How can new Software QA processes be introduced in an existing organization?

• A lot depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large organizations with high-risk (in terms of lives or property) projects, serious management buy-in is required and a formalized QA process is necessary;
• Where the risk is lower, management and organizational buy-in and QA implementation may be a slower, step-at-a-time process. QA processes should be balanced with productivity so as to keep bureaucracy from getting out of hand;
• For small groups or projects, a more ad-hoc process may be appropriate, depending on the type of customers and projects. A lot will depend on team leads or managers, feedback to developers, and ensuring adequate communications among customers, managers, developers, and testers;
• In all cases the most value for effort will be in requirements management processes, with a goal of clear, complete, testable requirement specifications or expectations.

What kinds of testing should be considered?

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

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

End-to-end testing is 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 is 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 is 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 is 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 is 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 is 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 is 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 is testing of full, partial, or upgrade install/uninstall processes.

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

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

Compatability testing is testing how well software performs in a particular hardware/software/operating system/network/etc. environment.

Exploratory testing is 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 is similar to exploratory testing, but often taken to mean that the testers have significant understanding of the software before testing it.

User acceptance testing is determining if software is satisfactory to an end-user or customer.

Comparison testing is comparing software weaknesses and strengths to competing products. Alpha testing is 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 is 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 is 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 computational resources.

What are 5 common problems in the software development process?

• Poor Requirements - if requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or not testable, there will be problems.
• Unrealistic Schedule - if too much work is crammed in too little time, problems are inevitable.
• Inadequate Testing - no one will know whether or not the program is any good until the customer complains or systems crash.
• Featuritis - requests to pile on new features after development is underway; extremely common.
• Miscommunication - if developers don't know what's needed or customer's have erroneous expectations, problems are guaranteed.

What are 5 common solutions to software development problems?

• Solid Requirements - clear, complete, detailed, cohesive, attainable, testable requirements that are agreed to by all players. Use prototypes to help nail down requirements.
• Realistic Schedules - allow adequate time for planning, design, testing, bug fixing, re-testing, changes, and documentation; personnel should be able to complete the project without burning out.
• Adequate Testing - start testing early on, re-test after fixes or changes, plan for adequate time for testing and bug-fixing.
• Stick to Initial Requirements As Much As Possible - be prepared to defend against changes and additions once development has begun, and be prepared to explain consequences. If changes are necessary, they should be adequately reflected in related schedule changes. If possible, use rapid prototyping during the design phase so that customers can see what to expect. This will provide them a higher comfort level with their requirements decisions and minimize changes later on.
• Communication - require walkthroughs and inspections when appropriate; make extensive use of group communication tools - e-mail, groupware, networked bug-tracking tools and change management tools, intranet capabilities, etc.; insure that documentation is available and up-to-date - preferably electronic, not paper; promote teamwork and cooperation; use protoypes early on so that customers' expectations are clarified.

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.

Will automated testing tools make testing easier?

Possibly. For small projects, the time needed to learn and implement them may not be worth it. For larger projects, or on-going long-term projects they can be valuable. A common type of automated tool is the 'record/playback' type. For example, a tester could click through all combinations of menu choices, dialog box choices, buttons, etc. in an application GUI and have them 'recorded' and the results logged by a tool. The 'recording' is typically in the form of text based on a scripting language that is interpretable by the testing tool. If new buttons are added, or some underlying code in the application is changed, etc. the application can then be retested by just 'playing back' the 'recorded' actions, and comparing the logging results to check effects of the changes. The problem with such tools is that if there are continual changes to the system being tested, the 'recordings' may have to be changed so much that it becomes very time-consuming to continuously update the scripts. Additionally, interpretation of results (screens, data, logs, etc.) can be a difficult task. Note that there are record/playback tools for text-based interfaces also, and for all types of platforms.

Other automated tools can include:

• Code Analyzers
• Coverage Analyzers
• Memory Analyzers
• Load/Performance Analyzers
• Web Test Tools