Introduction to Software Testing:

Software Testing is a process of validating and verifying a system/application/product whether they:

• Meet the requirements and it does not deviate from the desired functionalities.
• Work as expected.
• Are secure & non risky.
• Work in desired resource configuration.
• Are having lesser bugs and product/application is deliverable.
• Satisfies the End User.
• Are user friendly and understandable.

The basic purpose of Testing is to execute programs to detect bugs. In traditional practices, testing was done after - completion of Development or coding phases. But with the enhancements in SDLC Models like Agile processes  - Testing is a side by side process.


Quality: – the degree to which the software satisfies stated and implied requirements-

• Absence of system crashes.
• Correspondence between the software and the users’ expectations.
• Performance to specified requirements.

Quality must be controlled because doing so increases production speed, decreases maintenance costs and can eliminate competition while improving business.


Quality Assurance Plan:

• The plan for quality assurance activities should be in writing.
• Decide if a separate group should perform the quality assurance activities.
• Some elements that should be considered by the plan are: defect tracking, unit testing, source-code tracking, technical reviews, integration testing, system testing and User Acceptance Testing [UAT].

Quality Assurance Plan:

• Defect tracking – keeps track of each defect found, its source, when it was detected, steps to reproduce, when it was resolved etc,.
• Unit testing – each individual module is tested.
• Source code tracking – step through source code line by line.
• Technical reviews – completed work is reviewed by peers.
• Integration testing --  exercise new code in combination with code that already has been integrated.
• System testing – execution of the software for the purpose of finding defects.

Testing does not guarantee that the application or product is free of bugs. It only Assures that the product or application is Quality oriented and that it meets the requirements and exceeds user expectations. It lowers maintenance cost and increases production rate.

Important Links:

Next: What is Quality..?

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