Manual Testing Faqs

What is ‘Software Quality Assurance’?

1)Software QA involves the entire software development PROCESS 2) monitoring and
improving the process,3) standards and procedures are followed4) ensuring that
problems are found and dealt with. It is oriented to ‘prevention’.

What is ‘Software Testing’?

Testing involves operation of a system or application under controlled conditions

and evaluating the results (e.g., ‘if the user is in interface A of the application while
using hardware B, and does C, then D should happen’). The controlled conditions
should include both normal and abnormal conditions. Testing should intentionally
attempt to make things go wrong to determine if things happen when they
shouldn’t or things don’t happen when they should. It is oriented to ‘detection’.

Why does software have bugs?

• Miscommunication or no communication

• Software complexity

• Programming errors

• Changing requirements • time pressures • egos • poorly documented code

•

What is Verification?

“Verification” checks whether we are building the right system, and Verification
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.

What is Validation?
“Validation” checks whether we are building the system right. Validation typically
involves actual testing and takes place after verifications are completed.

What is a ‘walkthrough’?
A ‘walkthrough’ is an informal meeting for evaluation or informational purposes.
Little or no preparation is usually required.

What’s an ‘inspection’? An inspection is more formalized than a ‘walkthrough’,

typically with 3-8 people including a moderator, reader (the author of whatever is
being reviewed), and a recorder to take notes. The subject of the inspection is
typically a document such as a requirements spec or a test plan, and the purpose
is to find problems and see what’s missing, not to fix anything. Attendees should
prepare for this type of meeting by reading thru the document; most problems will
be found during this preparation. The result of the inspection meeting should be a
written report. Thorough preparation for inspections is difficult, painstaking work, but
is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring quality. Employees who are
most skilled at inspections are like the ‘eldest brother’ in the parable in ‘Why is it
often hard for management to get serious about quality assurance? Their skill may
have low visibility but they are extremely valuable to any software development
organization, since bug prevention is far more cost effective than bug detection.

What kinds of testing should be considered?

• Black box testing - not based on any knowledge of internal design or code.
Tests are based on requirements and functionality.

• White box testing - based on knowledge of the internal logic of an application’s

code. Tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths, conditions.

• Unit testing - the most ‘micro‘ scale of testing; to test particular functions or
code modules. Typically done by the programmer and not by testers, as it requires
detailed knowledge of the internal program design and code. Not always easily done
unless the application has a well-designed architecture with tight code, may require
developing test driver modules or test harnesses.

• Incremental integration testing - continuous testing of an application as new

functionality is added; requires that various aspects of an application’s
functionality be independent enough to work separately before all parts of the
program are completed, or that test drivers be developed as needed; done by
programmers or by testers.

• Integration testing - testing of combined parts of an application to determine

if they function together correctly. The ‘parts’ can be code modules, individual
applications, client and server applications on a network, etc. This type of testing is
especially relevant to client/server and distributed systems.

• Functional testing – Black box type testing geared to functional requirements

of an application; this type of testing should be done by testers. This doesn’t mean
that the programmers shouldn’t check that their code works before releasing it
(which of course applies to any stage of testing.)

• System testing - Black box type testing that is based on overall requirements
specifications; covers all combined parts of a system.

• end-to-end testing - similar to system testing; the ‘macro’ end of the test
scale; involves testing of a complete application environment in a situation that
mimics real-world use, such as interacting with a database, using network
communications, or interacting with other hardware, applications, or systems if
appropriate.

• Sanity testing - typically an initial testing effort to determine if a new software

version is performing well enough to accept it for a major testing effort. For
example, if the new software is crashing systems every 5 minutes, bogging down
systems to a crawl, or destroying databases, the software may not be in a ’sane’
enough condition to warrant further testing in its current state.
• regression testing - re-testing after fixes or modifications of the software or its
environment. It can be difficult to determine how much re-testing is needed,
especially near the end of the development cycle. Automated testing tools can be
especially useful for this type of testing.

• acceptance testing - final testing based on specifications of the end-user or

customer, or based on use by end-users/customers over some limited period of time.

• load testing - testing an application under heavy loads, such as testing of a

web site under a range of loads to determine at what point the system’s response
time degrades or fails. • stress testing - term often used interchangeably with
‘load’ and ‘performance’ testing. Also used to describe such tests as system
functional testing while under unusually heavy loads, heavy repetition of certain
actions or inputs, input of large numerical values, large complex queries to a
database system, etc.

• Performance testing - term often used interchangeably with ’stress’ and ‘load’
testing. Ideally ‘performance’ testing (and any other ‘type’ of testing) is defined in
requirements documentation or QA or Test Plans.

• Usability testing - testing for ‘user-friendliness’. Clearly this is subjective, and

will depend on the targeted end-user or customer. User interviews, surveys, video
recording of user sessions, and other techniques can be used. Programmers and
testers are usually not appropriate as usability testers.

• Install/uninstall testing - testing of full, partial, or upgrade install/uninstall

processes. • Recovery testing - testing how well a system recovers from
crashes, hardware failures, or other catastrophic problems.

• Security testing - testing how well the system protects against unauthorized
internal or external access, willful damage, etc; may require sophisticated testing
techniques.

• Compatability testing - testing how well software performs in a particular

hardware/software/operating system/network/etc. environment.

• Exploratory testing - often taken to mean a creative, informal software test

that is not based on formal test plans or test cases; testers may be learning the
software as they test it. • Ad-hoc testing - similar to exploratory testing, but
often taken to mean that the testers have significant understanding of the software
before testing it.

• User acceptance testing - determining if software is satisfactory to an end-

user or customer.

• Comparison testing - comparing software weaknesses and strengths to

competing products.

• Alpha testing - testing of an application when development is nearing

completion; minor design changes may still be made as a result of such testing.
Typically done by end-users or others, not by programmers or testers.
 • Beta testing - testing when development and testing are essentially completed
and final bugs and problems need to be found before final release. Typically done by
end-users or others, not by programmers or testers.

• Mutation testing - a method for determining if a set of test data or test cases
is useful, by deliberately introducing various code changes (’bugs’) and retesting with
the original test data/cases to determine if the ‘bugs’ are detected. Proper
implementation requires large

What is SEI? CMM? ISO? IEEE? ANSI? Will it help? • SEI = ‘Software
Engineering Institute’ at Carnegie-Mellon University; initiated by the U.S. Defense
Department to help improve software development processes. • CMM = ‘Capability
Maturity Model’, developed by the SEI. It’s a model of 5 levels of organizational
‘maturity’ that determine effectiveness in delivering quality software. It is geared to
large organizations such as large U.S. Defense Department contractors. However,
many of the QA processes involved are appropriate to any organization, and if
reasonably applied can be helpful. Organizations can receive CMM ratings by
undergoing assessments by qualified auditors. Level 1 – Level 2 – Level 3 -
Level 4 - Level 5 - (Perspective on CMM ratings: During 1992-1996 533
organizations were assessed. Of those, 62% were rated at Level 1, 23% at 2,13%
at 3, 2% at 4, and 0.4% at 5. The median size of organizations was 100 software
engineering/maintenance personnel; 31% of organizations were U.S. federal
contractors. For those rated at Level 1, the most problematical key process area
was in Software Quality Assurance.) • ISO = ‘International Organization for
Standards’ - The ISO 9001, 9002, and 9003 standards concern quality systems that
are assessed by outside auditors, and they apply to many kinds of production and
manufacturing organizations, not just software. The most comprehensive is 9001,
and this is the one most often used by software development organizations. It covers
documentation, design, development, production, testing, installation, servicing, and
other processes. ISO 9000-3 (not the same as 9003) is a guideline for applying ISO
9001 to software development organizations. The U.S. version of the ISO 9000
series standards is exactly the same as the international version, and is called the
ANSI/ASQ Q9000 series. The U.S. version can be purchased directly from the ASQ
(American Society for Quality) or the ANSI organizations. To be ISO 9001 certified, a
third-party auditor assesses an organization, and certification is typically good for
about 3 years, after which a complete reassessment is required. Note that ISO 9000
certification does not necessarily indicate quality products - it indicates only that
documented processes are followed. (Publication of revised ISO standards are
expected in late 2000; see http://www.iso.ch/ for latest info.) • IEEE = ‘Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ - among other things, creates standards such
as ‘IEEE Standard for Software Test Documentation’ (IEEE/ANSI Standard 829),
‘IEEE Standard of Software Unit Testing (IEEE/ANSI Standard 1008), ‘IEEE Standard
for Software Quality Assurance Plans’ (IEEE/ANSI Standard 730), and others. •
ANSI = ‘American National Standards Institute’, the primary industrial standards
body in the U.S.; publishes some software-related standards in conjunction with the
IEEE and ASQ (American Society for Quality).

What is the ’software life cycle’? The life cycle begins when an application is
first conceived and ends when it is no longer in use. It includes aspects such as
initial concept, requirements analysis, functional design, internal design,
documentation planning, test planning, coding, document preparation, integration,
testing, maintenance, updates, retesting, phase-out, and other aspects.

What makes a good test engineer?

A good test engineer has a ‘test to break’ attitude, an ability to take the point of view
of the customer, a strong desire for quality, and an attention to detail. Tact and
diplomacy are useful in maintaining a cooperative relationship with developers, and
an ability to communicate with both technical (developers) and non-technical
(customers, management) people is useful. Previous software development
experience can be helpful as it provides a deeper understanding of the software
development process, gives the tester an appreciation for the developers’ point of
view, and reduce the learning curve in automated test tool programming. Judgement
skills are needed to assess high-risk areas of an application on which to focus testing
efforts when time is limited.

What makes a good Software QA engineer?

The same qualities a good tester has are useful for a QA engineer. Additionally, they
must be able to understand the entire software development process and how it can
fit into the business approach and goals of the organization. Communication skills
and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important. In organizations
in the early stages of implementing QA processes, patience and diplomacy are
especially needed. An ability to find problems as well as to see ‘what’s missing’ is
important for inspections and reviews.

What’s the role of documentation in QA?

Critical. (Note that documentation can be electronic, not necessarily paper.) QA

practices should be documented such that they are repeatable. Specifications,
designs, business rules, inspection reports, configurations, code changes, test plans,
test cases, bug reports, user manuals, etc. should all be documented. There should
ideally be a system for easily finding and obtaining documents and determining what
documentation will have a particular piece of information. Change management for
documentation should be used if possible.

What’s the big deal about ‘requirements’?

One of the most reliable methods of insuring problems, or failure, in a complex

software project is to have poorly documented requirements specifications.
Requirements are the details describing an application’s externally-perceived
functionality and properties. Requirements should be clear, complete, reasonably
detailed, cohesive, attainable, and testable. A non-testable requirement would be,
for example, ‘user-friendly’ (too subjective). A testable requirement would be
something like ‘the user must enter their previously-assigned password to access the
application’. Determining and organizing requirements details in a useful and efficient
way can be a difficult effort; different methods are available depending on the
particular project. Many books are available that describe various approaches to this
task. (See the Bookstores section’s ‘Software Requirements Engineering’ category for
books on Software Requirements.) Care should be taken to involve ALL of a project’s
significant ‘customers’ in the requirements process. ‘Customers’ could be in-house
personnel or out, and could include end-users, customer acceptance testers,
customer contract officers, customer management, future software maintenance
engineers, salespeople, etc. Anyone who could later derail the project if their
expectations aren’t met should be included if possible. Organizations vary
considerably in their handling of requirements specifications. Ideally, the
requirements are spelled out in a document with statements such as ‘The product
shall…’ ‘Design’ specifications should not be confused with ‘requirements’; design
specifications should be traceable back to the requirements. In some organizations
requirements may end up in high level project plans, functional specification
documents, in design documents, or in other documents at various levels of detail.
No matter what they are called, some type of documentation with detailed
requirements will be needed by testers in order to properly plan and execute tests.
Without such documentation, there will be no clear-cut way to determine if a
software application is performing correctly.

What’s a ‘test plan’?

A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope,
approach, and focus of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan
is a useful way to think through the efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a
software product. The completed document will help people outside the test group
understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of product validation. It should be thorough enough
to be useful but not so thorough that no one outside the test group will read it. The
following are some of the items that might be included in a test plan, depending on
the particular project.

What’s a ‘test case’?

• A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and an

expected response, to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A
test case should contain particulars such as test case identifier, test case name,
objective, test conditions/setup, input data requirements, steps, and expected
results. • Note that the process of developing test cases can help find problems in
the requirements or design of an application, since it requires completely thinking
through the operation of the application. For this reason, it’s useful to prepare test
cases early in the development cycle if possible.

What should be done after a bug is found?The bug needs to be communicated

and assigned to developers that can fix it. After the problem is resolved, fixes should
be re-tested, and determinations made regarding requirements for regression testing
to check that fixes didn’t create problems elsewhere. If a problem-tracking system is
in place, it should encapsulate these processes. A variety of commercial problem-
tracking/management software tools are available (see the ‘Tools’ section for web
resources with listings of such tools). The following are items to consider in the
tracking process: • Complete information such that developers can understand the
bug, get an idea of it’s severity, and reproduce it if necessary. • Bug identifier
(number, ID, etc.) • Current bug status (e.g., ‘Released for Retest’, ‘New’, etc.)
• The application name or identifier and version • The function, module, feature,
object, screen, etc. where the bug occurred • Environment specifics, system,
platform, relevant hardware specifics • Test case name/number/identifier • One-
line bug description • Full bug description • Description of steps needed to
reproduce the bug if not covered by a test case or if the developer doesn’t have easy
access to the test case/test script/test tool • Names and/or descriptions of
file/data/messages/etc. used in test • File excerpts/error messages/log file
excerpts/screen shots/test tool logs that would be helpful in finding the cause of the
problem • Severity estimate (a 5-level range such as 1-5 or ‘critical’-to-’low’ is
common) • Was the bug reproducible? • Tester name • Test date • Bug
reporting date • Name of developer/group/organization the problem is assigned to
• Description of problem cause • Description of fix • Code
section/file/module/class/method that was fixed • Date of fix • Application
version that contains the fix • Tester responsible for retest • Retest date •
Retest results • Regression testing requirements • Tester responsible for
regression tests • Regression testing results A reporting or tracking process should
enable notification of appropriate personnel at various stages. For instance, testers
need to know when retesting is needed, developers need to know when bugs are
found and how to get the needed information, and reporting/summary capabilities
are needed for managers.

What is ‘configuration management’?

Configuration management covers the processes used to control, coordinate, and

track: code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests, designs,
tools/compilers/libraries/patches, changes made to them, and who makes the
changes. (See the ‘Tools’ section for web resources with listings of configuration
management tools. Also see the Bookstores section’s ‘Configuration Management’
category for useful books with more information.)

What if the software is so buggy it can’t really be tested at all?

The best bet in this situation is for the testers to go through the process of reporting
whatever bugs or blocking-type problems initially show up, with the focus being on
critical bugs. Since this type of problem can severely affect schedules, and indicates
deeper problems in the software development process (such as insufficient unit
testing or insufficient integration testing, poor design, improper build or release
procedures, etc.) managers should be notified, and provided with some
documentation as evidence of the problem.

How can it be known when to stop testing?

This can be difficult to determine. Many modern software applications are so

complex, and run in such an interdependent environment, that complete testing can
never be done. Common factors in deciding when to stop are: • Deadlines (release
deadlines, testing deadlines, etc.) • Test cases completed with certain percentage
passed • Test budget depleted • Coverage of code/functionality/requirements
reaches a specified point • Bug rate falls below a certain level • Beta or alpha
testing period ends
What if there isn’t enough time for thorough testing?

Use risk analysis to determine where testing should be focused.Since it’s rarely
possible to test every possible aspect of an application, every possible combination of
events, every dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk analysis is
appropriate to most software development projects. This requires judgement skills,
common sense, and experience. (If warranted, formal methods are also available.)
Considerations can include: • Which functionality is most important to the project’s
intended purpose? • Which functionality is most visible to the user? • Which
functionality has the largest safety impact? • Which functionality has the largest
financial impact on users? • Which aspects of the application are most important to
the customer? • Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the
development cycle? • Which parts of the code are most complex, and thus most
subject to errors? • Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic
mode? • Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems? •
Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance expenses?
• Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?
• What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application? •
What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity? • What kinds of problems
would cause the most customer service complaints? • What kinds of tests could
easily cover multiple functionalities? • Which tests will have the best high-risk-
coverage to time-required ratio? •

What if the project isn’t big enough to justify extensive testing?

Consider the impact of project errors, not the size of the project. However, if
extensive testing is still not justified, risk analysis is again needed and the same
considerations as described previously in ‘What if there isn’t enough time for
thorough testing?’ apply. The tester might then do ad hoc testing, or write up a
limited test plan based on the risk analysis.

What can be done if requirements are changing continuously? A common

problem and a major headache. • Work with the project’s stakeholders early on to
understand how requirements might change so that alternate test plans and
strategies can be worked out in advance, if possible. • It’s helpful if the
application’s initial design allows for some adaptability so that later changes do not
require redoing the application from scratch. • If the code is well-commented and
well-documented this makes changes easier for the developers. • Use rapid
prototyping whenever possible to help customers feel sure of their requirements and
minimize changes. • The project’s initial schedule should allow for some extra time
commensurate with the possibility of changes. • Try to move new requirements to
a ‘Phase 2′ version of an application, while using the original requirements for the
‘Phase 1′ version. • Negotiate to allow only easily-implemented new requirements
into the project, while moving more difficult new requirements into future versions of
the application. • Be sure that customers and management understand the
scheduling impacts, inherent risks, and costs of significant requirements changes.
Then let management or the customers (not the developers or testers) decide if the
changes are warranted - after all, that’s their job. • Balance the effort put into
setting up automated testing with the expected effort required to re-do them to deal
with changes. • Try to design some flexibility into automated test scripts. •
Focus initial automated testing on application aspects that are most likely to remain
unchanged. • Devote appropriate effort to risk analysis of changes to minimize
regression testing needs. • Design some flexibility into test cases (this is not easily
done; the best bet might be to minimize the detail in the test cases, or set up only
higher-level generic-type test plans) • Focus less on detailed test plans and test
cases and more on ad hoc testing (with an understanding of the added risk that this
entails).
What if the application has functionality that wasn’t in the requirements? It
may take serious effort to determine if an application has significant unexpected or
hidden functionality, and it would indicate deeper problems in the software
development process. If the functionality isn’t necessary to the purpose of the
application, it should be removed, as it may have unknown impacts or dependencies
that were not taken into account by the designer or the customer. If not removed,
design information will be needed to determine added testing needs or regression
testing needs. Management should be made aware of any significant added risks as a
result of the unexpected functionality. If the functionality only effects areas such as
minor improvements in the user interface, for example, it may not be a significant
risk. How can Software QA processes be implemented without stifling
productivity?By implementing QA processes slowly over time, using consensus to
reach agreement on processes, and adjusting and experimenting as an organization
grows and matures, productivity will be improved instead of stifled. Problem
prevention will lessen the need for problem detection, panics and burn-out will
decrease, and there will be improved focus and less wasted effort. At the same time,
attempts should be made to keep processes simple and efficient, minimize
paperwork, promote computer-based processes and automated tracking and
reporting, minimize time required in meetings, and promote training as part of the
QA process. However, no one - especially talented technical types - likes rules or
bureacracy, and in the short run things may slow down a bit. A typical scenario
would be that more days of planning and development will be needed, but less time
will be required for late-night bug-fixing and calming of irate customers. What if an
organization is growing so fast that fixed QA processes are impossible?This
is a common problem in the software industry, especially in new technology areas.
There is no easy solution in this situation, other than: • Hire good people •
Management should ‘ruthlessly prioritize’ quality issues and maintain focus on the
customer • Everyone in the organization should be clear on what ‘quality’ means to
the customer

How does a client/server environment affect testing?Client/server

applications can be quite complex due to the multiple dependencies among clients,
data communications, hardware, and servers. Thus testing requirements can be
extensive. When time is limited (as it usually is) the focus should be on integration
and system testing. Additionally, load/stress/performance testing may be useful in
determining client/server application limitations and capabilities. There are
commercial tools to assist with such testing.

How can World Wide Web sites be tested?Web sites are essentially client/server
applications - with web servers and ‘browser’ clients. Consideration should be given
to the interactions between html pages, TCP/IP communications, Internet
connections, firewalls, applications that run in web pages (such as applets,
javascript, plug-in applications), and applications that run on the server side (such as
cgi scripts, database interfaces, logging applications, dynamic page generators, asp,
etc.). Additionally, there are a wide variety of servers and browsers, various versions
of each, small but sometimes significant differences between them, variations in
connection speeds, rapidly changing technologies, and multiple standards and
protocols. The end result is that testing for web sites can become a major ongoing
effort. Other considerations might include: • What are the expected loads on the
server (e.g., number of hits per unit time?), and what kind of performance is
required under such loads (such as web server response time, database query
response times). What kinds of tools will be needed for performance testing (such as
web load testing tools, other tools already in house that can be adapted, web robot
downloading tools, etc.)? • Who is the target audience? What kind of browsers will
they be using? What kind of connection speeds will they by using? Are they intra-
organization (thus with likely high connection speeds and similar browsers) or
Internet-wide (thus with a wide variety of connection speeds and browser types)?
• What kind of performance is expected on the client side (e.g., how fast should
pages appear, how fast should animations, applets, etc. load and run)? • Will down
time for server and content maintenance/upgrades be allowed? how much? • What
kinds of security (firewalls, encryptions, passwords, etc.) will be required and what is
it expected to do? How can it be tested? • How reliable are the site’s Internet
connections required to be? And how does that affect backup system or redundant
connection requirements and testing? • What processes will be required to manage
updates to the web site’s content, and what are the requirements for maintaining,
tracking, and controlling page content, graphics, links, etc.? • Which HTML
specification will be adhered to? How strictly? What variations will be allowed for
targeted browsers? • Will there be any standards or requirements for page
appearance and/or graphics throughout a site or parts of a site?? • How will
internal and external links be validated and updated? how often? • Can testing be
done on the production system, or will a separate test system be required? How are
browser caching, variations in browser option settings, dial-up connection
variabilities, and real-world internet ‘traffic congestion’ problems to be accounted for
in testing? • How extensive or customized are the server logging and reporting
requirements; are they considered an integral part of the system and do they require
testing? • How are cgi programs, applets, javascripts, ActiveX components, etc. to
be maintained, tracked, controlled, and tested? Some sources of site security
information include the Usenet newsgroup ‘comp.security.announce’ and links
concerning web site security in the ‘Other Resources’ section. Some usability
guidelines to consider - these are subjective and may or may not apply to a given
situation (Note: more information on usability testing issues can be found in articles
about web site usability in the ‘Other Resources’ section): • Pages should be 3-5
screens max unless content is tightly focused on a single topic. If larger, provide
internal links within the page. • The page layouts and design elements should be
consistent throughout a site, so that it’s clear to the user that they’re still within a
site. • Pages should be as browser-independent as possible, or pages should be
provided or generated based on the browser-type. • All pages should have links
external to the page; there should be no dead-end pages. • The page owner,
revision date, and a link to a contact person or organization should be included on
each page. Many new web site test tools are appearing and more than 180 of them
are listed in the ‘Web Test Tools’ section.

How is testing affected by object-oriented designs? Well-engineered object-

oriented design can make it easier to trace from code to internal design to functional
design to requirements. While there will be little affect on black box testing (where
an understanding of the internal design of the application is unnecessary), white-box
testing can be oriented to the application’s objects. If the application was well-
designed this can simplify test design.
What is Extreme Programming and what’s it got to do with testing?
Extreme Programming (XP) is a software development approach for small teams on
risk-prone projects with unstable requirements. It was created by Kent Beck who
described the approach in his book ‘Extreme Programming Explained’ (See the
Softwareqatest.com Books page.). Testing (’extreme testing’) is a core aspect of
Extreme Programming. Programmers are expected to write unit and functional test
code first - before the application is developed. Test code is under source control
along with the rest of the code. Customers are expected to be an integral part of the
project team and to help develope scenarios for acceptance/black box testing.
Acceptance tests are preferably automated, and are modified and rerun for each of
the frequent development iterations. QA and test personnel are also required to be
an integral part of the project team. Detailed requirements documentation is not
used, and frequent re-scheduling, re-estimating, and re-prioritizing is expected. For
more info see the XP-related listings in the Softwareqatest.com ‘Other Resources’
section. Test Life Cycle • Identify Test Candidates

• Test Plan
• Design Test Cases
• Execute Tests
• Evaluate Results
• Document Test Results
• Casual Analysis/ Preparation of Validation Reports
• Regression Testing / Follow up on reported bugs.

Glass Box Testing

Test case selection that is based on an analysis of the internal structure of the
component.Testing by looking only at the code. Sometimes also called “Code Based
Testing”. Obviously you need to be a programmer and you need to have the source
code to do this.

Test Case

A set of inputs, execution preconditions, and expected outcomes developed for a

particular objective, such as to exercise a particular program path or to verify
compliance with a specific requirement.

Operational Testing

Testing conducted to evaluate a system or component in its operational

environment.

Validation

Determination of the correctness of the products of software development with

respect to the user needs and requirements.

Verification
The process of evaluating a system or component to determine whether the products
of the given development phase satisfy the conditions imposed at the start of that
phase.

Control Flow

An abstract representation of all possible sequences of events in a program’s

execution.

CAST

Acronym for computer-aided software testing.

Metrics

Ways to measure: e.g., time, cost, customer satisfaction, quality.