your Favorite Presentaion is at the End of this Page ***************************************************************************************** An introduction to Control Flow Testing – A Black Box Testing Technique Behavioral control-flow testing was introduced as the fundamental model of black-box testing. The control-flow graph is the basic model for the test design. Control-flow behavioral testing is a fundamental testing technique that is applicable to majority of software programs and is quite effective for them. It is generally applicable for comparatively smaller programs or even for smaller segments of bigger programs. The Technique of Test Design & Execution Test design begins by creating a behavioral control-flow…

Are Certified Software Testers Really the Experts? Becoming a Software Tester can be a very challenging task. There are many who do it because they love to use their creativity to find problems or flaws in programs; others become a Certified Software Tester to prove to the rest of their colleagues that they can be superior and many more get a Certification just because of the economic rewards they will get from their employers. But, does a certification turn a Software Tester into an expert? The debate is being held constantly in many IT departments and among many development teams.…

Understanding of Metrics – Project Managers watch in a Testing Effort In test development projects, software testing effort yields deliverables like test plans, test design, test development and test execution. A good project manager is the one who applies the principles of metrics to plan, organize & control his/her project deliverables in quantifiable / measurable terms. Here we are talking about two significant terms i.e. 1) Control & 2) Measurement Control: The test manager is able to foresee the deviations from the plan, so that he/she gets sufficient breathing time to react & get lesser & lesser surprises. Measurement: It refers to documenting past…

Reliability Testing & Assessment of Risks due to Poor Reliability Reliability tests are designed to confirm whether the software will work in the expected environment for an acceptable amount of time without degradation. It is quite difficult to perform reliability testing effectively and generally it becomes more & more difficult due to the lack of clear requirements. Everyone expects the software to “Work”, but no one prefers to define what “Work” means. This is the great challenge ISTQB certified “Technical Test Analysts” encounter while planning and executing the reliability tests. What is the meaning of reliability? First of all let us understand the meaning of…

Tips for Success in a Job Interview especially for Software Testers Following guidelines in the form of short questions will help you in making a graceful presentation in an interview for a position in Software Testing & Quality Assurance or may be any other one. Psychologists have observed that around 93% of total communication in an interview remain nonverbal. Usually HR Managers & other Interviewers form an impression about the suitability of a candidate at their first glance at him/her & during first five minutes of interaction. During rest of the period they try to validate the correctness of such impression…

Software Quality Attributes addressed by ISTQB Certified Experts Test Analyst & Technical Test Analyst Knowing the various software characteristics and being able to develop specific tests for them is a central or common skill expected to be with any “Test Analyst” / “Technical Test Analyst”. Here we are briefly talking about some of the fundamental issues relating to software quality characteristics that are sometimes called attributes. Let us see which are the characteristics and which are applicable to which skill set. Software Quality Attributes: There is a set of principal attributes that are used to describe the quality of software…

Types of Software Systems posing great challenge to the Test Analysts The “Test Manager” tackles the managerial issues of the testing process, while ISTQB certified experts like “Test Analysts” and “Technical Test Analysts” draw an outline of different systems they are going to deal with & analyze their effects on the overall testing approach. The “Test Analysts” make their expert contribution towards risk management of the overall risk-based testing process. Types of Systems handled by Test Analysts “Test Analysts” come across different types of systems that need to be tested, according to varied levels of risk. However, following types of…

Checklist for Doing Load Testing Load Testing is a part of performance testing that is meant for validating the performance related characteristics of the application while it gets loaded to the anticipated volume of loads during the actual production. 　　 Load testing checklist is a very powerful fact-gathering tool used to ensure that our new application behaves as expected when subjected to multi-user conditions under simulated conditions of simultaneous access by several virtual users. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns…

Roles of different experts like “Test Managers”, “Test Analysts” and “Technical Test Analysts” are quite inter-linked to some extent. The “Test Manager” is obviously responsible for managing the entire testing process. However the roles of “Test Analysts” and “Technical Test Analysts” are equally important since they are instrumental in implementing the testing process. A close understanding among the senior persons like “Test Manager”, “Test Analysts” and “Technical Test Analysts” is extremely important for the success of the project. Thus before analyzing the roles of the three experts, let us quickly go through the typical steps involved in a generic testing process.…

Checklist for Testing the attributes of the system The attribute testing involves verification of various quality and productivity related attributes of a system being tested. An example includes the ease of introducing changes into the software. Following checklist offers many thoughtfully designed questions to help the QA managers & team leads in verifying the quality and productivity related attributes of the system.   How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2)…

Application Controls Testing Checklist The objective of control tests in an application are to validate the ability of internal controls to support accurate, complete, timely, and authorized processing. Following checklist offers many thoughtfully designed questions to help the QA managers & team leads in validating the adequacy of controls, essential according to statutory & regulatory requirements.   How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2) A checkmark in the “Yes” column against an…

Automated Testing Tool Selection Checklist It is quite cumbersome to identify a tool that is appropriate for a particular project. There are many considerations that need to be addressed while selecting a tool. Following checklist offers many thoughtfully designed questions to help the QA managers & team leads in taking a decision to select an automated testing tool. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2) A checkmark in the “Yes” column against…

Error Testing Checklist The error tests are performed to identify errors in data elements, data element relationships, record and file relationships, as well as logical processing conditions. Error testing checklist is a very powerful fact-gathering tool used to ensure that various data elements are free from errors. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2) A checkmark in the “Yes” column against an item indicates that the checkpoint or the defect statement is…

Procedures Testing Defects Checklist The procedures testing checklist is a very powerful fact gathering cum quality control testing tool that is used to verify the software to verify the operating, terminal, and communications procedures. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2) A checkmark in the “Yes” column against an item indicates that the checkpoint or the defect statement is True. 3) A checkmark in the “N/A” column against an item indicates that the checkpoint…

Stress Testing Phase Defects Checklist The objective of stress test is to verify that the system can perform properly when subjected to a large volume of transactions, or when internal program or system limitations have been exceeded. Thus the stress testing phase defect checklist is a very powerful fact gathering cum quality control testing tool that is used to verify the performance of the system under stressful conditions. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect…

Field Testing Defects Checklist A field-tests are limited to a specific field or data element. However the field-testing checklist is a very powerful fact-gathering tool used to validate that all processing related to the particular field is performed correctly. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2) A checkmark in the “Yes” column against an item indicates that the checkpoint or the defect statement is True. 3) A checkmark in the “N/A” column against an…

File Testing Defects Checklist The file testing checklist is a very powerful fact-gathering tool used to verify that all needed files are included in the system being tested. This also verifies that they are properly documented in the operating infrastructure, and that the files connect properly with the software components that need data from those files.   How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2) A checkmark in the “Yes” column against an…

Record Testing Defects Checklist The record testing checklist is a very powerful fact-gathering tool used to validate that all records can be created, entered, processed, stored, and output correctly. How to use the following checklist: 1) We record the conditions or observed results by marking a checkmark in either of the 2 – data columns against various check points or defect statements on the checklist. 2) A checkmark in the “Yes” column against an item indicates that the checkpoint or the defect statement is True. 3) A checkmark in the “N/A” column against an item indicates that the checkpoint or the defect statement is…

Software Change Request Form and Its Sample Template Had this world been perfect, a system would be created and there would be no future changes. Unfortunately, it is not a perfect world and after a system is deployed, many changes are needed, thereby giving birth to change requests.Change request is a documented request to modify the current software system, usually supplied by the user. It is typically different from a defect report, which reports an anomaly in the system. Change request is generated as a part of the configuration control activity under the process of SCM. Some of the reasons…

Understand Usability Testing and Know its Importance in Business Applications Before discussing Usability Testing in depth, let us firstly try to answer few fundamental questions: What do we mean by Usability? Many definitions of usability are available, few of them are: 1) In simple words it is “The ease of use”. 2) It is the amount of effort required in learning, operating, preparing inputs, and interpreting the outputs of an application. 3) Technical definition prescribed in ISO 9241-11 is: “The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with Effectiveness, Efficiency and Satisfaction, in a specified Context…

Whether to use a Testing Tool or Not-Tips to Decide Whether to go in for a testing tool or carry on with manual testing is undoubtedly a tricky question; however following tips shall be helpful in reaching a logical conclusion. As an underlying guideline, objectives of our test are the key factors that dictate as to whether we should go in for a testing tool or not. First of all let us see � which are the right situations for using a tool? We would prefer to go in for some testing tool, only when the manual testing process proves…

Understand the Ins and Outs of Exploratory Testing Term “exploratory testing” is the brainchild of the great testing expert Cem Kaner. How different experts define “Exploratory Testing”  1) By Cem Kaner: It is an approach to testing which is a sequential examination of requirements, followed by the design and documentation of test cases, followed by the execution of those test cases. 2) By James Bach: It is “simultaneous learning, test design, and test execution.” The tester designs and executes tests while exploring the product. How Exploratory Testing differs from Ad hoc Testing: Ad hoc testing generally reflects unfocused, random, and unskilled testing, which can be…

Download Link for your Favorite Presentation is at the End of this Page *************************************************************************** Twenty Remarkable Testing Guidelines for Novices as well as Experts Software testing is a critical component of the software engineering process. It is an element of software quality assurance and can be described as a process of running a program in such a manner as to uncover as many errors as possible. The process of software testing involves creating test cases to break “the system” but before this a software engineer must understand the basic principles that guide software testing. Experts of the software testing industry have…

Consolidated Study Material on Software Testing & Quality Assurance – Prepared by Experts on Testing & QA Interview Preparation FAQ Multiple Choice Online Quizes Articles on – Software Bugs Articles on – White Box Testing Articles on – Gray Box Testing Articles on – Black Box Testing Articles on – Website Testing Articles on – Database Testing Articles on – STLC & STLC Articles on – Risk Analysis Articles on – Test Cases Articles on – Software Development Models Articles on – Automation Testing Articles on – Automation Frameworks  Articles on – Manual Testing Many More Articles on Software Testing…