Friday 3 January 2014

5 Aspects of Software Testing

A consistent increase is noted in the number of enterprises looking for innovative and customized software testing options. In addition to increasing productivity, efficiency and ROI, the right software automation strategy also enables organization to Agile project management. Each organization also has option to use test automation tools and programs to evaluate the performance of an application at each stage of development. However, it is always important for an organization to identify various aspects of software testing to make the process more effective and efficient.

5 Important Aspects of Software Testing

1) Test Strategy: An enterprise must perform several types of tests to evaluate the quality and performance of an application. In addition to white-box and black-box testing, an organization also needs to perform unit, integration, incremental integration, functional, regression, system, load, acceptance, stress and end-to-end testing. So it becomes essential to make and implement a comprehensive strategy to decide the type of testing required along with the sequence and schedule of each type of test. At the same time, the strategy will further determine the amount of time, effort and resources required to find all defects in the application. Also, the test strategy will address the time and resource constraints to deliver desired results.

2) Test Plan: As a part of software development project, test plan deals with the tasks and activities related to testing. In addition to deciding who will perform a specific task, the plan also decides schedule, sequence and timeframe of each task. The plan also highlights the activities and tasks required to evaluate various aspects of the software application. Once the test strategy is finalized, the test plan can be made by creating a critical path by taking into consideration the required preparation work and efforts. However, the test plan, just like test strategy, needs to be modified frequently as the project evolves.

3) Test Cases: Based on an organization’s strategy, some or all test cases can be automated. However, the test cases must be developed before testing starts. Along with emphasizing on the requirements and acceptance criterions for the application, each test case also need to consider quality dimensions from customers’ point of view. At the same time, the test case will further assess the current risk to identify the flaws and bottlenecks in the project. It is also important to clearly define the expected result to make the test plan more effective in getting quality test data, while uncovering defects in the project.

4) Test Environment: The complex and complicated nature of software application make it essential for enterprises to create a comprehensive test environment. The environment must be build by emulating the real thing. However, the test environment can be scaled down by including the components essential for actually run and evaluate the application. It is always important to select separate computers, servers, networks and tools to evaluate the application. The use of dedicated test efforts will make it easier to modify or customize the environment according to specific needs. Normally, the components required to build the right test environment for a specific project is decides as part of the test strategy. These components are further rechecked as part of the test plan. However, the test environment must be developed completely before software testing starts.

5) Test Data: The quality of test data will impact the execution of test cases. So the various types of information and data used by the system need to be decided in a systematic manner. Normally, the test data includes the details required by the application to run including names, addresses and other variables. Along with the input data, the test data also need to consider the information stored on various data sources. There are always chances that the functionality of the application needs to be evaluated by inputting dynamic and additional data. So the test data must be selected and developed as part of individual test case development process.

Along with understanding various aspects of software testing, an organization also needs to explore option to identify and fix the errors, flaws and bugs in the applications as early as possible. It can always automate the entire software testing to achieve predefined objectives. And for this you would need to hire software testing companies who have proven expertise and experience in handling projects relevant to your business domain.

We provide software testing services. If you would like to hire software testers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

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