Home > Articles > Programming

Introduction to Rapid Software Testing

Before you dive into rapid testing, you need to understand the software development and testing process. The authors of Rapid Testing give you an introduction to development and testing, and how the two should work together.
This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Over the past two decades, computer systems and the software that runs them have made their way into all aspects of life. Software is present in our cars, ovens, cell phones, games, and workplaces. It drives billing systems, communications systems, and Internet connections. The proliferation of software systems has reached the point that corporate and national economies are increasingly dependent on the successful development and delivery of software.

As the stakes grow higher in the software marketplace, pressure grows to develop more products at a faster pace. This places increasing demands on software developers and on software testers not only to produce faster, but also to make products that are of good enough quality that the customer will be satisfied with them.

There are therefore two major demands placed on today's software test engineer:

  • We need to test quickly to meet aggressive product delivery schedules.

  • We need to test well enough that damaging defects don't escape to our customers.

The challenge is to satisfy each of these needs without sacrificing the other. The purpose of this book is to define an efficient test process and to present practical techniques that satisfy both demands. We begin by examining the fundamentals of software development and software testing.

Basic Definitions for Software Testing

Before launching into a discussion of the software development process, let's define some basic terms and concepts. The logical place to start is with software testing.

Software testing is a process of analyzing or operating software for the purpose of finding bugs.

Simple as this definition is, it contains a few points that are worth elaboration. The word process is used to emphasize that testing involves planned, orderly activities. This point is important if we're concerned with rapid development, as a well thought-out, systematic approach is likely to find bugs faster than poorly planned testing done in a rush.

According to the definition, testing can involve either "analyzing" or "operating" software. Test activities that are associated with analyzing the products of software development are called static testing. Static testing includes code inspections, walkthroughs, and desk checks. In contrast, test activities that involve operating the software are called dynamic testing. Static and dynamic testing complement one another, and each type has a unique approach to detecting bugs.

The final point to consider in the definition of software testing is the meaning of "bugs." In simple terms, a bug is a flaw in the development of the software that causes a discrepancy between the expected result of an operation and the actual result. The bug could be a coding problem, a problem in the requirements or the design, or it could be a configuration or data problem. It could also be something that is at variance with the customer's expectation, which may or may not be in the product specifications. More details about the terminology of bugs is given in Sidebar 1.1.

SIDEBAR 1.1

THE LIFE OF A BUG

The life of a software bug may be described as follows. A bug is born when a person makes an error in some activity that relates to software development, such as defining a requirement, designing a program, or writing code. This error gets embedded in that person's work product (requirement document, design document, or code) as a fault.

As long as this fault (also known as a bug or defect) remains in the work product, it can give rise to other bugs. For example, if a fault in a requirements document goes undetected, it is likely to lead to related bugs in the system design, program design, code, and even in the user documentation.

A bug can go undetected until a failure occurs, which is when a user or tester perceives that the system is not delivering the expected service. In the system test phase, the goal of the test engineer is to induce failures through testing and thereby uncover and document the associated bugs so they can be removed from the system. Ideally the life of a bug ends when it is uncovered in static or dynamic testing and fixed.

One practical consequence of the definition of testing is that test engineers and development engineers need to take fundamentally different approaches to their jobs. The goal of the developer is to create bug-free code that satisfies the software design and meets the customer's requirements. The developer is trying to "make" code. The goal of the tester is to analyze or operate the code to expose the bugs that are latent in the code as it is integrated, configured, and run in different environments. The tester is trying to "break" the code. In this context, a good result of a software test for a developer is a pass, but for that same test a successful outcome for the test engineer is a fail. Ultimately, of course, both the developer and tester want the same thing: a product that works well enough to satisfy their customers.

There are two basic functions of software testing: one is verification and the other is validation. Schulmeyer and Mackenzie (2000) define verification and validation (V&V) as follows:

Verification is the assurance that the products of a particular phase in the development process are consistent with the requirements of that phase and the preceding phase.

Validation is the assurance that the final product satisfies the system requirements.

The purpose of validation is to ensure that the system has implemented all requirements, so that each function can be traced back to a particular customer requirement. In other words, validation makes sure that the right product is being built.

Verification is focused more on the activities of a particular phase of the development process. For example, one of the purposes of system testing is to give assurance that the system design is consistent with the requirements that were used as an input to the system design phase. Unit and integration testing can be used to verify that the program design is consistent with the system design. In simple terms, verification makes sure that the product is being built right. We'll see examples of both verification and validation activities as we examine each phase of the development process in later chapters.

One additional concept that needs to be defined is quality. Like beauty, quality is subjective and can be difficult to define. We will define software quality in terms of three factors: failures in the field, reliability, and customer satisfaction. A software product is said to have good quality if:

  • It has few failures when used by the customer, indicating that few bugs have escaped to the field.

  • It is reliable, meaning that it seldom crashes or demonstrates unexpected behavior when used in the customer environment.

  • It satisfies a majority of users.

One implication of this definition of quality is that the test group must not only take measures to prevent and detect defects during product development, but also needs to be concerned with the reliability and usability of the product.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020