Best Practices for the Formal Software Testing Process: A Menu of Testing Tasks

Description

• Copyright 2014
• Edition: 1st

• eBook
• ISBN-10: 0-13-348877-2
• ISBN-13: 978-0-13-348877-7

This is the digital version of the printed book (Copyright © 2004).

Testing is not a phase. Software developers should not simply throw software over the wall to test engineers when the developers have finished coding. A coordinated program of peer reviews and testing not only supplements a good software development process, it supports it.

A good testing life cycle begins during the requirements elucidation phase of software development, and concludes when the product is ready to install or ship following a successful system test.

Nevertheless, there is no one true way to test software; the best one can hope for is to possess a formal testing process that fits the needs of the testers as well as those of the organization and its customers.

A formal test plan is more than an early step in the software testing process—it's a vital part of your software development life cycle. This book presents a series of tasks to help you develop a formal testing process model, as well as the inputs and outputs associated with each task. These tasks include:

• review of program plans
• development of the formal test plan
• creation of test documentation (test design, test cases, test software, and test procedures)
• acquisition of automated testing tools
• test execution
• updating the test documentation
• tailoring the model for projects of all sizes

Whether you are an experienced test engineer looking for ways to improve your testing process, a new test engineer hoping to learn how to perform a good testing process, a newly assigned test manager or team leader who needs to learn more about testing, or a process improvement leader, this book will help you maximize your effectiveness.

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Table of Contents

Foreword         xiii

Preface          xv

Chapter 1: Introduction        3

1.1: Overview 3

1.2: The Software Development Life Cycle 4

1.3: The Formal Testing Life Cycle 6

1.4: Organizational Considerations    11

1.5: The Need for the Process Model 16

1.6: How to Use the Formal Testing Process Model 17

1.7: Input-Process-Output Models 21

1.8: Level 0 IPO Model for Formal Testing 24

1.9: Level 1 IPO Model for Formal Testing 25

1.10: Limitations Inherent in This Book's Scope 26

1.11: What's Next? 27

Chapter 2: The Formal Testing Process Model: Level 1 IPO Diagrams         28

2.1: Overview 28

2.2: Extract Test Information from Program Plans–Level 1 IPO Diagram 28

2.3: Create Test Plan 34

2.4: Create Test Design, Test Cases, Test Software, and Test Procedures 39

2.5: Perform Formal Test 43

2.6: Update Test Documentation 47

2.7: What's Next? 50

Chapter 3: Extract Test Information from Program Plans: Levels 2 and 3 IPO Diagrams         51

3.1: Overview 51

3.2: Extract Test Information from Program Plans–Level 2 IPO Diagram 52

3.3: Review Program Management Plan–Level 3 IPO Diagram 56

3.4: Review Quality Assurance Plan–Level 3 IPO Diagram 60

3.5: Review Software Development Plan–Level 3 IPO Diagram 64

3.6: Review Configuration Management Plan–Level 3 IPO Diagram 69

3.7: What's Next? 72

Chapter 4: Create Test Plan: Levels 2 and 3 IPO Diagrams         73

4.1: Overview 73

4.2: Create Test Plan–Level 2 IPO Diagram 74

4.3: Analyze Requirements–Level 3 IPO Diagram 78

4.4: Write Test Plan–Level 3 IPO Diagram 83

4.5: Review Test Plan–Level 3 IPO Diagram 89

4.6: What's Next? 93

Chapter 5: Create Test Design, Test Cases, Test Software, and Test Procedures: Levels 2 and 3 IPO Diagrams          94

5.1: Overview 94

5.2: Create Test Design, Test Cases, Test Software, and Test Procedures–Level 2 IPO Diagram 95

5.3: Review Test Plan–Level 3 IPO Diagram 102

5.4: Create Test Design–Level 3 IPO Diagram 105

5.5: Review Test Design–Level 3 IPO Diagram 109

5.6: Create Test Cases–Level 3 IPO Diagram    113

5.7: Acquire Test Software-Build–Level 3 IPO Diagram 119

5.8: Acquire Test Software-Buy–Level 3 IPO Diagram 123

5.9: Create Test Procedures–Level 3 IPO Diagram 126

5.10: What's Next? 131

Chapter 6: Perform Formal Test: Levels 2 and 3 IPO Diagrams         132

6.1: Overview 132

6.2: Perform Formal Test–Level 2 IPO Diagram 133

6.3: Hold Pretest Meeting–Level 3 IPO Diagram 137

6.4: Execute Test–Level 3 IPO Diagram 141

6.5: Determine Disposition of Incidents–Level 3 IPO Diagram 146

6.6: Hold Posttest Meeting–Level 3 IPO Diagram 151

6.7: Write Test Report–Level 3 IPO Diagram 155

6.8: What's Next? 159

Chapter 7: Update Test Documentation: Levels 2 and 3 IPO Diagrams          160

7.1: Overview 160

7.2: Update Test Documentation–Level 2 IPO Diagram 161

7.3: Analyze Test Documentation Problems–Level 3 IPO Diagram 164

7.4: Update Test Documents–Level 3 IPO Diagram 167

7.5: Review and Approve Software Test Documents–Level 3 IPO Diagram 170

7.6: What's Next? 173

Chapter 8: Tailoring the Model         174

8.1: Overview 174

8.2: Using the Testing Process Model for Large, Safety-Critical, or Profit-Critical Programs  175

8.3: Using the Testing Process Model for Medium-Size Programs  178

8.4: Using the Testing Process Model on Small Projects  179

8.5: Using the Process Model with Extreme Programming  181

8.6: Starting from Scratch  183

Chapter 9: Summing Up          188

9.1: Reprise: How to Use the Testing Process Model 188

9.2: Summary Thoughts 193

9.3: Conclusion 196

Appendices          197

Appendix A: The Software Engineering Institute, the Capability Maturity Model-Software, and the Capability Maturity Model Integration         199

A. 1: The Capability Maturity Model from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University 199

A.2: Capability Maturity Model Integration 202

Appendix B: Preferred Practices          204

B.1: Program Management Plan and Template 204

B.2: Software Development Plan and Template 213

B.3: Software Quality Assurance Plan and Template    221

B.4: Configuration Management Plan and Template   229

Appendix C: Questionnaire for Evaluating Local Testing Processes        249

C.1: Extract Test Information from Program Plans 249

C.2: Create Test Plan 252

C.3: Create Test Design, Test Cases, Test Software, and Test Procedures 254

C.4: Perform Formal Test 257

C.5: Update Test Documentation 259

Appendix D: A Primer for Test Execution         260

Glossary         267

Bibliography         275

Index          281

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