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com SOFTWARE TESTING Introduction Definition Need for Testing Misunderstanding about Testing Testing Techniques Types of Testing Levels of Testing Final version of Testing - Alpha Testing - Beta Testing When to stop Testing? Conclusion By VB Naik www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com S oftware T esting Introduction: Testing is a process of planning, preparing, executing and analyzing, aimed at establishing the characteristics of an information system, and demonstrating the difference between the actual status and the required status. A primary purpose for testing is to detect software failures so that defects may be uncovered and corrected Software bugs will almost always exist in any software module with moderate size: not because programmers are careless or irresponsible, but because the com plexity of software is generally intractable -- and humans have only limited ability to manage complexity. Main objective Testing is a process of executing a program with the intent of finding an error. A good test case is one that has a high probability of finding an as yet undisco vered error. A successful test is one that uncovers an as yet undiscovered error. Identifies defects before software deployment Reduces incompatibility and interoperability issues To reduce the cost of rework by detecting defects at an early stage. www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com Role of Testing Primary Determine whether system meets specifications Determine whether system meets needs Secondary Instill confidence Continuously improve the testing process Definition Testing is the process of exercising or evaluating a system or system component by manual or automated means to verify that it satisfies specified requirements -

(IEEE 83a) A process of demonstrating that errors are not present? A way of establishing confidence that a program does what it is supposed to do? Need for Testing? A study conducted by NIST in 2002 reports that software bugs cost the U.S. econo my $59.5 billion annually. Testing reduces the level of uncertainty about the quality of a system. Quality Control: Mechanism to ensure that the required quality characteristics exist in the finished product. Quality Assurance: Ensures that the quality management procedures work. Verification refers to the set of activities that ensure that software correctly implements a specific function, imposed at the start of that phase. Validation refers to the test phase of the life cycle which ensures that the end product meets the users needs. www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com Verification: Have we built the software right (i.e., does it match the specific ation?)? It is process based. Validation: Have we built the right software (i.e., is this what the customer wa nts?)? It is product based. Developers hide their mistakes Avoid project overruns by following a defined test methodology. Misunderstandings about testing o Testing is debugging o Testing is not the job of a programmer o If programmers were more careful testing would be unnecessary o Testing never ends o Testing activities start only after the coding is complete o Testing is not a creative task Types of Testing Black Box Testing White Box Testing Grey Box Testing Black Box Testing As the name itself suggests, we cannot see anything in a black box. In the same way in black box testing it is not required to know about code but the knowledge of functionality is mandatory. Black box testing treats the software as a without any knowledge of internal implementation www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com That s why there are situations when 1. A black box tester writes many test cases to check something that can be test ed by only one test case and/or 2. Some parts of the back end are not tested at all Therefore, black box testing has the advantage of an unaffiliated opinion on the one hand and the disadvantage of blind exploring on the other. White Box Testing White box testing also called clear box testing, glass box testing, transparent box testing,

and translucent box testing or structural testing White box testing, by contrast to black box testing, is when the tester has acce ss to the internal data structures and algorithms White Box, like Black Box, is a test design method. Tests based on the internal logic of the application are called White Box tests. White box testing is often more thorough, but also much more time consuming than Black box testing and requires some knowledge of development processes. White Box often talks of Code Coverage, which is where the code itself is covere d by test cases. There are several levels of Code coverage. www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com Grey Box Testing The term grey box testing has come into common usage. This involves having access to internal data structures and algorithms for purpo ses of designing the test cases, but testing at the user, or black-box level. Levels of Testing Unit Testing Integration Testing System Testing Acceptance Testing Regression Testing Performance Testing Security Testing Recovery Testing Unit Testing The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that th e individual parts are correct. A unit test provides a strict, written contract that the piec e of code must satisfy. As a result, it affords several benefits. Unit tests find problems earl y in the development cycle. Disadvantages Testing cannot be expected to catch every error in the program - it is impossibl e to evaluate all execution paths for all but the most trivial programs www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com Black box testing White box testing Black Box testing is planned without the intimate knowledge of the program White Box testing is planned with the intimate knowledge of the program Black Box test is usually based on specification of the program White Box testing aims at testing each aspect of the program logic www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com Integration Testing Intermediate level of testing Integration testing (sometimes called Integration and Testing, abbreviated I&T ) is the phase of software testing in which individual software modules are combin

ed and tested as a group. It follows unit testing and precedes system testing. Integration testing takes as its input modules that have been unit tested, group s them in larger aggregates, applies tests defined in an integration test plan to those aggregates, and delivers as its output the integrated system ready for system te sting. The testing of joined components of a system to determine if they function correctly together. Components in this sense are modules or units of code within the same system. An example may be the integration of a shopping basket component with a web component. Component Integration Testing is likely to focus on the two component s operating correctly as a single solution. Testing of combined parts of an application to determine if they function togeth er correctly. The parts can be code modules, individual applications, client and serv er applications on a network, etc. Progressively unit tested software components are integrated and tested until th e software works as a whole Test that evaluate the interaction and consistency of interacting components. System Testing www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com - System testing of software or hardware is testing conducted on a complete, integrated system to evaluate the system s compliance with its specified requirements. System testing falls within the scope of black box testing, and as such, should require no knowledge of the inner design of the code or logic Acceptance Testing - Formal testing with respect to user needs, requirements, and business processe s conducted to determine whether or not a system satisfies the acceptance criteria and to enable the user, customers or other authorized entity to determine whethe r or not to accept the system. - Acceptance testing is black-box testing performed on a system (e.g. software, lots of manufactured mechanical parts, or batches of chemical products) prior to its delivery. It is also known as functional testing, black-box testing, release acceptance, QA testing, application testing, confidence testing, final testing, validation testing, or factory acceptance testing Regression Testing Regression testing can be defined as the retesting of a previously tested progra m following modification to ensure that faults have not been introduced or uncovered as a result of the changes made to software, hardware or environment. . Common methods of regression testing include re-running previously run tests and checking whether previously fixed faults have re-emerged. Performance Testing - It will make sure that product does not take up much of the system resource an d time taking for executing task. Imagine the reaction of the user, if save operat ion takes up more than 5 minutes and also testing will check that response time meet

s the user requirement. Security Testing - It is currently top of many peoples list of testing they should do, although i ts hard to see what people are expecting from security testing. - The Process to determine that an IS (Information System) protects data and maintains functionality as intended. www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com The six basic security concepts that need to be covered by security testing are: Confidentiality, integrity, authentication, authorization, availability and nonrepudiation Quality assurance certifications CSQE offered by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) CSQA offered by the Quality Assurance Institute (QAI) Testing certifications Certified Software Tester (CSTE) ISEB offered by the Information Systems Examinations Board ISTQB Certified Tester, Advanced Level (CTAL) offered by the International Software Testing Qualification Board Final version of testing Before shipping the final version of software, alpha and beta testing are often done additionally: Alpha testing takes place at developers sites, and involves testing of the oper ational system by internal staff, before it is released to external customers www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com Beta testing takes place at customers sites, and involves testing by a group of customers who use the system at their own locations and provide feedback, before the syste m is released to other customers. The latter is often called field testing. 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, e.g. release deadlines, testing deadlines; Test cases completed with certain percentage passed; Test budget has been depleted; Coverage of code, functionality, or requirements reaches a specified point; Bug rate falls below a certain level; or Beta or alpha testing period ends. Conclusion: Software testing is an art. Most of the testing methods and practices are not ve ry different from 20 years ago. It is nowhere near maturity, although there are man y tools and techniques available to use. Good testing also requires a tester s creativity, experience and intuition, together with proper techniques. Testing is more than just debugging. Testing is not only used to locate defects and correct them. It is also used in validation, verification process, and reliabili ty

measurement. Testing is expensive. Automation is a good way to cut down cost and time. Testing efficiency and effectiveness is the criteria for coverage-based testing techniques. Complete testing is infeasible. Complexity is the root of the problem. The stopping time can be decided by the trade-off of time and budget. Or if the reliability estimate of the software product meets requirement. www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com www.swaretesting.blogspot.com www.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com Testing may not be the most effective method to improve software quality. Alternative methods, such as inspection, and clean-room engineering, may be even better. www.swaretesting.blogspot.comwww.qtestpro.blogspot.com www.venuela.blogspot.com