Fundamentals of Testing

Question 1

Why do we Test?

Answer 1

Software is everywhere, and failed software may resullt in financial loss, wasted time, loss of reputation or injury or death. Testing reduces the risk of software failure.

Question 2

What are causes of software defects?

Answer 2

Error, defect, and failure

Question 3

What is an error?

Answer 3

A human action that produces an incorrect result.

Question 4

What is a defect?

Answer 4

A flaw in a system that can cause it to fail to perform its required function - also known as a bug.

Question 5

What is a failure?

Answer 5

Deviation of a system from its expected delivery, service or result. Failure can be caused by many reasons (e.g. data, envrionment, people).

Question 6

In which areas is testing most likely needed?

Answer 6

Software development, Maintenance, and Operations.

Question 7

Why is it necessary in Software Development?

Answer 7

To provide quality checks at each stage and remove defects.

Question 8

Why is it necessary in Maintenance?

Answer 8

To test changes when live software is modified to ensure the existing system has not been affected (regression).

Question 9

Why is it necessary in Operations?

Answer 9

To assess system charateristics such as reliability or availability.

Question 10

How are Testing and Quality related?

Answer 10

Testing can give confidence in the quality of the software if it finds few or no defects.

Question 11

What is Quality?

Answer 11

The degree to which a component, system or process meets specified requirements and expecations.

Question 12

How do we measure Quality?

Answer 12

Defects found, number of failures, usability rating, and maintainability.

Question 13

How much testing is enough?

Answer 13

It is context dependent. Considerations on risk, project contrstraints, and time should be considered.

Question 14

What is Testing?

Answer 14

Process consiting of all life cycles activities, both static and dynamic, concerned with planning, preparation and evaulation of software products and related work products

Question 15

How do Static and Dynamic Testing improve quality?

Answer 15

They improve the system under test, the development process and the testing process.

Question 16

What are the main testing objectives?

Answer 16

Finding defects, meeting business requirements, gaining confidence with the level of quality, providing information for decision making and preventing defects.

Question 17

How are debugging and testing different?

Answer 17

Testing is carried out by testers who observe the failures and report them to developers who investigate, fix the defect, and check that the fix works before the tester tries again.

Question 18

What are the seven testing principles?

Answer 18

1.Testing shows the presence of defects. 2. Exhaustive testing is impossible. 3. Early Testing. 4. Defect clustering (pareto principle). 5. Pesticide Paradox (re-runnign tests less effective). 6. Testing is context-dependent. 7. Absence-of-errors fallacy (finding and fixing defects is irrelevant if the system is unoperable).

Question 19

What are the 5 key testing phases?

Answer 19

1. Planning & control. 2. Analysis & design. 3. Implementation & execution. 4. Evaluating Exit Criteria & Reporting. 5. Test Closure Activities.

Question 20

What is Test Planning & Control?

Answer 20

Phase in which we verify the mission of testing - done by determing scope & risks, implement test policy or strategy, determine the approach, the required test resources, schedule the acitivities, and determine exit criteria. Test control is an ongoing acitivity of comparing actual progress vs. expected.

Question 21

What is Test Analysis and Design?

Answer 21

Phase in which general testing objectives become tangible test conditions and designs - tasks include review test basis (requirements), evaluate test basis for testability, identify and prioritise test conditions, design and prioritise HL tests, design envrionment.

Question 22

What is Test Implementation and Execution?

Answer 22

In implementation we finalise, implement and prioritise test cases, develop and prioritise test procedures, and create test suites. In Test execution we execute, log the outcome, compare the actual vs. expected, repeat procedures as requested.

Question 23

What is Evaluating Exit Criteria and Reporting?

Answer 23

Checking the test logs against exit crtieria, asses if more tests are needed, write a test summary report for stakeholders.

Question 24

What are the Test Closure Activities?

Answer 24

Checking planned deliverables have been produced, close incident reports, document the acceptance of the system, finalise and acrhive testware, hand over to ops, analyse lessons learnt.

Question 25

What is Test Independence and why is it relevant?

Answer 25

It means designing the tests, specifically a person or organisation, the more external the more independent. E.g. Developers can write tests, or someone from dev team, a test team within the org., or a test company.

Question 26

How are Testers and Developers different?

Answer 26

Developers believe their software is acceptable, it will work, defects are bad, short-term view, testers are negative, they have a positive view, innocent until proven guilty. Testers believe the software has defect, it won’t work, defects are good, long-term view, developers are optimistic, negative view looking for what doesn’t work, and believe devs are guilty until proven innocent.

Question 27

How do we improve the tester vs. developer relationship?

Answer 27

Start collaboration early, find faults in the work product, write factual, objective reports, imagine yourself in their position, confirm mutual understanding.

Question 28

What is the code of ethics?

Answer 28

A set of values to which a tester adheres to, these are public, client and employer, product, judgment, management, profession, colleagues, and self.